This week I have been trying to find enough time to finish the edits on my upcoming suspense novel Secrets of Sandhill Island for my wonderful editor, Ally Robertson of The Wildrose Press http://www.wildrosepublishing.com.  Like most editors (the good ones at least) she is more than my editor, she is my friend and sometimes my nemeses.  She makes me look good.

We barely got started and the first thing she wanted was for me to delete four chapters.  What? Those were important scenes!  Well, okay at least two of them were, the other two could be worked in here and there.  Maybe.  But, the first two?  She said they detracted from the main character and slowed the progression of the story. Hum.  Alright, maybe I could use them later in a short story or something.  After all I gave birth to them, they are like my children.   Begrudgingly, I took them out – but I saved them under the heading “deleted scenes.”

And guess what?  She was right.  The story does move better now. How did that happen?  Oh, I know, I let someone else edit my work – someone who knew what they were doing.

I’ve let life lead me astray lately and consequently didn’t finish my edits as quickly as my self-imposed schedule thought I should.  So, I’m trying to catch up.  OMG is it almost May?  Next week is the OWFI conference and I hope to see Ally there.  In fact I was hoping to have my edits to her before then.  That will take some work, but maybe . . .

I’m working on it Ally, really. This is gonna’ be great!