Christmas eve is here

Well, Christmas eve day. It's only one o'clock in the afternoon, and there is lots of stuff stirring here. Not  literally, but figuratively. Always keeping busy I am, just the way I like it. Sorry for not writing a full-fledged blog, but I wanted to share my holidays with you, and let you know you're in my thoughts.

Last night, I went out to dinner with Chris and Sarah and Chris' friend Matt. We  went to Hokkaido, which is a buffet which has Chinese and Japanese food, and bbq. It is a great place, we've been a few times. I love their sushi! Apparently they have cotton candy now, but not my thing. I had some Peking duck and a lobster roll, a lot of sushi, two helpings of lo mein, which I love, a scallop - and more! Felt very full, but very happy when we left.

Today, I have the turkey thawing, and I made buckeyes. That's just peanut butter and chocolate balls. Very delicious. Later I'll make my cheese mashed potato casserole for tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm making the turkey with a citrus rosemary rub, and sausage stuffing, the mashed potato casserole, and green bean casserole, and I'm making pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. It'll be just Chris and Sarah and their dad and I. We plan to watch Die Hard and It's a Wonderful Life - great Christmas movies!

I've been putting in a lot of apps lately, hopefully something will pan out. Even part time. I sent in a resume to be an editor at Silver. We'll see what happens there. I'm loving being an editor at Muse it Up, and I get to work with some great writers. So far, I've loved everything I've edited.

Tomorrow night, on Christmas night, Chef Zakarian will make his debut on Iron Chef. Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Much love and warm wishes to everyone, may your holidays be wonderful and safe and filled with love!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Editors are not gods

Once you get past the hurdle of having your beloved work accepted for publication, and go through the  preliminaries that go along with that - such as blurbs and descriptions of main characters (for the art department), and other necessaries, chances are  your next step on the journey to being published is contact with your content editor. He or she should contact you, inform you that they are to be your editor, and make you feel welcome in their safe and capable hands. Thus far, I've only had one male editor, and that was a very horrendous experience indeed, so I shall, for the sake of clarity, simply say she.

At this point, if  you've not done them yet, you'll get pre-edit sheet to guide your through the correction of some common errors before your content editor begins her job - making your words the best they can be. Removing extraneous that's, or clarifying its, things like that. Once you get the pre-edit sheet for the first time, you should take advantage of it and utilize before you sub your work. Saves you and your editor a lot of time that can be devoted to your story. And it enhances its appearance as far as subbing it is concerned.

Many writers fear this part of the process, seeing their word redlined by the content editor. But it's a  necessary evil. Chances are you've read your own words so many times, you've stopped seeing errors. A fresh set of eyes is a godsend, although you should have, by now, been beta'd and critted before you bothered to sub. I cannot stress enough the value of a beta and/or a crit partner. They see what  you might not, have ideas you might not have fully explored, etc.

Back to the editor.

Too many people see the content editor, as well as the publisher, as gods. They aren't, I assure you. I say that being an editor myself. What I have to give is my knowledge and skill as far as the written word is concerned, but I don't claim to be omnipotent or perfect. So if you see something you disagree with in your edits, no need to roll over and play dead. Explain yourself to the editor, and either she'll see it your way, or she'll tell you why it doesn't work. Give and take. It's the basis of any good relationship.

Also, you do not have to put up with rudeness in your editor. I'm not saying you have to be best friends or  anything, and sometimes tone is difficult to take when you read it whether than hear it. People have different senses of humor, and something might be meant as a simple jest yet taken in the wrong way. But some things are unmistakeable. You do not have to take that. If you believe your editor is disrespecting you, first say something to her. She may not realize how she comes off. But some things are obvious. I had major editing problems with my sequel to my first published novel. The first editor said change your character. In a sequel? Seriously, dude? He cut my MC down every chance he had, in no uncertain terms - why is he a sissy? Why's he so whiny? Why's he a 12 year old girl? When I learned the truth about him (he'd hidden behind another identity, turned out I knew him) I confronted him about his attitude. Next thing I knew I had a new editor. Second editor criticized my writing style and wanted me to put everything into one tense. I had present tense for what was currently happening, past tense for flashbacks. I refused, of course. Sequel here, worked the first time. Then she began dragging her feet on everything 'til I wanted to scream, with deadlines looming. I'm one of those people who doesn't like to wait 'til the last minute. She was replaced too. My book was the better for both of them being out its life.

