Editing

Editing
So I have gotten beyond the rejection letters and the resubmit letters (J Hali Steel addresses this in her shared blog. at http://paranormalromantics.blogspot.com/ now comes the dreaded editing process.

I submit my ms after reading and changing it countless times. I have rewritten it if requested to do so. The ms looks great to me. I sit and wait for a response and it comes. A contract! A wonderful blessed contract! Happy dance. Over here at least I dance with my dog. I place her paws in my hands and dance around with her biting my hands the entire time.

So now I wait longer for the process to move forward. As I said before, I have read and reread my ms countless times. It has to be perfect. right? Wrong! I get my ms back from the editor that has been assigned to me. The subject line on the email alone scares the heck out of me. First Edits. Geez, I wonder, how many edits are going to be involved on something I thought was great looking in the first place.

With shaking fingers I open the attachment and what I see first thing, is a sea of red. Now maybe some of you authors don’t see this. I’m certainly not a polished author so I do. Yes, yes… I see many grammatical errors. So shoot me I’m not now and never was an English major. English was not one of my favorite subjects in school either. It was also many years ago that I was in school. Thank goodness for word processors. At least you can read my words. I got an F in hand writing in the fourth grade. I will fix those right away. Yes ma’am or sir, I say.

I scan down looking at the changes requested, picking a few out at first to read what has been written. I read my words again. And then what has been suggested. Now why the heck didn’t I see that error? I read this part more than a dozen times. Yes, I read right over it and supplied the words in my head instead of what was written on the page. Or, I read a different way to state what I was trying to say. Now why didn’t I write it that way in the first place?

I go through and make the changes asked for or make inquires to the editor. How many edits will it take I ask? That depends on how many times it takes to make it perfect or at least acceptable in the editors eyes. I just hope my editor has a sense of humor

The entire time this process is taking place I keep reminding myself in the words of a wise lady who also owns and operates a publishing company. If we didn’t like the story we would not have offered a contract in the first place. Yeah!

Editors gotta’ love em. I say that with deepest affection.

If an editor happens to read this and finds countless errors just remember this is a (expletive) blog and not a ms.

Gary/GE Stills

Book released

Just released book from Gypsy Shadow Publishing
http://www.gypsyshadow.com/GEsBooks.html#Forbidden





Thanks
Gary/GE Stills

Ponytails

OK so I don't have a book yet to shamelessly promote. hee hee

Once again today I am on ponytail patrol. Of course when her dad (my son) drops her off at 6 in the morning there are none there. Her Grandmother leaves at about the same time so that leaves good old Grandpa for the duties. The girl seems to love ponytails and pigtails. Pigtails are just twice the work as far as I'm concerned. lol
My dilemma is this. Since I am far from an expert at putting them in. If I put them in too loose then they fall out the first time she jumps around. Four year old's have a tendency to jump around a lot. (Duh do you think. lol ) If I try to put them in tight it causes hair pulling. Ouch! I am not the sadistic type. I hate to cause her pain. Oh well one thing for sure. I'm getting a lot of practice. lol

Gary/GE Stills

another funny

WHY MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED:


Men Are Just Happier People-- What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

Send this to the women who can handle it and to the men who will enjoy reading it


The following are my answers to why men are never depressed. lol

1. our last name stays put so we assume the lions share of the risks
2. yes the garage is ours but that is because we are banished there from the rest of the house
3. Wedding plans may take care of themselves but we have to listen to all the complaints and somehow satisfy them
4. chocolate may just be another snack to us but who do you think buys the most chocolates.
5. yes we can be president but what kind of a thankless job is that?
6. we can not get pregnant but we have to suffer with raging hormones of those who do.
7. we can wear a white t-shirt to the water park but we suffer from eye strain watching the women who wear them.
8. if we are not wearing a t-shirt it is because we can't afford them after buying an expensive swim suit for our female date.
9. car mechanics only pretend to tell us the truth and we in turn pretend to understand
10. Who do you think is driving the car from gas station to gas station to keep their date happy
11. we don't have to stop and think which way to turn a nut we just twist it off and create more work.
12. not the same work. Men have to put up with PMS once a month and that qualifies as hazardous duty pay.
13. wrinkles add character is just an excuse because we are still paying for the face lift we bought for our wife.
14. who do you think pays for that 5000 dollar dress we are lucky to have 100 dollars left to rent that tux.
15. that's not a stare at your chest, our eyes are averted in submission to your demands. Did you not also hear the sigh of defeat.
16. we have to keep the phone line clear so the woman of the house can use it.
17. Tanks? That’s something that always reads “E” whenever she lets you use the car. Note: Be thankful if there is not a warning light on in addition to the “E”
18. Yes and the one suit case we have is half filled by the woman's overflow from the five she packed which by the way, we have to load and unload.
19. we open our own jars and all the jars we are handed, hence double the work
20. God forbid if we should forget a special occasion so we try our best to keep the list of thoughtful occasions short.
21. A three pack of underwear and three pairs are all we can afford. If you share a closet that is all the room there is for shoes anyway.
22. no strap problems but quite often we have other “fit” problems in a lower region requiring frequent readjustments.
23. We think wrinkles are the latest style.
24. It’s a good thing our face stays the same color because we do not have war paint to cover it up.
25. Getting hair styled is just an excuse to see hairdresser and keep up on gossip.
26. One wallet is all we need. It doesn’t require anything fancy to carry something that our wife or girlfriend has emptied anyway.
27. 25 minutes on December 24th is all the time we are allowed to have for shopping. The wife has the car the rest of the time using it for their favorite pass time “shopping”. Besides it’s called wise time management.

book trailer

I just submitted my first book trailer today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crYzdmPvWzY
Be gentle on any critic you have. lol

Sex could kill you

I came across this and I thought it was hilarious.

Sex COULD kill you.
Do you know what the human body goes through when it engages in sex?
Pupils dilate, arteries constrict, core temperature rises, heart races, blood pressure skyrockets, respiration becomes rapid and shallow, the brain fires bursts of electrical impulses from nowhere to nowhere, secretions spit out of every gland, and the muscles tense and spasm like you're lifting three times your body weight.
It's violent. It's ugly. And it's messy. And if God hadn't made it UNBELIEVABLY fun, the human race would have died out eons ago.