Post by Avril on Jul 18, 2010 0:58:48 GMT -5
Starting this blog at a good time, I think.
I've just completed the first set of revisions of the ms of my second book, having killed myself to keep the contracted deadline agreement.
Woe! My lovely editor is having a hysterectomy on Wednesday! She says she won't be able to look at the ms for two weeks. Of course I'm concerned for her. It's such a major operation. She's a woman in her mid fifties with no kids, so it must be impacting on her enormously, not least because the reason for the surgery is a recently discovered cancerous polyp in her uterus. I'm predicting it'll be more like six weeks to two months before she will even feel like working. That's okay. I want her to be well. I will visit her as soon as she wants visitors, bearing armsful of bright, happy, cheerful flowers.
So. The question is, what do I do now? I could do the index. It's fairly tedious, time-consuming work. But typically the editing process is about large slices of text being slashed off, plus a fair bit of re-structuring, so much of the index could be redundant by the time the book enters formal editing. Still, it's always handy to have got it out of the way before the final rushed weeks to printing.
Alternatively I could pick up my unfinished novel about the psychopathic narcissistic cult leader, which, of course, is largely autobiographical. Naturally it delves into past life regression. I only wish I could write about it in as gripping and un-cliched a manner as Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, a book I absolutely love.
There are a couple of other things I could do. A couple of unwritten non-fiction books which are jumping up and down in the back room of my mind, yelling Write ME! write ME!! I think I need some indication from the publisher/editor as to which one to spend time on right now though. And I can't ask her at the moment. She's got MUCH more important things on her plate to think about.
Hmm.
There's always my tax.
Four pm. Time to feed the cats.
I've just completed the first set of revisions of the ms of my second book, having killed myself to keep the contracted deadline agreement.
Woe! My lovely editor is having a hysterectomy on Wednesday! She says she won't be able to look at the ms for two weeks. Of course I'm concerned for her. It's such a major operation. She's a woman in her mid fifties with no kids, so it must be impacting on her enormously, not least because the reason for the surgery is a recently discovered cancerous polyp in her uterus. I'm predicting it'll be more like six weeks to two months before she will even feel like working. That's okay. I want her to be well. I will visit her as soon as she wants visitors, bearing armsful of bright, happy, cheerful flowers.
So. The question is, what do I do now? I could do the index. It's fairly tedious, time-consuming work. But typically the editing process is about large slices of text being slashed off, plus a fair bit of re-structuring, so much of the index could be redundant by the time the book enters formal editing. Still, it's always handy to have got it out of the way before the final rushed weeks to printing.
Alternatively I could pick up my unfinished novel about the psychopathic narcissistic cult leader, which, of course, is largely autobiographical. Naturally it delves into past life regression. I only wish I could write about it in as gripping and un-cliched a manner as Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, a book I absolutely love.
There are a couple of other things I could do. A couple of unwritten non-fiction books which are jumping up and down in the back room of my mind, yelling Write ME! write ME!! I think I need some indication from the publisher/editor as to which one to spend time on right now though. And I can't ask her at the moment. She's got MUCH more important things on her plate to think about.
Hmm.
There's always my tax.
Four pm. Time to feed the cats.