FINAL GALLEYS

So I got the final galleys for THE MAN IN THE BOAT this past week. As I'm going through them with a fine tooth comb since this is the very last chance to correct typos or other simple mistakes (e.g., the hero was working in clay, then marble, then clay again for the same piece), I notice awkward phrases, unnecessary words, and other stuff I'm always telling other people not to do.

How can this happen? I ask myself. I had a copy editor and a line editor. They went through it, sent me corrections, I sent it back, they went through it again, sent it back to me, I sent it back to them... Altogether the three of us went through the blooming manuscript eight or more times!

I guess the truth is, there are always things we could do better. Anyway, the galley corrections are now in. I'm still waiting on my cover art though. I'm anxious to see what it looks like!

HARD BOOK vs KINDLE

Someone recommended a book on writing I hadn't read. (Unusual because I think I've read kazillions!) So I look on Amazon to find it. Sure enough, it's there.

The trade paperback edition is $6.61 while the Kindle copy is $13.99. I'm a Prime member (my guy uses it for the streaming movies) so I don't pay shipping. So I think: 6.61 vx 13.99; 6.61 vs 13.99. I love my Kindle but...

I order the trade paperback. Now I'm reading and trying to press buttons to turn pages. But I'll survive.

Oh, and after getting about a third of the way through, I realize it still isn't as good as my old favorite, SELF-EDITING FOR THE FICTION WRITER. But that's okay. It never hurts to read about craft. There may be something in here I didn't know or had forgotten.

I do think they need to set Kindle prices as low as the paperbacks though.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

All right. I'm doing a blog. I've signed up for FaceBook. I'm in several writing groups and on several writing links (besides my publisher's groups). I've joined Google's groups. I'm on LinkedIn. And I'm on GoodReads.

I'm blogging, reviewing books, reading books and doing email. Oh, and keeping up with my edits as they come, too.

But I'm rather hard-pressed to find time for writing. I'm wondering if it's a procrastination issue or if I need to stop being such a virtual social butterfly.

WAITING

Is there anything worse than waiting to hear back from someone? Whether it's the plumber, the doctor, the pharmacy, the kids.... Doesn't matter. It's always hard waiting for that letter, that email, the phone.

And waiting on submitted writing is even worse. But there's nothing you can do about it except forget it's out there and go do something else.

Like clean out the dryer. Or the dishwasher. Or start supper.

Yeah, sure. Ugh. I'd rather hang out on the computer.

WIMPY HEROINE

Usually I have problems with my heroes. But in this latest, my heroine isn't coming across very well and I'm not sure what to do about it.

One suggestion was to make her more decisive, to get her to stop wrestling with what people expect and forge out on her own. I'm not quite sure how this will work but I'm game. However, I suspect the problem lies in two areas: her personality and the era.

The era is the early sixties, when women were still expected to be nurses and not doctors, teachers and not principals. And if a woman didn't marry after high school, or at least by the time she finished college, she was regarded as -- alas it's true -- an old maid.

So my heroine is toddling along in her career, uneasy because she's over thirty and not married, but unenthusiastic about committing to any man.

So now I have to figure out a way to make her attractive to today's readers.

Sigh. Can it be done?