http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/face-recognition-samples.php at which you can upload photos of yourself and friends and find out which celebrities you honestly look like (you share the same face shape, bone structure, etc.) So I uploaded some friends and here's what we came up with:
red here, too.
This is Herman. He's my pet snake, but I use the word "pet" loosely. He comes and goes at his leisure, which he seems to have a lot of.
I first discovered Herman at the beginning of summer, when the warm days were banishing me to the indoors. Herman's favorite chair is located on my front porch, which is shaded in afternoon. As you can see, he has a favorite pillow, and it was beneath that pillow, neatly lining the edge, that I first discovered evidence of Herman--his shed skin.
Then I spotted Himself a few days later, sunning himself on the arm of the wicker chair. He watched me, I watched him, and since neither of us seemed inclined to bother the other, we settled in to our own work. Herman has watched me paint a bench, sweep said porch many times, and answer many knocks of UPS and Fed Ex deliverymen. Herman is what I hope to be--mainly unflappable.
A couple of weeks ago, Herman left me another skin, this one artfully entwined among the wicker spokes of the back of the chair. So entwined was it that the lovely thing tore when I tried to pull it out to show the little boys across the street. (I daresay they think I'm the Science Lady. I've shown them pigeon eggs in my flower bed, ripe sunflower heads--even their Mom didn't know where sunflower seeds actually came from--and, of course, a dog large enough for them to ride.)
This morning Herman was waiting in his chair to greet me from my trip. I looked for him yesterday, but yesterday afternoon was rainy and damp, so Herman must have been holed up wherever he goes when he's not hanging out in his chair. He's been in the chair most of today, though. Wonder what he's thinking?
He's a lovely blue-eyed snake. I hope he stays around for a good long time.
~~Angie
When the Daughter was about three, one day one of our toilets stopped working. Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve never held household appliances or thingamajigs in reverent awe. I mean, if it’s got screws, it can be unscrewed, right? And if it can be unscrewed, it can be put back together.
So I went to the balky toilet and started taking it apart. By the time my hubby came home, I had the entire toilet sitting in the bathtub . . . and still had no clue why it had stopped flushing. So we called a plumber. Turns out the darling daughter had dropped a plastic toy boot down the sewer, which clogged the line.
Years passed. We moved, at one point, into a thirty year old house, which meant, of course, that it had thirty year old plumbing. (Did you know you should always check the date stamped inside the toilet tank when you’re buying a house? I don’t know why, other than to find out the age of the toilet. Most of them are stamped in the year the house was built.)
Anyway, in the 30 year old house, with four toilets, I replaced all those ball floaty thingies with those upside down cup float thingys. The salesman at Home Depot said they were easy to install, and while I don’t think I’d consider it EASY, I did get it done . . . without calling a plumber.
Fast forward. We’ve been in present house for four years, and the toilet right next to my office has developed a leak. Not the water-on-the-floor kind of leak, but the kind that makes the toilet run and runs up your water bill. (Trust me—in drought season in Florida, our water bill is high enough.)
So on a recent Saturday I went to Home Depot and wandered down the toilet aisle. Found a picture of one of those upside-down-cup thingys, and was confident I could install it myself.
Got home and started reading the directions. Right away, the directions tell me to remove the water AND THE TANK, and that strikes me as odd. But hey, I figured, maybe things had come a long way in the toilet world since I’d fixed my last flapper.
So I start taking the toilet tank apart. Trouble is, I’d put one of those blue blocks of toilet bowl cleaner in the tank. Most of it had dissolved, but there was still a glob of blue in the tank. I didn’t worry much about it, though, because I was sure I’d be in and out of the bathroom in no time.
Well, seems that this toilet (which is original with the house) was factory assembled or something, because all the plastic nuts are screwed on TIGHT. I have to wake Hubby from his Saturday afternoon nap in order for him to exercise the family brawn. Finally, he gets the thing unscrewed that holds in the ball flap thingy, then I look at the box in my hand. Uh oh. I didn’t BUY an upside-down-cup thingy, I bought a FLUSH VALVE KIT. I had been misled, because there’s a PICTURE of the upside-down-cup thingy on the cover (though it is slightly greyed out) and the box clearly says EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR A COMPLETE FLUSH VALVE REPLACEMENT.
Doesn’t that sound like the entire kit-and-caboodle to you?
So I tell the hubby that I’ve bought the wrong thing. So he grumbles a bit and goes to Home Depot and brings me one of the upside-down-cup thingys. Trouble is, when I start to install it, it’s missing the little parts. I think—I KNOW—those are important, so he grumbles again a bit and goes out to exchange the part and pick up our dinner from Cracker Barrel. (We usually go there on Saturday nights, but by this time, I am covered in bright blue goop from my fingers to my elbows—and have some on my face and knees, too.
