Line edits and Amazon

Surprisingly, I still feel this way even after I got my line edits back.

After perusing the document and all the slashes and comment boxes, I emailed my editor – Please tell me that everyone has this much red when they get their line edits back.  She assured me I have just as much red as the next guy and not to be worried.

I do have to say it is amazing to have a real editor go over your work. Not that I don’t appreciate all the eyes that have looked over my work (Mom, I swear, you are so great) but the people who do this for a living, know what they’re doing.  

That sentence that took me twenty words to get my point across?  Knocked down to five.  

That perfect word I just couldn’t think of?  She nailed it.  

Do you have any idea how many times I used the phrase “that much was clear” or had my characters nod?  Too many. Their necks should thank Claire for cutting out lots and lots of nodding.  

I also rhyme unintentionally. Literally a poet who didn’t know it.

Basically, Claire is awesome.

I was so curious about the editing process, having never gone through it before.  And I’ll admit it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.  The process for this book has gone something like this – review and revisions with the senior editor, line edits with the editor assistant, copy edit, author review, then off to the proofreaders. I am in the author review stage.

The line edits were fun.  There were comments and questions and lots of commas added and deleted.  (I hate commas, by the way!)  My editor lives in Canada and I learned through this process that not everyone knows what a high school booster club is or that a flip flop is the same thing as a handspring.  I did a little research on the pop vs. soda vs. Coke labels based on geographic location and had to make sure my characters called it the right thing. (Texans lean towards Coke, if you were wondering.)

I also learned how clean Heartwarming really is.  Let’s just say that if you are looking for something that’s like that book I won’t name but rhymes with Nifty Braids of Hay, THE WEATHER GIRL is not going to be for you.  This is definitely a book I will not be ashamed to let my children or my students or my student’s parents read.  It’s good, wholesome fun.  Although, I did fight for some more kissing – because, come on, there needs to be some kissing.

What I hope is that this story and these characters have enough heart that nobody misses the smut that seems so popular today.  I know that I like them more and more with every reread I do.  And I’m on read 105,394 (approximately, of course!)

Lastly, if you didn’t see my Facebook post, I’m now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Which is completely insane.  The book publishing date also got moved up from February to January.  Looks like I will become a published author 17 days before I turn 40!  This will, no doubt, be the best birthday ever.

Even more exciting, I got an official back of the book blurb!