In other worlds . . .
Last week my husband and I were driving on top of a North Carolina mountain in a community called Stonebridge. We were about to pass a road called Bobcat Crossing. Right as we neared the sign, a bobcat ran out of the woods and crossed the road in front of us. No kidding! It’s always fun to see a wild animal, but this time the circumstances couldn’t be beat!!
If I put that in a book, people would say, “That’s too far-fetched, too contrived.” Sometimes “real” is wonderfully far-fetched!
I have had two very good editors over the past few years, who have affirmed as well as criticized. What I am about to say is absolutely no reflection on them.
Let me assure you–getting your manuscript edited is a mammoth, huge, colossal undertaking. It is necessary to listen to someone who will point out all the mistakes in your precious story and disagree with you on how to say things. What I have found through first-hand scientific research is that THIS IS NOT EASY.
However, it makes the story better, which is good for the readers. I love writing but I don’t write for me–I write for my readers. So what makes the story better for them is more important than anything else. Plus, it could possibly be said that a little humbling is maybe good for me. 🙂
Light Messages Publishing Company has accepted my 3rd book in the Montaland Series–Benk and the Ugly Princess! I am very happy and look forward to sharing it.
Here’s an excerpt:
Princess Pearlrope Diamonde Primrose peered intently into the bathroom mirror. There was a Welcome to Spring Reception in the courtyard that morning, and she wanted to make sure she looked right.
Picking up a bottle, she squeezed a drop of pus onto the end of a stick and dabbed it close to her nose. There—it was in place but it would ooze down her cheek unless—quickly she squirted red liquid from another bottle over the pus. It dried instantly, holding the pus on her cheek but letting a little dribble from the top. A perfect blotch!
“One of my best,” she said with satisfaction, studying it from all angles in the obliging mirror.