Editors

Not much known about editors really.  Who are they and what do they do? Well, in short-- they edit. And they are an invaluable tool when it comes to writing a novel, an article or any piece you really want to be taken seriously.

If you self publish, there are two tools a writer should never be without. First and foremost, is a proofreader. My buddy Pat, who recently published HIS novel (www.greatmusicradio.com), swears by his old high school teacher, who drove him bats when he was in school but has now become an invaluable part of his post-story team. Proofreaders catch all the little issues you miss, and understand all the little grammatical mistakes you make because, when they were teaching grammar in school, you were busy cutting class with your buddies. They save you from a lot of embarrassing mistakes.

Second comes the editor. They're the ones who say, move this here, move that there, lose this, expand on that, etc. They're the ones who tell you to get rid of the character you love and add more body and depth to the character you  hate. Editors can be enormous pains in the southern regions, but they're the ones who see what you don't see. What you think is a finished and polished character may come off completely differently when read in context with the story. What you think is a brilliant dialogue might be totally out of place. Editors give a pace and style to your story---- they don't alter it, they just enhance its readability.

Understand going in that it will be a tempestuous relationship, almost like marriage. There will be times you won't be on speaking terms and there'll be times you'll be filled with love and gratitude. Don't get too high or low-- they're editors. It's their jobs to be critical.

But always make sure you hook up with an editor who understands the genre you're writing. They can't be clueless if you're writing about baseball, say, or 60's rock and roll history. Take their advice, ride with it, look at what they're asking. Then ask someone outside your comfort circle to read it. Chances are, you'll see, the majority of their changes and comment are for the good.

Oh yes, your comfort circle. Let's discuss that tomorrow.

Some General Question Answered

I get friends, family and now, a few readers (yeay!) asking some questions they don't want to have to blog, to ask. So I've put about 3 or 4 of them together here, and will continue to do that from time to time.

Question #1--- Why London?

Answer-- Pretty simple really. Watson spent his entire life there-- why would his child leave? The bigger question would've been, whether he served in the British military, as his father did. The answer of course is, he was too young for WW1 and too old for WW2.

Question #2----Was shielding his name from the Yard too much of a deception?

Answer---No. It was done because his father was afraid using his real name and the connections many would make by it's association would cause major issues with higher up's. Holmes, while respected, was not openly admired or welcomed by some of the force. Murph's father felt this could impede his progress through thee ranks, if  Murph decided to make a career of it. It simply helped even the playing field.

Question #3 ( most popular one to date)----You call Chief Inspector Bryson, 'a lifer' with the Yard and place his age in the story at 48. That means he might've joined the the Yard in time to know Holmes personally as  well. Is that the source of his discontent with Holmes?

Answer----No. Holmes was already semi-retired at that point, though he still kept his hand in the business of crime. Bryson, however, would have been a young impressionable lad. It's possible, in being schooled by some of the old timers (which could have included Lestrade and/or Gregson) that he got an earful or two about Holmes and thus, shaped his opinions starting at an early age. 

Question #4---- Why let Murphy tell the story. Why not let it be told in third person?

Answer---- Because this is Murph's story. He should tell it.

Keep those questions coming. Nothing an author loves to do more than talk about his characters. I also want to talk more about the whole editing and publishing process but I'll get to that tomorrow.

Self publishing

Gotta tell you--- I am a big fan of self publishing.

A lot of work? Hell yes. You assume the reigns of an entire publishing house, from reading to marketing to setting up your face to face meet and greets to interviews. You arrange for your own editor and proof reader and become your own design consultant, even though self pub sites tend to have solid, if not simplistic, cover design creators. You have to beg, plead, grovel and cajole friends and family alike to try to get some traction and spread the word. You have to call in massive favors and hope that what you're asking for can make a difference. I have friends who've done this--- and more. They smile when they tell the war stories but you know---- it's really tough on them after a while. 

Formatting? Most sites will do it for you and help you along step by step. But, as easy as they make it, this is still the world of computers and glitches will send you up a wall. I had a few that caused two false starts and about two weeks of troubleshooting before I was able to track down the little darlings. 

But in the end, you get an amazing opportunity-----you can publish your own work. It's your dream, bound in hard or soft cover and sitting there on your desk, just like you imagined it would one day. No longer are you at the mercy of some 22 year old English major who couldn't find a job teaching once they left college so they became a reader at a publishing house for starvation level wages while living in their parent's basement. They're the ones that decide whether you get the privilege of talking to someone about the possibility that maybe there's slight interest in looking over your work for the purpose of maybe adding it to their 2019 schedule. Oh wait, what's that..? You're a first time author...? Sorry---- only SERIOUS writers are considered. 

