Penticton Bound

Today, I finished revising the last chapter of my Casey Holland mystery and am about to send the entire book to my editor for one last look before it goes to the publisher. It’s been an incredible two and a half months: intense, meaningful, joyful. I’m rarely happier than when I see my work change for the better. That’s what it’s all about, growing and developing skills to become a better writer and produce the best book I can. By the way, the new title is THE OPPOSITE OF DARK.

While the book is in the publisher’s hands, I’ll be driving to Penticton, BC for a book signing event at:

Hooked on Books, 225 Main Street, Penticton
Friday, July 2nd from 11 to 3 p.m.

Besides chatting with people and signing books, there might also be a discussion about mysteries and possibly a reading from FATAL ENCRYPTION. It all depends on what the customers want. If you live in the area, I hope to see you there!

As always, my amateur sleuth, Vancouver-based, Alex Bellamy mysteries can be purchased at
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Editing Progress Report #3

Many writers talk about being in the zone while they write, especially when creating new work. I’ve experienced this somewhat over the years, but a long immersion in my work is a rare event. On average, my focus lasts twenty or thirty minutes a couple of times a day. My mind’s always pulled away by my kids, errands, day jobs, housework, driving, cooking and so on. Certainly, my thoughts drift to writing projects now and then, especially while washing dishes, but those thoughts don't last more than a few moments.

For the first time, though, I think I understand what it means to really be in the zone. Since I began the editing process five weeks ago, I’ve rarely stopped thinking about this book. New ideas and improvements are popping up all the time.

Five weeks ago, I never dreamed of the changes I’ve come up with over the past two weeks. My editor says I’m making great progress and she’s pleased with my suggestions so far. Over the past four days, I’ve edited chapters 7, 8 and 9 and will begin chapter ten later today. Chapter 7 took two full days of work because I was cutting a character whose purpose can be transferred to another character. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Once I started incorporating my ideas with my editor’s and tried to simplify the chapter, I quickly realized it was going to take a lot of concentration and several run-throughs in places.

This week, I’ll be sending my editor the first eleven chapters to read through to see how the edited version reads. It’s a third of the book and if the changes are good, the next eleven should go by fairly smoothly. On the other hand, who knows how many new ideas will pop up the next time I’m washing dishes?

As always, my amateur sleuth, Vancouver-based, Alex Bellamy mysteries can be purchased at
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

At last, the Push is Over

My, oh my, I started the final edit for Fatal Encryption on January 7th. I worked on it every day and finished it on March 10th. What had been a 388 page book is now 370 pages, and on that score alone I'd say it was worth the effort.

You know, I thought I had a pretty polished manuscript when I gave it to my editor (and this was her second go with it), but she came up with 5 pages of comments on everything from commas and dialogue tags to awhile vs. a while. And she pointed out that I had a particular fondness for the word "plunk". God knows why I used it so often because I never use this word in everyday language. But she also thought I'd written a clever, funny, entertaining book, so the 5 pages didn't seem so bad.

After I finished the rewrite I gave the book to my husband for proofreading because he does a fair amount of this in his work, and he does it well. He's a meticulous, detail-oriented man...okay, some might call him anal, but that's perfectly okay when it comes to book production. Sure enough, he found a half-dozen pages with a double period at the end of a sentence, or a quotation mark missing, and there was even one word missing from a sentence.

I've learned two things about this process, beyond the grammar and punctuation stuff. One is that the best feature in Word is the "Find" key, because it'll find all those "plunks" and double periods in a split-second. The other is that I could change and tweak and ponder over words here and there for years and still wouldn't be satisfied that I'd created the perfect book. But for the time and skill I have at this point in my life, it's as close as I can get.

I'll let you know when the sample chapters are up on my website.

Debra Purdy Kong
www.debrapurdykong.com

IPods and the Final Push is Nearly Over

Thanks to Ric Wasley for his wonderful post on empty nests and IPods. I would have e-mailed my comments but I don't know his address. Anyhow, three days ago, I acquired my first IPod - a cute little silver thing. Yesterday, my 19 year-old-daughter (who still lives at home, but dreams of leaving when she's finished university and has a real job) taught me how to download CDs onto iTunes (I didn't know iTunes existed until yesterday), and then onto the IPod. It's very cool because I can now listen to those CDs--on my walks, or in my car --that have been neglected for years. My daughter's also responsible for creating my website and is almost as excited about my soon-to-be-released book as I am.

Mercifully, I am nearly finished the final edit of FATAL ENCRYPTION. I've managed nearly 300 pages over the past four weeks and am down to the last 70 or so. It's been fun and exhilerating, but it's only the beginning of the hard work that's to come. Which reminds me, if I ask real nice, she'll help me put up sample chapters and the new jacket cover by this time next week. Stay tuned.

http://www.debrapurdykong.com/