editing

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Edits For “Trust Me” Are Done

So for those of you who aren’t in the know, when you sell a story, the usual process is the publisher then assigns it to an editor.

The editor fixes it so that all the formats, chapter heads, quotes, ellipses, dashes and more fit into the in-house format. They might also be specific about spellings of words like “come” versus “cum.” 😉

THe editor also has the daunting task of editing the thing, through years of knowledge, to fine tune your tale. If you get good one, and I have had some good ones, their work and pointers will fine tune you as a writer as well. I’ve learned a lot.

A whole lot!

See, the next step is they send the edits back to you, and you go over them, one by one. You accept or deny each one. It is pretty smart to accept them, these editors usually know their stuff. But they are human and make mistakes themselves. Also there are cases where you thought you were saying something, but when someone else reads it — since they don’t have your knowledge of what is going on or who your characters are — what you’ve written might read differently than you intended. Sometimes it is almost comical. Then between you and your editor, you can make sure you are saying what you meant to say.

Examples: The way I structured a sentence made it sound like the branch of a tree was ruby red. She thought I had made a mistake and I meant for two hummingbirds to be ruby red. Actually I meant that the hummingbird feeder was ruby red! LOL! Now the sentence reads they way I intended it to be.

I once wrote a story in which a character who is very well off is drinking an expensive whisky. The editor changed the word from “whisky” to “whiskey” throughout. What she didn’t know is that I had done my research! Whisky/whiskey drinkers are very very particular about this… Scottish whisky is spelled without the “e.” American whiskey, especially Kentucky whiskey, is spelled with the “e.” Since my character was drinking a Lagavulin — a brand from a distillery near the coast of of Islay, and which has a legitimate claim to being one of the oldest in Scotland — then it is spelled without the “e.” The spelling went back to the way I had it originally.

An important relationship can exist between writer and editor that produces a better story, and that is good for the reader, the writer and the publisher.

In the case of Trust Me, which was bought by Amber Allure, I am an amazing editor. Not only is she good, but she knows a lot about horses, and owns four! But did she find a few possibly awful mistakes! LOL! But with her direction, things went well, and I am very proud of what has been accomplished between us,

I finished nearly a hundred pages of edits today and it wore me out! It is harder editing such a long story. But it is done, and ready to go out tonight!

And soon “Trust Me,” my most romantic story to date, will be ready for you!

Namaste,
B.G.

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News About My Story “Desert Crossing”

Got some good news today!

First I should mention that I got an email from Dreamspinner Press the other day wanting to know my schedule over the next six to eight weeks because they would be sending me edits and a galley for my story Desert Crossing.

I was a little distressed because January is my annual required massive overtime at work. Theoretically, I could be working six days a week, 12 hours a day for the entire month of January. No way I can do edits and such then. I let them know.

To my surprise they are jumping my novella up a bit instead of delaying it! WOW! That’s pretty cool, eh? I really figured they would have to delay it a month or more, but instead they are rushing it so I have time to do my part!

What good news! This must mean something. They believe in me? In my writing? My stories?

This is a good year for me. I find I believe in myself more every single day!

And here is MORE very cool news!

There are two publishers looking for me to give them a submission for cowboy stories. I don’t know much about cowboys. I have researched them, but when it comes to gay cowboys, there really isn’t much information out there. Because of the Victorian times, it’s all speculation. And I know sh*t about contemporary cowboys except that cowboy boots help a man’s legs and ass as much as high heels help a woman’s.

SO! My friend who owns a small calving operation is taking me back to his place tonight (after drinking at a C&W bar *shudder*) and tomorrow is going to give me the tour of his place, let me see and touch real cows and tell me everything he knows about cattle and cattle breeding! Plus his own knowledge of the cowboys he and his lover like so much.

Now how cool is that? Think of the information I will glean that way! It really helps when you can get some kind of first hand experience with what you are writing about in order to give better feel and texture to a story. This is going to be cool and they are just as excited as I am!

Can life get much better than this?

Namasté,
Ben

PS: Dreamspinner Press is having a big sale on all their books through this weekend! So if they have a story of mine you’ve been thinking of buying, now it the time! It is like 15 to 20% off! (my math sucks) Check it out for any of their amazing books!

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Another Story Completed

So I have finally finally finished my “final” draft of my vampire-apocalypse story!

Whoa, this one was work!

It wrote itself in many ways, I didn’t know where it was going as it went, but it was also a bitch getting there. The first draft I liked. I liked a lot.

But I didn’t love it. And if I didn’t love it, how could I expect anyone else to? How could I expect a publisher to buy it?

The story was close, but not there. And I had to get it there. It had to be about more than just the story. There are lots of good ideas. But to get the story to work, I had to get the reader to believe and care about the characters. So I worked and worked on it, set it aside, worked on it again, set it aside and worked on it again. And I think I finally did it!

So I have now sent it off to my beloved betas and await their response. As fast as they get back to me, I can do final touches and mail it off.

