What Happened?

When you finish a book, what’s the first thing you do? Sigh loudly and grin? Jump up and down in your chair? Wave your arms in the air and act like an idiot? Or maybe you just take a deep breath and breathe again. On the other hand, if you’re like me, you do all of the above and forget everything you should be doing, like writing last week’s post.

People Lookin’ Half Dead – A Bogey Man Mystery is about to be edited and will be available soon. Right now I’m working on the cover, which is a whole ‘nother story, but think hot summer with record-breaking temperatures. And in the midst of the heat, homeless people are disappearing.

 Rough draft of the book cover. It will probably change. Well, yes, it will change.

Quite by accident, and with the help of Chris Cross’s grandmother, he and his wife, Pamela, become involved – again. Keep the heat in mind because it’s not going anywhere, and neither are the people who live on the street – with the exception of the few who are disappearing.

There was a young, tall, very thin homeless man whom I saw at a fast food place in Arizona. He was so dirty that his skin looked ashen. All he wanted was a drink of water. He was so soft-spoken and polite that you had to listen closely to hear him. I’ve never forgotten him, and he inspired this story. I wish I could have known what happened to him, but since I don’t, I gave him his own story.

There’s a touch of humor in the book. Even homeless people can laugh at life sometimes.

What about the book cover? Have you ever looked at an asphalt street during the hottest part of summer? Have you noticed the heat waves emanating from the asphalt? I wish I could have found a photo like that to use for my book cover, but I guess you can’t photograph heat waves. So I’m sticking with a very hot sun and a view of the city from a distance. Simple authors create simple covers.

Once the book is released I’ll look at doing some promotion. I haven’t really promoted much over the past few years. Oh, well… Life has changed and so have I.

The next book will be another Sandi Webster Mystery, but I haven’t decided on the subject matter yet. Another cold case? Maybe. Something current? We’ll see. I’ll be as surprised as you.

Back to the grindstone. I can’t seem to get the cover quite right. At least it keeps me busy while I try to dream up another escapade.

What do you do when you type The End at the finish of your story? Something exciting, I hope.

Until next time, I wish you a week of beginnings instead of endings. Maybe your personal story is just about to begin, and I hope it’s filled with laughter.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Dorothy Bodoin, Guest Author

I needed a little humor to lighten my day, and my guest author, Dorothy Bodoin fulfilled my need. Read on, and think about some of the errors you’ve caught (hopefully before your book went to print). I’ve caught a few of my own after the book was published. Welcome, Dorothy!

On Mistakes

In spite of our best intentions, they creep into our writing, creating unintentional humor and confusion.  For example, whoever heard of a freshly baked (bathed) collie?  Or a pot roast dinner that miraculously turns into meatloaf with the turn of a page?  Or a shotgun that transforms into a rifle every other time it’s mentioned?

That last mistake was particularly embarrassing, especially when I received an e-mail from a gun expert.  When I wrote A Shadow on the Snow, I didn’t know much about guns.  I never owned one, never fired one.  But my Great Aunt Mary had a cabin up north, and above her fireplace hung a rifle.  Or was it a shotgun?  I thought shotgun was a synonym for rifle when I thought about it at all. 

Because I find it handy to arm my villains, I’ve made it my business to know the difference.

When I write, I revise each chapter of my book numerous times on a separate document before I add it to the complete manuscript, but sometimes mistakes occur and I never notice them.  The common explanation?  A writer knows what should be there, so she doesn’t see the mistake.

Sometimes I find them in time, but not always. I can’t believe how many there are.  Having a character in two places at the same time. Substituting one name for another.  I caught that one on my first reading of a manuscript.  Taking away one of my heroine’s dogs by typing the wrong number—implying that she wasn’t going to get a pancake treat—was more serious.  That’s the kind of mistake that upsets a dog lover.

For this and many other readers, a good editor is invaluable, and I’m fortunate to have one.

I’ve found errors in other authors’ writing, usually in e-book format.  They yank me right out of the story.  I go back and reread and wonder what I missed or if I misunderstood something.

I’m always grateful if a reader takes time to comment on a mistake they’ve found.  After the book is released, I can’t do anything about it.  All I can do is keep my mind from wandering and proofread more carefully in the future.

