In Love with Editing, Except When I Hate It

Kai Strand

by Kai Strand, Guest Blogger

Pen and Ink is delighted to welcome Guest blogger Kai Strand as part of her blog tour for her new book. Beware of the White

Slouching in front of the computer, you run a hand through your hair and stare blankly at your novel.

You’ve revised it numerous times. Critiquers have dissected it until you had to blink back tears and step away from the screen. You’ve read it aloud. You even read it backward. This book is ready!

Blowing a kiss and a muttering a plea, you hit the enter button and send your submission. THREE days later you get an acceptance. Yes, this happened to me. After nine years of working on my novel, the last submission (of many) was the charm. I explained the inspiration behind the book on Mayra Calvani’s blog and talked about my love/hate relationship during the journey to publication on Nancy Stewart’s blog and how when I hit the send button I was in love with the story.

As you can imagine, getting an acceptance kept me in love with my book. FINALLY people saw what I’ve always seen about this story. And imagine how crazy it was to receive an introduction email from my content editor two weeks later. I was thrilled to be working with a company that moved so fast. Except, then I got the first editorial letter one week later.

Before I submitted I had majorly overhauled the book and then went through it again with a fine-tooth comb. So that means I’d just finished two complete passes of the book and was asked to do a major edit three weeks later. I’d been expecting months to pass before I had to go into the book again. Guess how I felt about the book then? Right – I was a hater.

But the questions my editor asked in that first pass really inspired me to dig deep. I thought I’d already done that! Yet she asked for more compelling character motivations and more distinct descriptions. She pointed out where I still need more varied sentence structure or less passive voice (Jeez, I thought I’d caught all of that!) She appreciated my use of metaphor to the point where she asked me to tone it down a bit.

I used every moment of the time she’d given me to do that first round of edits. Seriously. My husband shopped, cooked and ran the kids around. I just sat and edited and edited and edited. Even then I was rather worried that I didn’t have a chance to do a read through before I returned it to her. I felt good about the work I’d done, though, and was cautiously in love with my book again. But I’d made some pretty big changes, so I was a bit worried I would receive an email that said, “Whoa! Slow down there cowboy.” Or something.

But I didn’t. As a matter of fact she was just as happy with the changes as I was and the next couple rounds of edits were basically mopping up sessions. I loved working with Katie Carroll on the content edits of Beware of the White. It is so good for your book when you and your editor ‘click.’

After my final read-through before publication…I was IN LOVE! Thank you to MuseItUp for such a great publication experience.

I hope you’ll be IN LOVE too! I’m celebrating the launch of BEWARE OF THE WHITE with a blog tour and an epic prize package giveaway. GFC followers of the Pen & Ink blog even get an easy entry in the big giveaway.

Tour Schedule and Prize Packages Giveaway can be found HERE: http://kaistrand.blogspot.com/2013/05/launch-of-beware-of-white-by-kai-strand.html

But wait! There’s more!!!!! SPONTANEOUS GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GFC followers of the Pen & Ink blog get double bonus! I’m giving away one ecopy of BEWARE OF THE WHITE to a lucky reader. But this is a fast and furious giveaway, so be quick about your entries. Enter below and then hop over to my blog to enter that giveaway of book related prizes.

About the book

As is tradition, Terra learns on the Saturday past her twelfth birthday that she is a Natures Spirit. It is her legacy to serve in the peaceful underground city of Concord. Learning she is named in a prophecy and being threatened by the leader of the death tribe…that part breaks tradition.

The Trepidus are the death janitors of the Underworld, responsible for delivering fatalities with a smile and cleaning up after themselves until Blanco, recent leader of the Trepidus, decides the day of reckoning for his species is coming. He begins organizing the creatures and leads them toward an uprising. The prophecy says there is one person who can stop him. Terra.

With Spirit of Security, Frank, protecting her, Terra attempts to complete her training and discover her Spirit talents. Together, they go on a rogue investigation to learn how to defeat Blanco. In the end, it comes down to a battle of the minds. The future of Concord is at stake. Will Blanco, the older, more experienced being win? Or will Terra, the young, new Spirit earn back the peace of the city?

Buy It:

Muse It Up

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Or look for it on iTunes

  

About the author

Kai Strand writes fiction for kids and teens. Her debut novel, The Weaver, was a finalist in the 2012 EPIC eBook Awards. She is a (very lucky) wife and the mother of four amazing kids. The most common sound in her household is laughter. The second most common is, "Do your dishes!" She and her family hike, geocache, and canoe in beautiful Central Oregon, where they call home.

To find out more about Kai’s books, download companion documents, find links to her published short stories and discover all the places to find Kai both virtually and in person, visit her website: www.kaistrand.com. She loves to hear from readers, so feel free to send her an email or visit her facebook page, Kai Strand, Author.

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