Late yesterday, I finished my last set of edits on Her Violet Empire. I am officially walking away, calling it text-complete. No more commas, no more additions, no more “just one more thing I thought of.” I’m having Liz read through it for tone and content, to make sure I didn’t cut too deep in the last edits and make it sound like it’s not me. Unless she has any major updates, it’s ready for publication, IMO.
As I’m sure other authors will attest, this is the hardest part. Perfectionism kicks you constantly. Lately, my dreams have been haunted by duplicated sentences, or characters popping up out of nowhere going, “Hey, can I say one more thing?” I have to roll over and tell them, “Wait until the next book.” I suppose that’s a good problem to have, but it of course depends on anyone wanting to hear what they wanted to say.
So, today, I’m working on front and back matter. I have this whole week off and, although it would probably be better for me to relax and unwind, that’s just not in my nature. Too much downtime and I get twitchy. Up next is the first revision of The Beautiful Island. Oh, and something fun that just popped up…
As I’m sure I mentioned, Mom is a creative writer too. I must get it from her. For probably longer than I’ve been working on HVE, she’s been working on a children’s story of her own. Her ideas are marvelous and plentiful, but she just hasn’t been able to get it off the launch pad. Last week, she asked me if I’d co-write it with her and, y’all, you should have seen my face. I don’t say y’all much, so you know how serious this is. The honor I felt that she would entrust me with her intellectual property and the characters she’s worked so hard to bring to life. I’m not ashamed to admit I got teary-eyed.
Obviously, I don’t want to give anything away, but you may be hearing more about Vernon very soon. Stay tuned! Happy holidays to the five or six of you who read this blog, whatever you choose to celebrate!