Finally! I'm so excited!!!

My wonderful editor, Jim Bahler, is finally at a point in his schedule where he has begun to edit the fourth book in the TIDES series, VORTEX. I'm not kidding when I say I am so excited. I am beside myself! I love all facets of writing, even the proofing and corrections, so I feel like I'm in my element again as I go through Jim's notes, suggestions, and our discussions about why I don't want to make a particular change that he suggests. He usually sways me, although I'm sure I exasperate him in the process, but there are times when he comes around to my way of thinking or we agree to disagree. On most things I am agreeable, but then sometimes, I realize that he doesn't have all the information I have because I forgot to put it in the manuscript! That would seem to be fairly idiotic, but with my mind racing in a hundred different directions, sometimes I just forget.

Regardless, that's what Jim's job is--not only to catch any errors I've made, but also to make sense of the story. I have mentioned before that I read and reread my books trying to catch every mistake I can find to make Jim's job easier, but the same ability that allows us to read deliberately miss-spelled words in a paragraph composed entirely of miss-spelled words is the same ability that makes proofing so difficult. For instance, in Vortex, Charlie says, "Here that?" Makes absolutely no sense. Of course, it should be "Hear that?" which makes sense even if you don't know what it applies to. Jim's comment after he pointed out the error was "You knew that, didn't you!" Yes, of course, I knew it, but I didn't SEE it.

My favorite author is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. He wrote a book and then put it away for a year to get it out of his mind. Then, he went back and reread it, both to proof it and to edit it for content. In typical Mark Twain fashion, he commented that in rereading a novel he hadn't looked at for a year, he was amazed at how well written it was. Hmmm. Wish I could say that! I'll bet most authors wish they could say that. Even editors need editors!

Writing, like any skill, needs to be refined and honed to perfection. Another great author in my humble opinion is J. K. Rowling. I absolutely love the Harry Potter series. I bought the CDs first because I seldom have time to read, but I can clean house, fold laundry, mow the yard and do all the other mundane things one does to keep their space reasonably neat and listen to Jim Dale's presentation of all seven of the Harry Potter books at the same time. Not only do I listen to them, but I study them. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and while I have no intention of borrowing any of J.K. Rowling's phraseology, I can still learn from her writing style. I don't, at this point in time, have any desire to write a novel for boys, but J.K. Rowling's writing is bound to give boys of all ages the giggles as they read some of her more descriptive comments about finger gestures, vomiting, and other gross things that young boys would find entertaining. She writes it so beautifully that it isn't even offensive! Her writing goes way deeper than that and boys, from reading her books, learn the value of friendship and of how to be a friend. These are important things to learn in life and J.K. Rowling writes about them extremely well. When I listen to her books, I think I write better with her writing fresh in my mind.

I finally bought the Harry Potter books (thanks to Jim, I got a wonderful deal on them--only $20.00 and they were like new, still in the box) and am slowly reading them one after the other. I say slowly because I still don't have a lot of time to read--I've added learning to read music to my already crazy schedule so I have maybe twenty minutes a day to read. Sometimes I luck out and get to read an entire chapter in one sitting. That doesn't happen nearly often enough, but I still enjoy reading the books even though I can probably quote some parts of the books by heart since I'm on my 13th time of listening to the whole series. Like I said, I'm studying them. Jim Dale's voice is easy on my eardrums and pleasant to listen to--that helps considerably. J.K. Rowling's writing is so wonderful that I don't tire of it at all. I just hope I don't wear out my CDs!

I'll keep you posted on how Vortex is coming. Jim wrote to me that the chapters about Neptune's imprisonment on an arid planet were extremely well written. That's great, but I hope he thinks that of all the other chapters as we "improve" them! Smile!

Thank goodness for friends! I have wanted to update the header image to the new covers on the TIDES Series for ages, ever since Allen finished the new revised RIPTIDE cover. I fiddled around with it a couple of times, but couldn't remember how to change the header. I couldn't figure it out either. I simply don't spend enough time on my blog to retain whatever I pick up along the way so when I go back to it, I feel like I'm starting over. My friend, YaYa, helped me today and finally after struggling to create the image I wanted and getting a little help from Allen, graphic artist extraordinaire, I have the header on the blog just as I want it! Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!

Now, a couple of things: First of all, Jim (my wonderful editor) and I decided that RIPTIDE needed something more and I came up with an idea and wove it throughout the existing text. I'm much happier with it now. Then of course, there had to be a way to tell the old book from the new book so I asked Allen to come up with a cover. I told him the gist of the story and he came up with the perfect cover. If you hold your hand over the bottom half of the RIPTIDE cover, the top is serene, quiet, and lovely with just a hint of storm on the horizon. Now hold your hand over the top half. The bottom is seething with trouble, fear, and a merman about to be eaten by a deadly sargos. That just about sums up the book. Everything is wonderful on the surface, but if you watch for it, you'll find little hints of trouble to come. And come it does.

