If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen that the release date for The Winter Garden has moved from March 31st to March 15th. When I arranged the pre-order for the story, I had left plenty of room in case I got busy with class and was unable to finish and edit it as quickly as I planned. As it turns out, I have everything ready to go about a month ahead of schedule. Part of me would love to release it today, but due to the way Amazon has the pre-order set up, I can’t move it up that far. I decided to release it two weeks early, which will allow me to do one more proofing of the opening chapters, but both the ebook and paperback will be out by March 15th. Let me tell you a little more about The Winter Garden in hopes that it will pique your interest. Continue reading “The Low-Down on The Winter Garden (IMD#2)”
The 2K International Writers’ Blog Tour – Jay Dee Archer
Jay Dee Archer
Born in a very small town in Alberta, Canada, I went through an atypical childhood as a nerd, all the way up until university. I have been living in Fujisawa, Japan, which is near Tokyo, for nearly ten years now. I’m an English teacher, but writing is my passion. I’m married and have one daughter. We will be returning to Canada next year, where I will hopefully find a lot more time to write, and a lot more privacy. Although I teach English and write, I have a university degree in physics and astronomy from the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia. This helped fuel my obsession with everything science related, including science-fiction. When I’m not writing (which is most of the time), I’m playing with my daughter, going out hiking and walking, and blogging. Through my walking, I also like doing photography, and have gone…
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The Importance of Proofing
I had a minor rude awakening this weekend. My proof copy of The Winter Garden came last weekend, so I decided I would give the book one more round of proof-reading to find some leftover typos and make sure everything was in order. I quickly found out, it was not perfect.
Somehow italics in certain chapters magically disappeared. No idea how it happened, but somewhere between the original file and the paperback, half the italics in the book did not translate. Luckily, I discovered the issue Saturday night and fixed it using Word’s compare draft feature along with control-find. At times, I wish I didn’t reference so many books or have my characters think so much, but the issue did make me very aware of what nearly skated under my quality-control radar.
This is why when you create a paperback, they send you a proof-copy to check over. At first, I didn’t notice it because half the book had italics (sprinkled throughout), but chapter two didn’t along with many others. Comb through your manuscript with eagle eyes. Take your ebook or original copy and compare it to your paperback because that is how issues like this are spotted. I didn’t notice it until I was correcting typos and had my Word file for the ebook and paperback editions both open and saw that a book title wasn’t italicized.
Apart from the italics issues, I also caught quite a few typos or awkward phrasings that were easily smoothed. Proofing is a time to put the final polish on your novel and make sure everything is up to snuff. Luckily, now it is all fixed, though I’m sure I’ll find more silly errors within the coming months, but the issues have been caught and the both formats have been finalized for publication.
What am I going to do with the 35 days between now and March 31st when The Winter Garden is released? Hopefully work on book three. More about that will come as I get further into it.
The 2K International Writers’ Blog Tour – Kimberly DuBoise
Kimberly DuBoise
I live in the Midwest with my husband, cat and dog. I have taught preschool in the public school system for ten years. I have written and published a book of poetry and a non-fiction book on faith. If I am not reading or writing I am probably cooking or walking. My blog is called the tinypoet because I am tiny- 4’6 to be exact. I have Turner Syndrome, which impacts my daily life and thus my writing.
What is the first piece you remember writing (from childhood or young adulthood)?
I wrote a book titled The Hidden Castle when I was nine and still have it. I remember choosing the cover. It was fun to illustrate, too. It is a mystery, action story that reflected my love of Nancy Drew back then! I got an A+ on it, still remember that. It meant so much to me. …
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The 2K International Writers’ Blog Tour – Suzanne M. Brazil
Suzanne M. Brazil
My name is Suzanne M. Brazil. I grew up mainly in the Midwest and live less than an hour north of Chicago with my husband and son. We have a daughter getting married in June and our son is in college. I’ve been writing my whole life. When I’m upset, happy, loving, homicidal – it all comes out first in a letter in my head. I once tap danced in a Las Vegas showgirl type outfit in a variety show in Texas and I have owned two horses (neither in Texas). I’ve been published twice in Writer’s Digest and several time in local publications. I finished my first draft of my first novel in August 2014 and am in the thick of revisions. I blog, riff and revise from my daughter’s old bedroom at a desk my husband made for me.
What is the first piece you…
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Me, My Self, and I
What am I doing today? Well, part of it will be taken up by going to Panera for an early birthday meal for my boyfriend (happy almost 24th birthday to him) and the rest will be devoted to me and my writing.
I am embracing being selfish and self-involved and all of those horrible “self” words people hurl at you when they think you should be doing something else. Continue reading “Me, My Self, and I”
Stories and Steampunk…
It’s really hard to write some days. To get that motivation, the get up and go!
I really try to get writing in every day, whether it’s doing a chapter for Wolf Born, research or the sketching out of ideas in one of many notebooks! However, sometimes, I need a rest. So, I go onto other, smaller projects, such as making jewellery, reading a book or re-reading one I haven’t perused in a while! The thing is, my life revolves around books and writing, so I always feel happier when I’m doing those sorts of writing/reading related things.
Right now, I’m completing the edit for Wolf Born in order to get it published, which I think will be through self-publishing, perhaps Amazon/Kindle. The story is complex, something I just plunge into, and hope I don’t drown in the pages! The world within the book is changing and not always for…
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The 2K International Writers’ Blog Tour – Lauren Faulkenberry
Lauren Faulkenberry
I’m a writer and book artist currently living in North Carolina (US). I published a children’s book in 2002, but currently write novels and shorts stories. Under the imprint of Firebrand Press, I made limited edition handmade books that are letterpress printed. I’ve always loved books and illustration, and have combined my love of writing and image-making in artists books. My books are held in a variety of Special Collections libraries both nationally and internationally. I currently work for the National Park Service and travel to conduct printmaking and book arts workshops.
What is the first piece you remember writing (from childhood or young adulthood)?
A children’s book called “Lost Dog” when I was in grade school. I wrote and illustrated it, and made book covers from cereal boxes.
What is your favorite aspect of being a writer? Your least favorite?
My favorite thing about being a writer…
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The 2K International Writers’ Blog Tour – Steven Baird
Welcome to our next interviewee – Steven Baird
I’m a full-time ad designer for a chain of newspapers which publishes in Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, Georgia and several other states. I currently live in S.W. Virginia in a remarkably isolated area with my wife Angela and a horse, dog, cat, and several chickens. I’m a native Canadian so I still miss (after almost 8 years!) my daily Tim Horton’s coffee. I actually dream about it.
I first thought myself a writer when I was 10 years old. I’m 55 now, so it’s been awhile. At my former job, I was an ad designer, a columnist, part-time editor, did pagination, and helped set up the plates for printing. Occasionally I’d insert flyers if there was time. So I’m familiar with the business.
Writing, for me, has always been the best means of expression. Novels have always fascinated me… the…
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The 2K International Writers’ Blog Tour – today’s interviewee: Corri van de Stege
Corri van de Stege
I live and write in England, although I’m a Dutch national. I’ve lived in England for very long stretches of time, studied in London, and worked across the UK. I’ve also lived in The Netherlands where I was brought up, and I lived in Iran during the 1979 revolution. As a consequence of all this moving around the globe I now have a very dispersed family, and this provides wonderful excuses for travelling here, there and everywhere whenever I can!
I’ve always wanted to be a writer and I used to keep diaries and write short stories, but never got round to properly editing or submitting these. I guess this was because, as well as moving around countries and bringing up a family, I had demanding professional jobs. As part of the latter I published some non-fiction work, one as a co-author on a book on…
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Kara Jorgensen 