Gotta love the details

Two weeks ago, I announced that I would be signing my third contract with Spencer Hill Press. (First one was for Whisper Falls, second contract was for two sequels to WF, and the third, drum roll, is for I Wish.)

I promised details, and frankly, they're not all that interesting. But I promised and there is simply no point in breaking a promise so easy to fulfill.

I Wish will be released in November 2014, one month after the final Whisper Falls book.  IW might have sequels. Not sure about that yet. It's still open-ended. Perhaps we'll let the readers decide.

IW will be edited by the Lovely And Talented Jessica. LATJ works with me often, in conjunction with the Manly And Talented Richard. MATR is LATJ's husband. It is quite cool working with a matched set.

LATJ and I have already discussed IW at a high level. We use impressive literary terms like series arc, character development, world-building, and pertinent backstory.The book will be better for it. I'm excited. I want to start now.

Sadly, there is that pesky problem of the two WF sequels that were contracted first.

We often call I Wish 'the genie book.' I assure you that the genie, aka Grant, would object. He is not a genie. It is true that he joined the Guild of Benevolent Supernatural Beings to grant wishes. If it helps you understand his role in the universe to call him a genie, well then, he tolerates that. But he will pity your poor simple mind. Grant has skills. He has protections (via the Guild.) He has a boss. He also has a problem, and her name is Lacey.

When you meet her in November 2014, you'll find out why.

How many rounds does it take to edit a manuscript?

It takes as many rounds as it takes.

I am on the third and final round of revisions with Whisper Falls, and the manuscript is getting ever closer to perfection. 

Round one focused on big picture changes. Normally, that would involve rewriting shaky parts of the plot.  Mine didn't change much, although I did simplify a subplot for a minor character.

Round two took a deeper look at the characters, their choices, and their reasons for those choices. I didn't change the personalities or voice of any characters—not the hero, heroine, or secondary characters. However, I did add lots of backstory (at least, that is what I call the stuff I added. My editors call the new details essential to understand choices and motivation.)

Round three revolves around refinements. Does the story flow organically from start to finish? Are there any continuity errors? Will readers from all around the globe be able to visualize the North Carolina setting from my narrative?

This last question has been the hardest to resolve. I've lived in North Carolina for so long that I've forgotten how unique this location might be.  Consequently, I've had to sprinkle in several details to enhance the ability of readers to visualize my beautiful home state. My editors, who live in New England, have proven invaluable for these revisions. Weather, flora/fauna, topology, lifestyle—even school calendars—can differ dramatically.  For instance, my hero likes to bike through a park near his home.  The park in question, Umstead State Park, is 5000 acres.  That is NYC's Central Park times seven.  Apparently, parks aren't that big in New England, hence the need for a deeper description.

I should have my final revisions completed later this week.  And then, Whisper Falls will be really and truly done. A few copy-edits later, we go to print!

There is never too much of a good thing

I have read Whisper Falls all the way through at least a dozen times.

I have written (and re-written) every word in the book, all 90,000 of them.

The characters are more familiar to me than most people I know.

And yet, I never get tired of this book. I really love the hero and heroine, the problems they face, and the solutions they discover.

I am so glad that Spencer Hill bought a trilogy, because it means I get paid to spend more time with Mark and Susanna, the heroes of Whisper Falls.  I'm in the middle of Book 2 right now—even as I'm wrapping up the final details with Book 1—and we are having a great time getting the second part of their story out.

Emails and phone calls have been zipping between here and New England (where my editors live). My daughter is primed for a quick, final review of Book 1 (which she has already read three times).  My freelancer is reading through the first draft of A Whisper In Time. The whole process is exhausting and exhilarating.

I love every minute of it!

Distracted by shiny things

I'm writing the first sequel to Whisper Falls.  Its working title is A Whisper in Time, which I think the publisher will keep but you never know.

Contractually, I was given about nine months to write the first sequel.  That sounded moderately terrifying although, of course, I did agree to the terms.

I am now a few short weeks away from the due date for the first draft. I had my writing schedule perfectly poised to meet that date, with two weeks allotted for a well-deserved break while my freelancer reviewed my new masterpiece. [This is a warning about the fragility of my ego, Miss Free Lancer.]

'The best-laid plans of mice and men...'

Last Saturday night, just about bedtime, I smiled with satisfaction as I saved off my manuscript. It was on track. I was happy.  All was right with the world.  I would check my email one more time before sleeping.

There was a brand new email in my inbox: Edits for Whisper Falls.

My husband saw the message and said, "Somebody is not going to sleep now."

He was so right.  I was up until the wee hours of the morning reading through those edits.  A week later, I'm still making my way through them.  And that beautifully-arranged schedule for Sequel 1—totally mangled.

Here's hoping I catch up this weekend!

Revisions, round one

The first round of revisions are called The Big Picture Edits.  That's where my editor tells me what the big problems are with the manuscript.  Then I fix the ones I agree with.  And I ignore the ones I don't agree with.  (Okay, so not really.  I negotiate with him.  Yeah.  Negotiate.)

He highlighted four major areas to fix.  Sigh.  He was right about 3 of the 4. I had always known those problems were there.  I was just really hoping no one noticed, because I didn't want to fix them.  My editor noticed.

I've made my best first  stab at getting three of the major problems better.  The fourth area is... under negotiation.

Rich asked for the edits to be in by July 15th.  I turned them in July 9th.  Three days ago.  Call me smug.

It may be a while before I hear back from him about round two.  That's okay, though.  I have a life to return to.

The first edits

Yay.  I received my first edits last night.  It's so exciting.

My editor marked up chapters 1 - 11.  I'll have to rewrite a few scenes and re-research a few facts to ensure their accuracy. It is a little strange to go back through the manuscript, seeing it through someone else's eyes.  I had already experienced this once with my freelancer.  It's cool and fun and a little scary.

I have other author friends who've been through this before, where they closet themselves with their revisions and disappear from loops.  It sounds a bit intimidating to be under deadline with all that rewriting to do. And maybe, at some point, it will stress me out too.  But, for the moment, I just want to luxuriate in the feeling of rolling up my sleeves and making the manuscript better with my new partner Rich.

I will, however, suggest that he not send them at 10:30 pm any more.  I can't resist reading the edits and pondering them---all night long.

A New Friend

My book editor called me today.  We talked for an hour about revising Whisper Falls.  He has lots of suggestions, most of which I love.  The rest are negotiable.

As my blog title says, I'm calling him a new friend.  Do other authors use the same label?  Do they think of their editors as friends?  Is it purely a business relationship?  Or somewhere in-between?

It may be too early to tell for us.  But I do like his ideas, his enthusiasm, and how much he loves my book.  I suspect we'll make a great team.