Counting down - 28 days

Whisper Falls releases in 28 days. Four weeks. One month.

Here are two giveaways to enter!

(1) My author-friend Katie McGarry is giving away the last ARC of her next book, Crash  Into You.  She's using rafflecopter--and you win chances to enter when you like/follow two debut authors (me and Colette Ballard) on facebook, goodreads, or twitter.

(2) I'm sponsoring a giveway on goodreads! If you'd like a chance to win a free (signed) ARC of Whisper Falls (and you live in USA or Canada), please enter!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Whisper Falls

by Elizabeth Langston

Giveaway ends November 07, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

So, what else happened in the past week?

• I sent my brother a copy of the book. He's in Afghanistan, so he'll have it by release day, if he's lucky.
• A blogger/book-reviewer asked me for an interview on November 1st. I've returned the questions to her now. (Hint: There will be a giveaway.)
• Book 3 (Whispers From the Past) is in first-round revisions. My editors said that it didn't need many changes.  Apparently, my editors and I do not define "many" the same way.
• My freelance editor, Laura, now has a signed copy of the book. She deserves a lot of the credit. So do my publishing house editors. It really takes a village to make a good book...
• The local library system now has 13 copies of the book to lend. There is already a waitlist.  That is seriously cool. (I plan to donate one more copy. Generous, I know :)
• I have two more book reviews. I probably should dread reviews, but I don't. Of course, here's hoping that all of them are as lovely as the two I've received recently. 

 

All right, it's back to Track Changes in WORD. Book 3 is not changing itself.

See you next week, countdown...

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!

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.