Revising

     I recently finished writing Putty in her Hands, a story about a woman who is a master plasterer and restorer of old homes. When an architect purchases an hisotric hotel she wants to revive and put up modern condos, they bump heads and other body parts.Then, I mentioned on Facebook that the next step in getting it published was the rewrite. One non-writer friend asked me why I had to rewrite my book, and I replied, "Only a fool would send in a first draft." Maybe a little too blunt, but true.
     My first drafts are usually pretty clean because I revise the pages I've written the day before prior to settling down to write the new words of the day. Also if I do a plot change, I will go back and incorporate into the book at the moment I decide to go ahead. I pay attention to Spell Check, too. So, my revisions only take about three or four days, my usual time for reading any book,
     What do I look for when revising?  Anything and everything: making sure blue eyes don't turn to gray, saying a person had been to Italy in the beginning of the book, but hadn't in the end (caught that one in Putty!), consistency of plot in case I missed one of those changes, making sure my characters stay true to their back stories, etc.  Reading the manuscript as a whole over a few days as a reader would is invaluable since it has been written in bits and pieces over three or four months, and those months might have been fragmented by a vacation, an illness, a need to do edits on another book in line for publication, or take time out to publicize a new release. Does the new story hang together and make total sense?
     Spell Check doesn't catch every error either. It is perfectly happy to allow the author to use to, too, or two anywhere you want since all are spelled correctly. When I am typing fast, hot on the trail on my story line, I often drop the second o on too. It won't save you from dropped articles. Again when working fast I tend to omit the, an, and other pesky little words my mind fills in for me, but my fingers don't pay any attention to in a writing frenzy. My editor catches lots of these since I seem to skim right over the gaps any time I read the passages.
     I always think I've ferreted out all the little glitches, but usually my editor finds a few more, and I am ashamed to say, I've caught some really awful ones in the final galley proofing. Folks, always reread every word in your galley which is the last time you see the book before it goes into print. In A Place Apart, due to be released November first, I discovered I'd changed the hero's sister's name from Jeanine to Jeanette mid-story. It wasn't a conscious change since she is mostly called Jen. If I want to change a name and am aware of it, I do a search and find and make a global change, though this can be dangerous.  At one time, I decided a man's name should be spelled Grey instead of Gray and did a global change. Suddenly, gray eyes, clouds, dogs, horses, and clothes were all spelled grey, creating a total mess during revision. Also, global changes don't account for the possessive apostrophe s unless you also do an intentional change on that, too. Fortunately, I only needed seven changes to get Jeanette back to Jeanine.  So glad she wasn't the heroine! Same book, I also called the dog salon The Pampered Pooch in the beginning of the story. Somehow, it changed to The Pampered Poodle at

the very end, only one correction required. And that is why I revise.
     Time for the advertisement.  Never a Sinner, the fourth in the Sinner's Legacy series, is coming out on August 30th. This is Teddy Billodeaux's story. Born with spina bidifa, he has been on crutches or in a wheelchair his entire life.  No, he will never be a player on the Sinners'team, but he has carved out a career as a sport announcer and writer. His life is about to be upset by the arrival of a pregnant teen and newly crippled young woman, both of whom need his help. He rises to the challenges each presents, though it isn't easy. Hope you enjoy the read.