Secondly, an update on the long awaited sequel, TIDES -- Book Four: VORTEX:  Jim is, I believe, starting to surface from the daunting task he has been working on since last October--that of moving the entire contents of a very full 6000 square foot warehouse to other locations. He hopes to begin editing VORTEX the end of September if not before. I'm guesstimating that between making whatever corrections Jim suggests and working with Allen on the new cover, maybe the book will be out sometime within the first three months of the New Year. I hope. I'll keep you posted.

God bless!

Learning different kinds of patience... and the real purpose for snow!

February 1st already and my fourth book is nowhere ready to publish. I'm still waiting for the cover art on the second book, which I can hardly wait to see. Life is busy for my editor and my graphic artist and they are both teaching me patience in a way I have not learned before.

I have tons of patience with things I can control, such as knitting a lattice leaf afghan with baby yarn on size 4 needles that took 14 years to complete. Each knit row took 45 minutes so I couldn't pick it up lightly and knit a few stitches. Each pearl row took about 20 minutes because it was much less involved. The afghan is over six feet long and comfortably wide enough for one person--me. I was so glad when I finally finished it, but I store in the cedar chest. I don't dare put it on the back of the couch like I had originally intended. Well, that's another kind of patience...

My dogs. Oh, good grief! I have had dogs all my life. There has rarely been a time in my life when I haven't had at least one dog and often times, I've had two or three. I had two Great Danes, brother and sister, that I raised from six weeks old until death. I lost Worf prematurely when he was six years old because his kidneys shut down. Jadzia lived to be ten years, four months, and five days--a long time for a Great Dane. The average life span for a Great Dane is eight years. I consider myself blessed to have had her for so long.

People warned me before I bought my Great Dane puppies that they would tear my yard up and destroy my house. I had had Great Danes before, many years ago, and I didn't remember them being that bad. And by and large, they weren't. Oh, they did chew on my oak fern table that I had specially made, they chewed on the trim of my Pella French doors (grrrrrr!), and they ripped off the front ruffle on my brand new couch (note to self: never buy new furniture just before bringing home a new puppy! Or new puppies, as in this case) and they opened a hole on my favorite perch in my whole house, my "momma bear" size recliner, in which I am now sitting. BUT all this is nothing to the motley pair of dogs I now have.

Nimbus was free to a good home. He is part black lab and part beagle. I'm not fond of beagles--I find their bark irritating and Nimbus has learned to stop barking on command. Over a year later, my friend Mary called me and asked me if I still wanted another Great Dane as a companion for Nimbus. I did and Luna is part Great Dane and part American Bulldog--the tall kind, not the short, squat breed with the turned in front legs. Note the names of these two critters--they came with these names and since I'm a great fan of Harry Potter, I saw no reason to change their names.

On with learning patience. Nimbus would be content to eat, sleep, eat some more, sleep some more, and sit around letting me pet him for hours on end. He especially likes being pet under his chin.

Luna just wants to play, eat a little, play, sleep a little, play, and rough house constantly. Nimbus is fortunately her favorite target, although I occasionally come under fire. Luna, like my Great Dane, Jadzia, is a thief and very destructive. My notebook that chronicled over ten years of walking on my treadmill has been destroyed. I find pieces and parts of things that I sometimes can't identify--only knowing that someday when I may want to use it, it will be destroyed and I won't be able to find it. Now, I am constantly having to make sure that anything on my kitchen countertops is pushed way back and I have to wash off muddy paw prints several times per day or when I get home from work. The Great Danes never--and I do mean never--tracked in mud like these two. When I finally took a moment to ponder this, I realized the Great Danes had never totally destroyed the grasses and weeds that grew up in their compound. They had paths they stuck to and I had to mow the compound on a regular basis. Last summer, I mowed the compound once all summer! The grasses are totally destroyed and only a few weeds dared to grow over  a foot high and the rest died out. Hence, every time it rains, the compound is muddy and guess who tracks in as much mud as they possibly can...

However, I have noticed of late that I no longer have paw prints on the countertops, not that I can see anyway. I had vainly hoped that Luna was learning to not jump up on the counters with her front paws, but alas, it's not so. The reason I no longer have muddy paw prints all over my kitchen floor and my countertops is because there is this lovely thick layer of snow covering the compound. I still have to sweep and mop the kithen floor and I don't dare prepare any food without scouring the kitchen countertops first, but at least, I'm not seeing mud everywhere I look. I believe that is the real purpose for snow--to make the world (and my kitchen) look clean and bright--at least when it first falls. I truly hate cold weather and have every intention of moving to a more temperate climate in the next few years, and while I have always loved watching snow lazily falling to earth, I've never been fond of wind-driven snow that heralds a blizzard. However, at long last, I have a new appreciation for snow--it makes keeping my house reasonably clean easier--and I'm all for that. J