Stones

Stones on my desk

When I am thinking

I'll pick one up

and roll it around

in my hand

they're cool and smooth

and reassuring

they're simple

and astonishing

and I love them

xx

Revisions, Copy-Editing and all that Jazz

A Bigga Mess

Closing in on last tweaks before the book is set in galleys (pages that look like book pages.) Bigga mess on desk.  It has gone something like this, over the past two years:

Write several drafts, submit to editor, receive feedback; revise, resubmit, feedback, tweaking. Ms. 'approved' and goes to copy editor and then comes back to me with questions. Fix it, resubmit, a few more tweaks, off it goes again to be set in galleys.

[Meanwhile:  begin first draft of next book.]

Meanwhile:  talks with editor regarding cover art and interior art  (that begins shortly after editor first sees manuscript, and is ongoing until book is ready for publication.)

Next: first-pass galleys will arrive in a month or two and we'll all (me, editor, etc.) proofread.  Tweak. Fix.

While we're doing that, marketing and publicity and sales departments are ramping up with their expertise.

Then:  second-pass galleys arrive; proofread, tweak, fix.  

[Meanwhile: continue writing drafts of next book.]

Sometimes another final pass (of first book) comes to me.  

Final art arrives. 

Advance review copies are printed (up to four or five months in advance of publication).

[Finish next book drafts; submit to editor; receive feedback; revise .  . .]

About eleven months from now:  publication day of the book that's the bigga mess on desk above.

Ta da!

Soon I will disclose the . . . title.

On the Desk, Part Two

More things on the desk . . .

Above, the essential computer plus a couple lucky turtles.

Dozens of family photos . . ..

Flowers from the yard (these are Rose of *Sharon*) 

in Ikebana vase

Mini-dark-chocolate Milky Way

Camera

And oh yes, the manuscript-in-progress:

66 pages of rough draft prose

And observing me and my desk is this squirrel

three feet in front of me

eye level.

Is your desk near a window? 

On the Desk

Back in the writing mode.  Here are a few things on the desk.  Above:  Rotring T 0.7 automatic pencil; Sharpie ultra fine point marker; Pilot Precise V5 RT pen; and Magic Rub eraser.

Above:  small index cards and colored pieces of paper for jotting notes as I go - reminders of things to fix or include in current pages.

Above:  hot tea and cold fizzy water (usually with lime).

Above: what I call a 'fingerling' - a smooth piece of wood in a pleasing shape and pattern (gift from an artist/craftsman friend.)  Helps me think in between scenes.

More 'things on the desk' in days ahead.

Do you have a favorite pen/pencil and/or beverage that aid your work?

Work Space

If I'm staying anywhere more than two weeks, I have to set up a workspace. It's a compulsion. A need. Unlike some writers who can write on airplanes or trains or in hotel rooms or cafes, I work best when I'm at home or in a place where I have a room of my own in which to work, with materials and reference books close by.

It wasn't always so. Dedicated space is a luxury. When I was first writing, I shared desk space and a typewriter with my husband. From there I graduated to a laundry/storage room.  When my son left for college, I usurped his bedroom and bought my first computer. From then on, I've had my own dedicated office/room.

The above room is in North Carolina, where my husband and I hide out for a few months each winter.

If you're a writer, I hope you have your own space. Do you?

The Clean Office

I should have taken a 'before' photo so that you could first see the chaos that was my office these past months: piles of papers, piles of books, piles of notes.  Towering piles. Toppling piles.  Piles from Switzerland. From England. From the States.

In any case, here is the 'after'--after cleaning, purging, ruthlessly tossing or filing:

And my favorite cabinet, with doors that now close:

After a few months away from a manuscript, I'm preparing to return to it, and this is part of the ritual: clear the decks, re-establish order, realign the brain!  

And while I'm in the office, here are a few of my favorite things.  First, I love these Jill Bliss notebooks:

The larger one is 5 x 7" and the smaller one is 4 x 5-1/2". The pages are smooth and inviting, either unlined or graph-i-cal (block paper, graph paper, you know what I mean?)  I use them to jot notes, titles, names, phrases. Sometimes I include favorite cartoons (lots of Harry Bliss ones). When I'm on the phone, I doodle in them or color the images.   

And then there are the pens and markers. My weakness. Alas. Here are some:

In another life, I would like to be an illustrator, one with much more talent than I now possess.

But: the office is clean, the desk is clear:  bring on the manuscript!