This week my editor, Katrina Robinson, and I finished all the editing on Charlie No Face and sent it on to the publisher. Now it moves on to the next phase - - - lay up. First, though, our publisher, Dan Janik, had both of us agree via email that we were absolutely done with edits, changes, etc. No turning back was the obvious message. As for the next phase, lay up involves the following: vacuuming the manuscript a final time to eliminate any nasty typos, misspellings and punctuation errors (Hmm, sounds like editing to me!); changing the manuscript into book format; creating front and back covers; initiating some pre - release marketing; and then, Ta Da!, preparing for the actual book release. The time line is 2 - 3 months although on the Savant Books and Publications website (www.savantbooksandpublications.com) Charlie is listed for a September 2010 release. We’ll see.
Today Savant cover artist, Helen Babalis, joined the team. Katrina and I have made cover suggestions. I will be eager to see what Helen comes up with.
This week I also hit the 100 page milestone in my new novel, Chimney Bluffs. That’s roughly 29,000 words. To put this into perspective, Charlie No Face was 323 manuscript pages (probably 275 book pages) and 103,000 words, give or take.
I say milestone because now I will take a break, let the foundation of the novel settle a little bit and then re - read it with a critical eye: Does it flow? Are the characters believable? Does it say too much or too little? Does it draw you in? Does it create curiosity? Is the central dilemma and theme of the story emerging and developing? Probably most important of all: Do I like it?
The most recent issue I have tackled in Chimney Bluffs is how two people could arrive at the same conclusion about what to do after the death of their child for completely different reasons. More to the point, how could two people find themselves on the edge of a cliff, willing to jump, but for reasons that are as different as night and day? Here’s hoping I can figure that out.

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