So yeah, listen to your editor, but don't think she's perfect or that you can't disagree with her. Editors, like publishers, are not gods. They need us too. We're all reaching for the same goal - a successful novel. Working together is the only way to achieve that. But know your rights. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself.

Have bad experiences with editors? Good ones? Questions or comments about editing and editors? I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

No Writer is an Island

Yes, I'm paraphrasing John Donne, who said that no man is an island.  And neither is a writer, despite the fact that we do what we do mostly as a solo activity, and that we inhabit worlds that we bring into existence from our own minds.  Even so, every one of us needs help to take what we do and make it ready for the world to view, because no matter how good you think you are, you need someone else's eyes, another point of view, to take what's good and make it even better, because face it - none of us is perfect, are we?

I can remember in my younger days having total konniption fits if anyone dared to even think of touching my words, because don't you know, they're sacrosanct, they're written in stone, they're untouchable - they're....

Ah, the arrogance of youth.  Utter bullshit.  When I first started sending out my work for submission, and received back rejections, well, they were wrong, naturally.  They were fools who couldn't see that my writing was wonderful.  Of course, I was the one that was wrong.  I even went so far as to give up writing for some ten years, before I dared to take pen in hand once more (not literally, we did have typewriters, I'm not quite that old).

I wrote my first novel, Dark Love, presented it around, and again - rejection.  So I set it aside and began to write other things, short stories and poems, and I took a creative writing course.  I started to gain some acceptance.  I found myself published in small magazines that no longer exist, long gone - and for no monetary recompense, simply to gain exposure.

Times have changed.  Although I was slow to embrace epublishing, after I wrote my second novel, To The Max, and was rejected in the conventional quarters, I was convinced to give it ago.  I was working as staff at the first Bishie Con here in St. Louis in 2009 and it was suggested that I submit my work to Dreamspinner Press.  I did and the rest is history.

When I write, I send my WIPs to my friends to read.  They read what I sent and tell me they like it, which is good, but it's hard to expect subjective criticism from one's friends, unless they write too.  By sheer accident, I met someone who invited me to join a critique group, and that has been a very invaluable chance meeting indeed.  Everyone needs someone to read their work - to critique, to beta, to look at it with fresh eyes and point out things that are easier seen by someone else.  I beta for a few people, and I have a few betas myself. I've learned not to take criticism personally, and to be willing to accept it.

That's the hardest part, I think, setting aside one's ego and admitting that one's writing isn't perfect.  Learning to overcome some bad habits.  Everyone has them, you know you do.  For me, I tend to be wordy, although I do consider that my style - up to a point.  Even I find that I need to chop some of those paragraph long sentences down to manageable length.  With some people, it's spelling.  I'm lucky in that I'm an excellent speller.  But I did discover some of my grammar habits were horrible - I made nasty looking ellipses and misused the hyphen abysmally.  It's all good - I'm learning.

Where do you find such people as betas and critique groups, you ask?  Writer friends are a good start.  Face it, writers tend to accumulate writer friends, so that is a great source of obtaining a beta.  Maybe talk to those writers whom you feel comfortable with hearing about your mistakes from, or who you would be willing to beta for - it is a two way street, after all.  Most publishers have groups online for their authors - that is a good place to make queries, so who needs what, who is willing to do what.  Also, there are general author groups, such as ones on Yahoo, where you can actually meet authors outside of your own publisher, and form mutually satisfying beta arrangements, or even look for critique groups in need of new people.  I am blessed with a most excellent critique group.  Margaret and Cate have proven invaluable to me, and I can even laugh at some of the comments that they make.  After all, you should never take yourself too seriously.  My betas are wonderful too.  Just don't forget about reciprocity - never expect more than  you are willing to give.

You know the saying that it takes a village?  That's what it's like with writing.  No one does it completely alone, not for publication, anyway.  It's an ongoing process.  And the more you get done before you submit your precious baby to the publisher, the better your chances of acceptance, and the less editing the publisher will have to do, which is always a plus.

No writer is an island.  I love my critique group, I love my betas - I could not do what I do without them.  I even love my daughter when she makes fun of things I write, and calls one of my characters a douchecanoe - and then she turns around and tells me I did a good job on something, and I just melt. Find yourself betas - talk to your fellow authors.  Look for a good critique group.  And most of all, be willing to give in return.

Do any of you have experiences with beta and/or critique groups that you'd like to share?  I'd love to hear them!