The biggest problem now it that I think it is something like four thousand words more than they are looking for. Actually, in their ad, they forget to include a word count. But if you look to their other anthologies, you see they want stories between 2000 – 8000 words.

Two thousand words? They want “character-driven stories written about sexual desire, sexual interaction, and sexual themes with a focus on the inner life… “ and …raw, sensual, beautiful language and stories that dare to step outside of genre conventions.”

How can anyone do that in two thousand words??? I can’t do it in eight thousand words!

This anthology is called “This is the Way the World Ends,” and they want “…stories exploring the connections between destruction and sex, death and love, survival and rebirth, all set in the post-apocalyptic landscapes of your hottest dreams.”

So my story, Blood Plague is my interpretation of that desire. I think it has it all. It is certainly character-driven, and it is most definitely about desire, destruction and sex, death and love, and survival and rebirth! And HOW!

I really want to sell this story! I want to sell it to them. I want to get another publisher in my “resume.”

But you know what? I love this story. I will sell it one way or another! And then I can share it with you!

Namasté!
BG

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This Week In My Life

So I have finished second edits on both All Snug and Christmas Wish and I am very very happy with them.

LOTS of work, but I learnlearnlearn, and that is important.

Yesterday I finished my first draft of a story I am tentatively calling Valentine’s Ball (hate that title with its too porn implications). It is a sweet story, very romantic, and I hope it is well received. Sent it to my betas and hope to hear back soon so I can submit it.

Today I am working on my vampire apocalypse love story. Yup! All three in one story! These are nasty scary vampires, not rockstar-long-haired-googly-loving-eyed-sissy-boi-vampires. Nasty nasty nasty…

How can that bring romance? Stayed tuned to find out!

Work work work!

And a date with my husband today/tonight as well!

Namasté!
BG

PS: Anyone going to ConTraception this year? I know that better be there!!

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Thoughts; Working, Working, Working..!

Writing is a job.

I love it. But it is a job. Just like the art I’ve been doing at work. It is fulfilling and thrilling and there is lots of wonder…

But it most assuredly is a job.

Coming out of overtime and haven’t had much free time and it has been filled with editing the stories I’ve sold. The publisher edits them and sends them to you and you approve or disapprove and make changes as you see fit and it is work! LOL!

The editor of All Snug is amazing. I do not agree with everything she has done and I haven’t approved all her changes, but I also can’t get over how her suggestions have radically improved the story and how I have learned even more about writing in the last two days.

But it isn’t getting me anywhere on my next story! I can’t get to it! And it is a good one..! Vampires and these ain’t nothing like something from Twilight, believe you me!

And then there is this company looking for Valentine’s Day stories and in the past I’ve made the mistake of putting them lower on the list and twice now they’ve stopped taking submissions a food four to six weeks before their deadline. I didn’t know publishers did that. So even thought the VD deadline is a few months away, I feel I better get to it now!

So what does all this mean?

Writing is work! Why, I’ve sold everything I’ve sent out and if I want to announce more sales to you soon, I’ve got to finish stuff and get it out there. I can’t just sit around.

Writing is work. I love it!

But it most assuredly is a job. And like King has said in his forwards and afterwards and even his book on writing, you have to schedule writing and stick to it, just like a “real life” job. Know that you will be writing buy such and such a time each day and do it, no excuses. And that means discovering a way to tap into your imagination even when you aren’t “feeling” it. Figuring a way to “feel” it. I don’t have to do that at my horrid daily paying job. I just have to show up and do it.

This is an amazing learning experience. And in the end? I am loving it!

Thank God it is so much for fulfilling than any nine to five job I’ve ever had..!

Namasté,
BG

UPDATE: Just sent off my edits of All Snug. Nap time and then work on the vampire story! Or should it be the Valentine’s Day story?

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Story Blurbs

So I got my story blurbs from Dreamspinner Press this morning. My job is to approve them or ask for changes. It is way too early in the morning… I pretty much like them but feel an itch to ad a word or three to one of them..!

All Snug
By B.G. Thomas
Elliot and Shawn each want to buy the same one-of-a-kind item for Christmas—a very old and expensive antique bed—as a gift for their lovers. But when they both arrive at the store at the same moment, the proprietor tells them to figure out between themselves who gets the bed. Elliot and Shawn decide to hold a contest: winner buys bed.

And so the competitions begin, from selling charity tickets to cleaning out stables, and interpersonal tension and burgeoning attraction mount as the days until Christmas pass. But who deserves the gift more: Elliot, who can afford the expensive gift for his casual sex partner, or Shawn, who can barely cover rent, and the mysterious man he’s head-over-heels for?

Christmas Wish
By B.G. Thomas
Harry is desperately unhappy with his life. He hates his job, his apartment, and most especially, he hates the way he looks. Despite this, once Harry hears that his fantasy man, Javier Torres, is playing Santa at the local gay bar, he can’t wait to get his picture taken sitting on Javier’s lap in hopes of finally catching the sexy man’s attention. But it all goes wrong, and Harry ends up telling a different “Santa” exactly how his life could be made better… but he doesn’t expect his Christmas wish to come true!