October 1, 2011

Coming Down the Home Stretch

The manuscript for my upcoming eBook, A Kiss of a Different Color, is in the edit stage.  This is a happy time for any writer, because it means that completion and ultimate publication are soon at hand (of course, this happens a lot sooner for an independently published eBook than it does for a traditionally published novel).

I had originally planned to publish the revised version of One on One first, because this was a story in which the terrorist attacks of 9/11 played a large role in the heroine's life, but when I moved up a pivotal scene to earlier in the story it ended up changing the entire dynamics, and there will be extensive rewriting involved.  I decided I had to miss the commemoration of 10 years since the attacks, but overall it will result in a better story.

But editing is a process that can't be rushed through.  It's a writer's chance to put their best foot forward, to make their words shine.  In addition to general cleanup, grammar, missing or extra words, character's names that change mid-story (or are duplicated--I noticed I had two minor characters named Ralph and changed one to Anthony), continuity errors within the storyline, etc., I have to make sure the story contains plenty of sensory images that enhance the reading experience, things like the smell of the food being cooked or eaten...the feel of a dog sleeping at your feet...the touch of bare skin beneath fingertips.  This is a fine line, because while I want to give the reader a sense of imagery, I don't want to bog them down with it.

So I'm working in conjunction with my editor to bring you the best story possible.  We are not professionals (the rate a professional would charge is equal to about 3 times my monthly royalty, too rich for me; my name is Griffin, not Konrath), but between the two of us we have a good enough grasp of language, punctuation, and storyline to create a project that will pass muster.

Back to my edits.  Look for A Kiss of a Different Color, coming soon!  For a sneak peek, click here to read a new excerpt.