Edits...oh, edits...you all-consuming, soul-destroying...thing.

There are some times when re-reading your own work is a pleasure, and you can't wait to take apart the pieces and let them fall into place.

Yeah. So that didn't happen this time.

I got lost for the last month in a haze of winter storms that kept me locked in my house, flu that kept me stuck in bed, and edits that had me pulling my hair out by the roots.

The words...all the angry red words!!!

*HORRIFIED SCREAMS*

Anyway, it took a lot out of me this round. 

I am putting the finishing touches on "Love's A Witch".  This is the second book in the Hart Clan Hybrids series and I am onto the last round of edits before I get that final glorious copy in my hands.

This book, just like book one, is in first person point of view.  The voices in my head like to talk that way, so that tends to be the way I write.  Mary and Craig are both telling their stories this time, and they were a lot more stubborn than Amber was.  Yes, it's possible.

By the end of all the work, though, Mary found her voice.  Craig got frustrated enough to follow along and do what I told him to. I am so happy with where the book and the trilogy has gone so far, and I am so excited to share this book with you.  As soon as I have the official release date, I will let you all know.

Now....

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. I have been working like a crazy person on a special blog project.  My favorite books all have humor prevalent in their pages. So I started LustWithALaugh.com with Mary Hughes and Jodi Redford.  I couldn't be more excited to launch the blog tomorrow. (follow @LustWithALaugh  on twitter for updates)

2. I am excited to take part in a Facebook party with Mary Hughes on March 5th. Her latest book Downbeat is the main attraction and it deserves to be.  I loved this book.  And I will be giving away a copy of A Love Worth Biting For and an Amazon or Samhain Publishing gift card to whoever comes to play with me. I'll even have a couple quotes from the next Hart Clan Hybrids book, Love's A Witch. ;p

3. I am getting my next projects in order, and getting ready to go to the Romantic Times Convention in May.  My publisher has some FANTASTIC things coming your way if you plan to party in New Orleans with us.  I will have swag from various authors, and other industry peeps.  So make sure if you see me running around, you stop and ask what I have left.  I will also have some special author cards that Samhain is printing up for me that I can sign to you personally. I only have 50, so ask early if you want one.

4. I joined Pinterest!  I will be posting some of my favorite things at the Downbeat release party, but you can snoop around the pictures I love HERE.


Now...I need to get to work on editing two more projects to submit, BUT...if I do any more editing I might cause an alcohol and coffee shortage in the US. 

I think I'll write about robosex instead. ;p 

Roxy

In the Hybrid Home Stretch

After a chaotic couple of days I am delighted to say that my first book is being finalized as we speak! (or as I type...whatever)

I have learned so much going through this experience, and thank goodness my editor is a VERY patient woman.

Some of the things I have learned...

1. Make sure Track Changes is on BEFORE you do your edits.
        There are probably all kinds of curse words that erupted from my editor's mouth about that.

2. Slow it down.
         My brain moves faster than my fingers at times, and I had to learn to break up my paragraphs into smaller more manageable chunks.  I had to stop my characters from their tendency to monologue.  Slowing down, let the impact of my important points really shine through.

3. Twitter is my friend.
        Sending a quick question, or letting my editor know there was a reason to check her email, was a fabulous way to get a fast response.  It also helped me from sending her endless..."So you got that and the file opened, right?" emails.  Twitter is apparently my editor's friend as well.

These are the things I can quantify.  I learned so many things that I can't fit into easy bullet points.  I learned where I am strong, learned where I need to improve (Hi my name is Roxy, and I have an ellipsis problem), and learned to spot these things in my next story.  Book 2 of my trilogy is covered with pink pen markups.

Mark your books with pink or purple pen folks.  It makes you feel better than if you murder your manuscript with red.  Or it makes me feel better at any rate. ;p

I am waiting on my ARCs now.  But mark your calendars folks!

Coming Fall of 2013...

Get your e-readers ready for The Hart Clan Hybrids Book 1.

A Love Worth Biting For by Roxy Mews

Who's afraid of the big bad hybrid? (I'm not. He's a hottie.)

She's trying to stay away.  He's trying not to turn furry.  They both fail miserably with plenty of enjoyable and sweaty property destruction.

I can't wait until you get to meet both Amber and Jake.  I went way past PG-13, and had a blast doing it.

Roxy

My New Favorite Editing Tool

I am working on edits for two books right now.  One is off for the final round polish and with the second I am going in to tear apart my rough draft and get it ready for submission.
All this editing (not my favorite part of the process) has forced me to improve my technique.  It needed to happen, but I can still whine about it a bit. ;p
I have tried a few different ways to go through my books. I printed them out to work on, read them on my kindle and took notes in the file, and tried just editing in the document itself.
Someone owes my editor alcohol after the steep learning curve I went through with Track Changes. Pretty sure that someone is me. Bourbon, right Lisa?
Then I tried something else. I have an older model Kindle Touch that offers a Text-to-Speech feature. It reads documents (that have the feature enabled) in a robotic, monotonous tone. What I discovered, was that any mixed up or missing words, and other mistakes or awkward wording jumped out at me like blinking neon lights.  I threw my own books on the device and started listening.
Only problem was it was a pain in the booty to follow along on a computer.  So I brought out my printout, and had my "Aha!" moment.
I found my groove and the edits are going so well thanks to my out-of-date e-reader.
Anyone out there have a favorite technique or tool they use during the editing process? Share below!

Write drunk, Edit sober...

Write drunk, edit sober. 

Maybe that's why I like writing more than edits. ;p

I am trying to get into my first round of edits with the same gusto I had while writing the manuscript in the first place.  Only problem is I seem to be fighting an uphill battle over here.

Sickness has assaulted my home and work environment. Despite the endless amounts of sanitizing products I used, my immune system lost the battle.

So here I sit, going between hacking my lungs up and trying to see through the antihistamine cloud.

My grumpy Tinkerbell mug and I are not amused.  I am off to reheat my coffee again and try to be coherent. And sexy.  Cause nothing gets you in the mood for sexy writing like discarded tissues and coughdrop wrappers. :)