#thiswritinglife
Some people who like my books have formed an organization called the Danamaniacs. They have a page on Facebook, here, and have given me permission to post there. On June 5th, I gave them an update on the status of Theft of an Idol, aka Isis3 or the third Eye of Isis novel, as follows:
I live in Alaska and the Isis3 proofreader lives in the UK, which means I get the proofs 9 hours earlier than they send ’em to me. So I’m working my way through them this sunny Sunday evening in between going outside every hour and moving the sprinkler around.
Editing proofs is always an exercise in humility anyway, but just in case you thought I was perfect (You didn’t? You DIDN’T??) I have just discovered that in the middle of a heartfelt speech about Uncle Neb Tetisheri says
“The war and everything to do with it made him miserable. He hates waste above all else. I truly believe he felt every dollar spent to arm and train a soldier as a personal affront and every casualty suffered as another lost customer.”
What’s wrong with this picture. Oy. Also eek. I heart proofreaders.
The ‘maniacs thought this was hilarious, of course, but let’s lean in and do a little forensic analysis on how we got here, shall we?
- I missed that on the rough draft.
- I missed that on the final draft.
- The editorial reviewer missed it.
- I missed it on the rewrite.
- The copyeditor missed it.
- I missed it again on my edit of the copyedit.
- The proofreader finally noticed, writing demurely, “Should this be ‘drachma’ (the most frequently mentioned currency in all the books)?”
Should it, hell.
Further, on occasion Marguerite Gavin (aka Shannon Parks), who narrates my audiobooks, will let me know about errors she has spotted. By then the whole process is too far along to get fixes into the print edition but we can get them into the e-books.
The lesson for today is this:
You cannot have too many eyes on your books.
And know that, no matter how hard you and everyone else works at it, your book will never go to press without at least one big goober in it.
Know also that fans will notice and be sure to tell you about it.
*All currencies will be in drachma
or in other coinage chronologically compatible
to the time.
Chatter Eye of Isis Writing cleopatra Eye of Isis Theft of an Idol
Thank God for proofreaders! I can’t believe the number of “errors” (especially grammatical and spelling errors) that occur in books. And even more so, in the newspapers.
It is awful. And as agonizing for the writer as it is the reader, believe me.