Made a run to the post office this afternoon and got the Angel Sister galleys sent in. I know most of you writers would have hit the send button. But I really like my postal workers and wouldn’t want to deprive them of a job. 🙂 That’s only partially true. Actually I haven’t learned how to use the edit tracking stuff on my word processor. That’s sad, isn’t it? I think I’m going to practice up before the next editing deadline. But I do enjoy editing on an actual manuscript. There’s just something about seeing the words on paper that’s different from seeing them on the screen. Gives me a whole new perspective.
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Of course, I edit my drafts on screen all the time. I haven’t printed out a draft to work over since The Scent of Lilacs. I printed that book out to work it over in an effort to make it the very best I could. You see that book was a career marker. If it hadn’t found a loving editor, I was going to have to seriously consider if I should keep trying to write. Well, I might have kept writing. I doubt I could actually quit writing completely. But would I have kept working so hard? Maybe I would have said it was time to give it up. To stop beating my head against a wall trying to find a publisher for what I wrote. Maybe I would have decided planting flowers and playing with grandkids was more rewarding than writing page after page of words that no one wanted to read. And I would have just played at writing.
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But the Lord answered the prayer of my heart with that book. He let me find a loving editor and set my feet on a whole new path of writing. A path I like. I enjoy writing stories for the inspirational market. I like it when my characters look to the Lord for answers. I feel blessed when a story comes together and is finally out there for readers. It’s great when a reader tells me my story touched her or him or was an encouragement during a hard time. A reader left a comment on my Facebook page last week to tell me that she re-dedicated her life to the Lord after reading that final church scene in Orchard of Hope. When I think about the Lord using my made up story to make that reader’s life better, I’m amazed and humbled. But I’m also happy when readers are just entertained by my stories and put them down with a smile after they read the last page.
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So I did get the edits finished on Angel Sister. A lot of pesky little wording problems. My pet word seems to be still in this book. There are just some words that help a writer move along with her story. Still, too many stills begin to echo in a reader’s ear. So I word searched and edited out some of them. Not all of them. Some of those stills hunkered down and sat real still so I wouldn’t notice them all that much. So they’re still there. Are you seeing why I still have a problem with still? :o(!!
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I am so looking forward to this book being published in February. It’s been a long time in the process since we wanted the Shaker books to release first. And don’t worry. If you like the Shaker books, there are going to be some more of those too. The Blessed will be out next summer. But in between Revell is mixing in some historicals that aren’t about the Shakers but that I’m hoping readers will enjoy too. Especially this first one. A story of my heart and from my mom’s heart since her memories of growing up during the Depression years were the germ of the idea that became Angel Sister.
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It was a beautiful day down here on the farm. I met my deadline for edits. Darrell mowed hay and it’s not looking like rain. My old dog stayed home. Mom was feeling a little better. And I got to go to an ice cream supper at church. Hope you had a good day too. Thanks for reading.
