Well, I finally “met” my editor for The Lady Bornekova (through e-mail). And she is so much fun! When I initially opened up my manuscript and saw all the markings on it, I was…well, “nervous” may not be the right word. There was definitely a weight in the pit of my stomach. But I took a deep breath and plunged in. And I soon realized that she just likes to share her thoughts as she goes along, whether in critique or in pointing out something she really liked, commenting on the story, or, even, talking to my characters. Yes. She totally talked to my characters in her comments. It was hil-arious! But I loved it!
I’ve made the first pass through the manuscript, looking through her comments, making (many of the) changes she suggested, and taking out contractions (grrrr…). Not that there’s anything wrong with contractions in writing a novel, but, admittedly, during this period in history, they would not be using them. And she is sharp…nothing, and I mean nothing got past her. Even things that had not occurred to me the multiple times I had read through it. For example. I was so careful not to have any mention of firearms anywhere in the novel as they would not have been invented yet. But I sure did say that a horse “shot off like a bullet” (grrr…).
So, my next step is to more closely read through the novel once more before turning it back over to her for another review. This part of the process has been far less painful than I thought it would be. I thought I would be a puddle of Sara weepiness when I got my edits back, but it wasn’t that bad. I supposed it would wound my writer’s heart to have my mistakes pointed out to me, but she was so tactful and kind that it was easier than I would have thought.
All in all, I am rather grateful for my editor (both for her abilities and her approach) and I hope to work with her in the future.