Editors

My editors are a gift from God.

After spending many hours writing and rewriting my books I tend to lose focus. The story makes sense to me because I know my characters inside out.  I begin to worry whether a new reader will like my book.

My cousin, Mary Lynn gets the first draft. When I give it to her I worry until I get it back.  She checks grammar and punctuation. If something seems confusing she points out the problem. She hates compound sentences.  Mary Lynn is the first person to get to know my characters. In the new book, Four Season Friends there are so many characters I was worried it would be confusing.  But when the phone call came, when she finished reading it the first time through, she said she loved the characters in the book.  I felt so relieved.



After I get the draft back, I work on those areas she thinks could be better. Usually it takes a month of working on the story line.  I am always thankful for her suggestions.  The book begins to take shape and takes on a life of its own.

The next step is to give it to my best friend, Kay. She checks to make sure every time I use a name it is the correct character. She thinks I need more commas and less exclamation points. (I would have used one at the end of that last sentence, but I may have learned my lesson.) I have been working for two hours on the second draft and I am still on chapter one!  (Yes, I do need that exclamation point.)

Both of my editors make my books possible. The work they do helps you to understand what I have written. I cannot thank them enough.  This final journey into the Four Season Friends book is going to be a lot of work, but I know you will be so happy my editors are hard task masters.

I do thank God for giving me these two women.  I love them both very much.