Then I have to turn the tank upside down and remove the huge nut holding the FLUSH VALVE in place. Well, this baby isn’t gonna move. No way, no how. Hubby can’t move it, I can’t move it. We get the pliers, we get the wrench, we get the Tupperware jar opener, we get the rubber gloves. We even get a screwdriver and hammer, trying to dislodge the thing. No way.
So I tell hubby I’ll work on putting the toilet back together while he replaces/exchanges the upside down cup thingy. If we can at least get that part fixed, maybe the leak will stop. IF the new part will work with the old part. IF I can get the old parts back on. If my chewing the plastic screw threads with my pliers hasn’t completely ruined it.
Oops—hubby is home. Maybe he brought a plumber.
Update: float thing is in, toilet is back together, and the blue is fading. Mission accomplished!
~~Angie
Angie answers: I can only answer for myself and my publishers (but I've published with a LOT of companies): First of all, the author reads it. Myself, I read it between 4-5 times before I submit it, then I'll read it after my substantive edit letter, and read it again at the galley stage.
Then there is at least one, often two editors who read it--for the substantitive (big picture or macro) edit, followed by the line editing (micro) edit. Then there are copyeditors who go through with a fine tooth comb--at least one of those. Then some companies hire people to proof after that. It's sent back to the author so he/she can proofread the galleys, often called "first pages," while someone at the company is proofing it, too.
Those are the people whose JOB it is to read and catch mistakes. But often you'll have other in-house people reading for fun. (You might be surprised that designers and cover folks don't usually read the manuscript.) Some sales folk will read it. And all those people who read for endorsement? They're reading it, and sometimes they'll point out obvious errors (at least, I'm always grateful when they do).
There are some mistakes that just slip by everyone--like Karl/Kurt. (That's why I like to have the computer read my manuscripts back to me. My ear will often catch mistakes that my dizzy eyes gloss over.) And there are some publishing houses that don't do nearly all the editing/proofing that I've outlined above, but that's the typical process at a large publishing house.
Why do some typos still slip through? Because, as my pal Alton Gansky says, if you have a 100,000 word book that's 99.9 percent perfect, you still have room for 100 mistakes. Ouch. We try to catch 'em, but sometimes we don't.
Well, I'm happy to report that I finished the second draft of THE NATIVITY STORY right before my July fourth company arrived. I'm going to enjoy myself in Denver, then come back home to polish up the Nativity and do final revisions on THE ELEVATOR.
Thanks for coming with me on another book-of-the-month adventure!
~~Angie
To be honest, I don't remember much about the editing process for THE IMMORTAL. I do remember that it was edited by Rick Blanchette, a freelance editor at the time, and he helped me with some Italian lyrics that I had really discombobulated. (I think he went and talked to his Italian neighbors).
One thing that has tickled me since then--Claudia has a boyfriend. He is named Karl in chapter one, and he's Kurt in the rest of the book. Nobody caught the error--until the book came out, of course, and since then dozens of readers have brought the mistake to my attention. I'm pretty sure we fixed the mistake in the recent value edition of the book.
Yes, BTW, THE IMMORTAL is officially out of print in the trade hardcover and softcover editions, but you can find it as a "value edition" for a bargain price. Such is the lifespan of a novel.
Did I mention that "The Immortal" was optioned by Columbia/Tri-Star films at one point? Yes . . . nothing came of it, but the option was nice.
Tomorrow: The Results and Reader Reaction. Don't forget--if you have any questions, post them at any point in the comments section, and I'll answer them on the seventh. Thanks!
~~Angie
The first thing I had to research in writing THE IMMORTAL was the legend of the Wandering Jew. So I bought several books on that topic (and yes, there ARE several books on that topic). Next, I had to come up with logical "antichrist candidates" for every generation, particularly for the last couple of centuries. Interesting!
Then I had to research the end times--that was easy, because I'd written three novels with Grant Jeffrey on the subject, plus I'd ghostwritten several prophecy books (I don't do that any more, BTW). Finally, I had to research Rome. I really wanted to go there, but wasn't able to fit the time into my schedule. Rats!
Oh, yes--and one of the most fascinating things I had to research was body language. I am happy to say that I can now loook at a smiling person and tell whether or not that smile is genuine. (VBG) I'm also pretty good at picking up the tells of a lie, but since I'm not around people who lie all that often, I don't get as much practice with that one.
Tidbit: when I learned all the tells, etc., I've learned to use them in my writing. For instance, when a woman flips her hair, it's a sexually suggestive sign. So often I'll have a woman flip her hair when she meets an interesting male character. I don't explain it of course, but it makes sense.
Obviously, a person with crossed/folded arms is literally erecting a "wall" between themselves and others. They're feeling defensive, so when I write defensive characters . . . you guessed it, I write them with folded arms. One arm down, one arm folded, is a sign of uncertainty. (Isn't this stuff useful?)
So--those were my main areas of research. Lots of fun!
Tomorrow: the writing
~~Angie
Wow. Where did June go?
