Like I had to ask.
Actually, it's the need for rewrites that make me want to nap. I got the edited manuscript and editorial letter for Blood Wounds yesterday at 6 PM, and thinking about making changes (and a rousing 5 AM game of Purr On The Neck) cost me a good night's sleep.
My editor actually wrote the letter (and most likely sent off the manuscript) June 8. In fact, my agent informed me today that she'd gotten a copy of the letter several days ago. I'm loathe to speak badly of UPS, but for whatever reason, they weren't speed demons about getting it to me. Maybe UPS didn't want me to have to work, in which case, UPS remains my friend. Except that I'm going to have to work anyway, and now I have a bit less time.
Fortunately for me, my editor likes Blood Wounds a lot, and made very fine, and probably not too taxing, suggestions to make it better. You may recall, if you commit this blog to memory (and if not, why not), I had some problems with my heroine attending school, when none of the book has to do with school. My editor picked up on the fact that my heroine, lovable though she is, has no friends, or at least none with a name.
Between work induced insomnia and cat induced wakefulness, my heroine now has a friend, who thank goodness (and thank me) is away for the school year. But whether she's around or away, she'll have a name (currently it's Rachel, but I may look a little more deeply at Popular Baby Names for alternates).
I haven't actually looked at the manuscript yet, just read my editor's letter a few times. And, truth to tell, I've read the parts of the letter about how good the book is a lot more than the parts of the letter that indicate where work needs to be done. Maybe I'll do that on Sunday. Tomorrow I'm going on a garden tour with a friend, and Monday I'm having my mammogram and, if I'm in the mood, a knee x-ray (I'm considering calling Monday National Radiation Day and getting them both done, although not simultaneously), and if I'm not working Saturday or Monday, then there's hardly any point to working on Sunday. Except for the fact that Thursday is my next Adam Lambert concert (when you weren't looking, I added another one in Albany in August), and Friday will be devoted to recovering from Thursday, and the following Sunday I'm going to my cousins' 50th anniversary party, and my editor would like the manuscript back by July 1, which would have been a heck of lot easier if UPS had done its part.
All of which is even more reason to take a nap right now!
6 comments:
Hi!:) heres some suggestions for a name:
Sava
Audree
Brina
Maya
Brittany
Amy
Lacy
Jacy
Shannon
Cassidy
hope i helped!:)
Hope you enjoyed your nap. :o)
WandaV
Hey, it's Sunshine :-). I'm very glad that your editor liked Blood Wounds. Although a rewrite might seem tedious and unneeded, they are for the better. I know that from personal experiences. I entered this writing contest in my school, and I wrote a love story. I had a couple of my friends read it and write any comments they had, write them in the margin. The love in the story went by quick (which I didn't realize until my friend brought up that comment). I slowed the love down to a gradual love (I liked it better that way too). I actually won second place (my x-best friend who always tried to be better than I won with a story about a spoiled girl who had to live in the city and work on a farm to teach her a lesson. That won over a tragic love story. Competitions.). Back to my point, even though you love it as it is, rewrites are for the best.
~~Sunshine :-)
P.S. Some names are: Colette, Colleen, Macy, Grace, Margarie, Stacy, Candice, Rachelle (you could make her friend European with that spelling), Ava, Emma, Sherayia,Hannah, Tawni, Mei, Julia, Emily, Bella (LOL), Annalise, Mattina, Kayla, Meghan, Savannah (I favor that one), and Mackenzye.
misty
lilianna
kaylie
kabrina
cami
margarita
keanna
krissy
Have fun doing the Blood Wounds rewrite, or napping, whichever one you choose. :) I agree with Sunshine, rewrites are for the best, even though it stinks when you finally have to do them... :D
Or if you need some more name suggestions [though you already have quite a few xD], here are some : Maggie, Maria, Margo, Dani[elle], Sami, Brooke, Em, Kristy, Mya, Kylee, Maddi, Lily, Isla, Gabi, Cassie, Laura, Mikalya, Jess, Annie, Meg, Bella, Mary Jane, Chloe, Daphne, Hanna... [sorry if I repeated anybody elses name suggestions :)]
--Courtney
P.s. I'm in Colorado :D Yay!
P.p.s. Hope this doesn't post twice...
Happy Sunday morning Anonymous and WandaV and Sunshine and Anonymous and Courtney-
It wasn't much of a nap, since my friend Christy called and we talked for a long time. But it did refresh me a little, which helped.
I went through all the name suggestions (and thank you for them all), then hopped over to Popular Baby Names, put 1996 in their date base, and looked through the choices. I ended up with Lauren, which is my default best friend name.
Lauren is so minor a character she didn't even exist in the first draft. So I needed a pleasant name, but nothing too distinctive. Other characters in the book are named Willa (the heroine), Brooke, and Alyssa, and Willa has three half-sisters whose names start with K, so I had to find a name that was different from all those names as well.
Lauren works, which is what I should be doing!
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