My editor liked THE FACE when I handed it in, but she had a few major suggestions. First, she was afraid the discussion of waterboarding, etc., would become dated, so she advised cutting it all out. Second, in my original draft, I had Dr. Mewton jump out a window at the end of the book, and my editor suggested that I change that. So I suppose Dr. M owes her life to my editor. :-)
My editor had some other suggestions about things to cut, mostly flashbacks that I had added in order to fill out Sarah's character a bit. My editor thought they weren't necessary, and I agreed. So out they went.
The rest of the editing was fairly painless, at least as far as I can remember. At first THE FACE was going to be released through Steeple Hill, the inspirational imprint from Harlequin, so I wrote discussion questions for Christian book clubs. Later, Harlequin decided to release THE FACE through Mira, a general imprint, so I wrote discussion questions for more general book clubs. The questions for Christian book clubs, however, are on my web site. The difference? The questions for Christians group work more at unpacking the spiritual metaphors in the novel.
It's funny--I've seen the book described as Christian fiction and "not Christian fiction," so I suppose it depends upon what the reader brings to the tale.
Tomorrow: results and reader reaction (provided that we have some by then.) :-) And don't forget--if you have any questions, leave them in the comments for our Q&A session on the seventh.
~~Angie
3 comments:
What would you do if you didn't agree with the edits? How much leeway/say do you have in the editing process?
That picture made me laugh!
I guess the editing process is where authors really develop a thick skin quickly.
How hard was it to research the CIA stuff? Were there things you wanted to find out and couldn't? (or they'd "tell you but then they'd have to kill you?!)
And did you write the chapters in order (switching back and forth from Sarah to Renee) or did you sometimes write several focused on one and then fill in with the other?
There was no way I could watch the tube last night. Great excuse to finish "The Face". You just keep getting better and better, Angie! I could sense what was coming at times, but your delivery was ever so much better than I could conjure. I'm with Linda. A re-read is already lurking on the horizon! Clyde
Post a Comment