Shifting gears

Other than a few days of an Amazon promotion, and the occasional tweet, my promotions have all run out. I really should post an update about how it all went, but I'll wait until everything concludes.

I got to the writing cabin early this morning. Frost covered the field out my window as I landed. Lisa* already had the coffee made and a fire burning in my office. She wore her Daisy May top, tight jeans, and calf high boots.

I poured a cup and went to work.

Doubt** the raven paced across my desk. He new what the next phase was before I even got to the cabin. It was time for editing.

I opened The Playground on my iPad and started reading.

Kaw!

“Oh yeah. I'd better capitalize the Professor. It's a title, but also a nickname.” I made the change and forged ahead.

Kaw Kaw kaw!

“I missed a few, but they're all fixed. Happy?”

He paced back across my desk. Crick crick blork.

“Yes, there are multiple point of view characters. This one is like three short stories that weave together to tell a bigger story. Remember when we watched Pulp Fiction together? This is my personal challenge for this story.”

Doubt paced back and forth across my desk, waving his head side to side. Everyone is a critic it seems.

My own doubts increased as we worked through seven chapters. The raven pecked my hand when I allowed a typo to slide past.

Blork blork!

“You have to look at the whole novel. Each character has a story, but they reveal a bigger story. I don't know, maybe this was a bad idea.”

I banged my head against the desk. “Why did I use a nickname again?”

The sound of banging brought Lisa to check on me. Doubt flew over to his perch.

“Maybe it's time for a break,” she said.

“I like this story, but it's driving me crazy. Does each character get enough development? Am I going to miss one of the Professor's capital letters? Maybe I should just finish it and trunk it. There's room in the cave for another trunk novel.”

“Why don't you just do a word search and check the capitalization that way?”

“That seems like a good idea, but I've already done my word searches. Now I'm reading through, and don't want to lose my place.”

“Just make a note and search it after you read through. You could mark your place, search, then go back to reading.”

“Maybe I should just chuck the whole thing in the fireplace.”

“It's an electronic file.”

“Maybe there's an app for that. Some kind of e-fireplace.”

“There isn't, but I know what might help. Remember your editing jacket? It always helps you sort through the rough places. You wear it for a while, think things through, and come back for round two later.”

“This is round two. That would be round three.”

“Stick out your arms.”

You're jealous of my editing jacket.

Lisa placed her hands on her hips. “There, all better now. I'll make you some soup, and you can work on it later.”

*Lisa Burton is my personal assistant, and a robot. She is also the spokesmodel for Entertaining Stories.

**Doubt is a raven. He was a gift from my Muse to help me work through the editing process.