Have you ever noticed errors like typos or inconsistences in published work?  How much do they bother you, if at all?

Thank you, Dorothy! It helps to know I’m not the only one who sometimes has this problem. I hope you’ll be my guest again, soon.

          

 I love Dorothy's latest book cover

Website: http://www.dorothybodoin.com/ (You can subscribe to her newsletter on her website.

Buy: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Dorothy+Bodoin

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Marilyn Levinson, Guest Author

 I'm pleased to have Marilyn Levinson as my guest this week. Her books have entertained me on more than one occasion, and I'm always looking for entertainment. Marilyn has made some good observations about editors and editing in her post. Welcome, Marilyn!

 When Editors Edit

Having published thirteen novels in more years than I care to mention and two books coming out soon, I’ve been vetted by a variety of editors. Just as each writer has her own voice, every editor edits in her own particular way. Some editors I’ve worked with considered me a clean writer and made a few notations on my manuscripts. Their edits mostly dealt with simple grammar and punctuation issues: adding or deleting the occasional comma, pointing out that my protagonist had invited a guest for mac and cheese then prepared a dinner of meatballs and pasta. Or they split my compound words into a hyphenated word or two separate words, depending on the publisher’s style. These are small changes editors should and do make.

Other editors have inserted their stamp via changes and deletions. I thought I’d mention a few I’ve found interesting:

1. An editor changed every “he asked” to “he said.” Interesting. Recently, when I used “she said” after a question, my current editor changed it to “she asked.”

2. Another editor deleted many of my introductory sentences to a new scene, feeling they weren’t necessary. I believe such sentences establish time and setting and I continue to include them.

3. One editor eliminated expressions such as “she grinned,” “he nodded,” “she smiled.” While I felt the cut was too severe, it taught me to be more creative and not to rely on these well-worn phrases.

4. After a statement, I often write “he said,” and follow it with an action. For example: “I’d like you to make the corrections in red,” I said, handing him the pages. My editor eliminated “I said” and followed it with a new sentence: “I handed him the pages.” I’m of the school that considers “said” a tag hardly noticed by readers, and considered this type of change to be her personal preference.

5. Is there something wrong with saying “ten o’clock?” I ask because one editor eliminated my use of “o’clock” each time it appeared in my manuscript.

6. Another editor insisted on inserting the word “and” in every clause beginning with “then.” An old grammar rule, I believe, that’s gone the way of the floppy disk.

                                                    

 

Most of the corrections—or differences of opinion—involve the use of commas. I suppose that’s because different editors follow different schools or styles. Until recently, I inserted commas to set off clauses not essential to the sentence. I inserted a comma to separate two independent clauses. In both cases, I’ve had my commas removed. I haven’t always inserted a comma after timed-related phrases such as “after dinner.” Now that I’ve been “corrected” re all of the above, I’m truly confused as to when to use a comma.

The rules are constantly changing. We authors must remain flexible and accept the new order when long-established rules are discarded. We no longer type two spaces after a period. Nor do we insert a comma after “white” in “the red, white and blue.” All of this takes some getting used to. I’ll abide by the rules and try not to get too upset when a new editor changes what I’ve just managed to learn.  

Thank you, Marilyn. Sometimes it's difficult to change old habits and lessons, but you seem to do it quite well. It's helpful to know I'm not the only one who has to relearn a few things. I hope you'll come for another visit.

 Marilyn's bio: 

A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries and romantic suspense for adults and novels for kids and young adults. Her Twin Lakes mystery series includes A MURDERER AMONG US and MURDER IN THE AIR. MURDER A LA CHRISTIE and MURDER THE TEY WAY are the first two books in her Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mystery series. She is currently writing a sequel to GIVING UP THE GHOST called THE RETURN OF THE GHOST.

Her books for young readers include THE DEVIL’S PAWN, and DON’T BRING JEREMY, a nominee for six state awards, NO BOYS ALLOWED, and RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK, an International Reading Association-Children’s Book Council “Children’s Choice.” RUFUS AND THE WITCH’S SLAVE will be out in time for the holidays.
 
Marilyn like traveling, foreign films, reading, knitting, Sudoku, dining out, and talking to her grandkids on Face Time. She lives on Long Island.

Marilyn's links:

 
website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com
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