No---- when you self publish you bypass all that.  You put success or failure in the hands of the people who read. And that's really the way it should be. Your success story starts with one idea------'what if?' It's where mine began---- and I still have miles to go before I sleep (apologies to the late Robert Frost) . But today, I have an actual book on the marketplace. And I can sit back and say, let the readers judge. No one else, qualified or not, will decide whether my story should or shouldn't be published. It is. Thank you one and all that made that possible.

Go for it. It's a great feeling.

What's This About the Spelling thing-y's

OK, so as many are reading the book, two questions come up. First, why the changes from British spelling of some words ( like colour instead of color) and why are the same words spelled in the Americanized version in places? 

Second, what about Mueller's name? In some places it's Muller or Mueler.

OK, first, the spelling. I tried to bring a little flavor to the book. When British characters are talking, or they're involved in describing the scene, I use the British spelling. When Americans are speaking, it's in the standard U.S. spelling. Hope that helps.

Second, the difference in the spelling of Mueller. No, those aren't typos that slipped by the editor. I simply wanted to portray some confusion with regard to who he is or when he's discovered.  In other words, prior to actually discovering he exists, it's spelled in different ways, tying to emphasize the confusion about him. After he's revealed, the name is spelled the same way----Mueller.

Thanks for the questions. I'll get to more later on.

Just a Few Tweaks

Sorry for the tweaks and misfires regarding ordering the book on Kindle. With the process we're using to publish, every little change requires a 24 hour reset. It's frustrating but I don't anticipate any more false starts. Thanks for hanging with us.

Building Backwards

One of the more unusual aspects of writing and completing 'Hidden Legacy' was the idea that, although I've had the idea about the story for over six years, I began to craft the body of the story after blasting through the last chapter( Epilogue) in one amazing burst of late night frenetic energy. 

Actually,  the way I always write my best material is to 'hear' the dialogue in my head (usually when I'm walking, swimming or driving, the three best places to find yourself isolated and able to think). Once that happens, I race to find a spot where I can write it all down, then begin to refine and play it out. My family gets weirded out when I 'talk' through a story, but verbalizing it helps me understand the characters and the action, and makes the characters less two dimensional. 

Anyway, "Hidden Legacy' started as the Epilogue. I knew that's where the book had to begin--- with the ultimate confrontation. From there, it was easy to build backwards, blocking ideas, action and dialogue to create a flow that lead to those final few pages. You be the judge whether it came out all right.

One other advantage of doing things this way is, now you know how the book will end. That may sound silly, but all those of you who are stream-of-consciousness writers like I am know EXACTLY what I mean. After all, sometimes, we let our stories run in directions we hadn't anticipated. For me, that happened quite a few times in the course of building the different ideas. Good thing I was rooted in knowing, I have to get to this one point. Had I not, I may have given in to temptation and allowed myself to follow a completely different path.

It was the easiest part of the story to write. It was the most rewarding. And, as it turned out, it created a defined major character that I had no real trouble giving a  soul too. I'm very grateful it worked out this way.

What say you? Did the book deliver on its promise at the end, or not? 

Welcome

Welcome to my first novel.

This blog is meant to be a place to exchange ideas, thoughts, comments, likes and dislikes about 'Hidden Legacy'. It's been an exceptional experience in writing and publishing my own work, and I will share much of drama and triumphs with you. Mostly though, I want to talk about the story, while encouraging anyone with a story to tell, to tell it and publish it. The experience will change you.

Today, I'm discussing false starts. As many of you know through Facebook and Twitter, or from receiving comped copies of the book, I wanted to get started January 15th. And did. Unfortunately. But what I discovered over the course of the last six weeks is, editing is a job best left to professionals. Every time I thought I had all the typos, context conflicts and omissions fixed, more popped up.  It was announcing to the world of 5 year olds, you have Oreo's in your pocket. Just when the line ends and you think there are no more kids, more show up. Typos are insidious and evil----finally, though, I think we have crested the hill. I have targeted April 1st for the 'official' debut of the entire novel, as I want it to be seen. But I'm not 100% sure, even after four sets of eyes and 21 reads, that's I've seen the last of corrections.

Talk to me about what you liked best about the story, or what disappointed you. I'll start discussing the characters and some background in my next few blogs.