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Some of one’s nearest and dearest don’t want to read
Maybe I shouldn’t ask them, but they did have a choice. And there’s no reason why they should prioritise it, but two of them do, which is lovely. Some find it difficult to read the early chapters which seem semi autobiographical to them. Others have other things to do first and may never get around…
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The reading group
I’ve got my pre-publication reading group together now, comprising of most of my children and other family members. I might add other people as we go along, but for now it feels like enough. I’m sharing book one with them as I record the audio draft version, so that they have the choice of reading…
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The first audio
Having finished (or thought I’d finished! About which, more to come…) the final edit of History Maps 1: User Interface, I decided to read it out loud into my phone’s voice recorder app, to see how it sounds. I’m so glad I’ve done this. Reading the first chapter out loud and listening to it playing…
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Maybelle and Jack
He absolutely loves to troll her and she sets herself up for it, with her insults and her pomposity. But, having just edited the chapter including the two of them and the VR set, I have to wonder if she sneakily does understand him and is only pretending not to. And maybe he knows that,…
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Audible, self-publishing, confidence, criticism
I had a good chat with a dear friend this morning (thanks, Dion!) about recording the Audible version of my books. I want to read them out loud, at least to myself, as part of the editing process, but it would also be great to be the narrator, at least in the first instance, of…
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Places in which I have worked on these books.
The other desk, in my middle daughter’s maths tuition lessons. The waiting room, in my youngest daughter’s play therapy sessions. The car, on many occasions, usually waiting for someone. (Today, it’s middle daughter’s job interview that I’m waiting to be over, so I can hear how it went and we can go elsewhere.) Just about…
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The Queen has died
She seemed like such a permanent part of the fixtures and fittings of our country, that I imagined she’d live forever. It’s made me think of mortality, and how much time we might have left. None of us is completely safe from the grim reaper. I know, she was very old and it was to…
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Last edit. Chapter 22.
It’s tempting to just keep editing and never stop, but there has to come a time when I draw a line and declare it to be Good Enough, otherwise the books will never be published. This is my third read through and therefore my third edit. It’s probably enough. If I call it the last…
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I’ve trained my brain in one chapter chunks
I think this might explain why I only seem able to edit one chapter at a time. I wrote the first draft this way, chapter by chapter, the rule being that each one must contain at least two thousand words. So of course, most of them contain just over two thousand words and no more.…
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“Now, that has to cool and you have to edit,”
…I said, to myself just now. “That” being jam, which I’ve heated up to liquify it, to sweeten some kombucha that I’ve made, before I bottle it. I’m so busy making pills, ferments, teas and potions that the editing, as ever, is taking a back seat. Didn’t get any done yesterday or the day before.…