PS - Don't forget to write a review on Amazon.com with 'AUG' at the beginning to win a free RIPTIDE book, (the new version) autographed if you want! See below!

Proofing has to be the most difficult part of writing--I don't care what it is! I sent the proof book to Jim and we both re-read RIPTIDE from beginning to end. He made some suggestions and I did some rewrites which I emailed to him for editing and then I made whatever corrections he suggested. So the whole book was edited one last time, the changes were edited and then the corrections were edited. So you would think I could upload the book and it would be perfect, right? Well, not necessarily so.

When I uploaded TIDES, the formatting was exactly the same, page for page. For whatever reason, RIPTIDE shifted the text adding a line or two (or more) at the bottom of each page. This meant I had to go in and change the Table of Contents page numbers because the later chapters were off by as many as four pages! Well, I did that, uploaded again, and proofed through the virtual previewer. Everything looked fine. So, I approved it.

Well, I'm not too old to learn a lesson! I have since read the entire book again, found several examples of words that were hyphenated in the original text because they were at the end of a line and somehow ended up in the middle of a line. I found a few other things I decided to change while I was at it--nothing major. I've uploaded again. I feel badly about this because the people who have already purchased the book didn't get as good a version as this newer version. There's no major differences, but still...

When Jim and I finish editing TSUNAMI, we're both going to read the proof book, but then if there are any changes made, I'm going to order another proof book and reread the whole thing again before putting the book "out there." This is very time consuming and because I wrote the passages and have read these same passages several times, I still get caught up in the story, but I can't 'see' it as if it were the first time--which is the best way to proof anything. However, readers deserve for a book to be the best that it can possibly be, so I promise that next time, I'm not going to rush it and skip a vital step! All I can say now is that I'm sorry! I'll tell you one thing: I have more compassion for the books I read by other authors because I now realize how difficult it is to catch every single error!!!

PS!

If I know you and you want a chance to win a free book of RIPTIDE, please use a name I won't recognize. I want this to be fair to everyone. Thank you!

RIPTIDE is now available as both the book and the Kindle download!

If you have read TIDES - Book One and if you have not written a review on Amazon.com, I would like to tempt you to write a review for TIDES. I will give a free copy of the book RIPTIDE (autographed, if you'd like) to the best review posted in the month of August. Please type "AUG" at the beginning of your review so that I will know you are responding to this particular post. If the "AUG" is not there, I'll pass by that particular review. Then, over Labor Day weekend, I will post the winner right here on my blog. Then you will need to contact me with your mailing address and I will send RIPTIDE to you! My email address is on my profile page.

Please note: I am not looking for the longest review or the most grammatically correct review--I'm more interested in your sincerity and enthusiasm about my book, TIDES - Book One.

I hope you have a great day!

RIPTIDE is uploaded as a Kindle book--it's in the process of being reviewed. If it passes, it should be available tomorrow or Saturday!