The Phrase Doctor Editors #amwriting #amediting

A few weeks ago, I was sitting with my editor, Yvonne, bemoaning the dreadful state of editing in the indie books I'd read recently. As an editor myself for over a decade, I was disturbed to see potentially great stories stopped in their tracks by poor grammar, spelling issues, and structural problems that ruined the plots. Yvonne couldn't believe how little editing was evident in the books. As we talked about how sad it was that these stories would never be taken seriously because of the lack of editing (and I complained about how these issues only reinforced in many people's minds the incorrect notion that all indie writing was junk), we decided that we wanted to do something about it.

Out of that discussion came The Phrase Doctor. Between the two of us, we have nearly 20 years experience as professors in physics, history, and writing, in addition to over a decade of editing experience. Most of all, we believe that good writing deserves the best editing possible.

Since that day, we've been busy helping authors make their work the best it can be. Because of our expertise and my indie writing experience, we can offer line and content edits, in addition to fact checking on fiction and nonfiction works. It's been so great knowing that the time we put into making books shine helps authors not only in their sales but also in their reputations.

If you're an author and you want great editing at a reasonable price, find us at http://www.thephrasedoctor.com/  We look forward to working with you!

Working Weekend #amwriting #amediting

Monday again, eh? I guess it's best we take the advice of a fortune cookie I once got:  Any day above ground is a good one. (That's better than the one my son got one time: Oops. Wrong cookie.)

I spent my weekend working on Ramiel's story (Blood Prophecy) and a blurb for the series. If any of you are aspiring authors, let me give you this advice: blurbs can be a huge drag. I don't usually have a terrible time with them for individual books, but for an entire series, it took an entire day of adding, deleting, walking away, and repeating all those steps over and over before I got one I liked for the Sons series. In the end, this is the blurb I stuck with:

Fulfillment of an ancient prophecy leads to vampire civil war. As the eight Sons of Navarus battle to save their world, each Son will find the one thing worth dying for: love. Follow the Sons of Navarus series and fall in love with these sexy Alpha heroes, their strong heroines, and an epic story of passion, treachery, and survival.

Thanks to Dawn, Julie, and Gayle from my street team and my editor for giving me some great direction.

As for Ramiel, I posted on FB that I was loving the way this story was going and I am. As a committed plotter, I know what's set to happen, but the tone and word choice aren't planned and far more organic. Ramiel has so much anger, which makes the tone so markedly different from Terek's and even Saint's.  As I write his story, I'm in a very different mindset than I was from Terek's.

My editor has been sending short messages about Terek's book all weekend. One of the things she noticed is how different the tone is from Saint's. You see, Saint fought against everyone (Vasilije, Solenne, the past...) and the tone of his book reflects that. But Terek is a very different kind of hero from Saint and even Vasilije, so his book has an entirely different feel to it. He doesn't fight. Well, that's not exactly true. He doesn't fight often. Terek is far more quietly confident than Saint or Vasilije. It comes from being a vampire longer, but it's also his natural personality. He's strong but quiet, so while he's not the loudest or brashest of the Sons, when he's in a scene, he's a very strong presence. I didn't characterize him with huge actions, but instead the key to understanding his character is through things such as a touch or the way he words his answers.

It's very important to me that each Son has a unique style and tone, so hearing from my editor that I've succeeded with Terek's book put a huge smile on my face. I don't think I've ever worked as hard with a character as I did with him.

And one of her notes couldn't have been truer: Each word seems important, as if the reader would miss something if they skimmed.

I'm very rarely accused of going on too long. LOL  I don't tend to repeat things a lot, and I appreciate the economy of words. I choose them very carefully in each story (that's the tone thing again), so I force each word to work hard. She jokes that when she begins the edit of my books, she undoubtedly finds it difficult to cut but always finds more where she thinks I should add.

Hope your weekend was a good one and here's to a wonderful week!

#WIP Wednesday #amwriting #amediting

Happy Wednesday! How is everyone doing today?  It's hot as hell here in Pennsylvania, but in six months it will be just the opposite, so I'm enjoying this heat wave.

I've also been writing and editing, in the air conditioned splendor, of course. :)  The short for BTS emagazine is complete at just about 1K words and titled Forbidden Fruit. I've also finished the expanded version that will appear on my website after the magazine comes out. Hades has been a delicious character to work with, and I'm looking forward to more of him coming up in the Sons books.

Typing and editing continues with Blood Spirit. So far, I'm through to Chapter 17, editing as I go. The plan is for the book to be at the editor for this weekend, and so far, I'm on course to make my goal. I do have to go to Family Night at Boy Scout camp tonight to see my son, so no typing will happen today. Since I loathe typing, you won't find any tears from me, though. LOL 

I'm at Carrie Ann Ryan's blog for Writer Wednesday today talking about Vampire Dreams Revamped and returning to the past every so often. One commenter will win a set of Sons of Navarus bookmarks, so stop by and say hi. :)

Also, I announced this in my FB street team group yesterday, so now today I'm telling the rest of the world. I've been asked to be the featured author at the 2013 Indie Romance Convention that will take place in TN next October. I'm so flattered! I'll be there with other great authors, so if you're a reader or blogger, check out the site and make your plans to attend. It promises to be a fun time!

And yet another announcement--BTS eMag has asked me to be a featured author in their January 2013 issue on indie writers. Again, I'm so flattered!  Writing the short was such a nice honor, but to be asked to be a featured author is really great. Click on over to check out the current issue of the magazine.

It's been quite a week for this indie writer. How has yours been? Have a great Wednesday!