Editing by Elizabeth

November 25, 2013

The Editor’s Touch by Steven Axelrod

Very pleased today to welcome Steven Axelrod to the blog to talk about the first book in his Nantucket detective series, Nantucket Sawbuck. Specifically, Steven has been kind enough to share an exchange that occurred between him and his editor regarding a scene they were at odds over, and how they came to an agreement. He’s also included the scene in question, so you can see for yourself how things turned out.

Steven Axelrod We normally think of editors as people who trim and cut our work, fix our mistakes and help us “kill our darlings” as William Faulkner memorably put it. What you don’t realize until you’re involved with a gifted editor at a real publishing house, is how they can inspire you to write more and better. It doesn’t always happen in a direct linear way, with the editor saying “You should put more detail here” “Flesh this out.”, though of course that sort of editorial direction does happen.

More often, a vital change comes out of a conversation, that can even start out as an argument. You always feel at the same disadvantage with an editor, when a real published book and the possible start of a meaningful career is at stake. They have the power. They’re agreeing to put your book out into the world under their imprint. It’s their money and influence and reputation on offer. If they want you to change things, you’d be foolish to refuse. Sometimes it seems the only real option you have is the nuclear one: just packing up your scribbled pages and walking away. Of course you could bluff it. But that’s a dangerous game to play. You had better be prepared to follow through if you make a threat like that.

There are other alternatives, and I found one recently. →

November 22, 2013

Remo Went Rogue by Mike McCrary

It has been my great pleasure to work with screenwriter turned crime fiction author Mike McCrary on a couple of projects. The first manuscript I edited for him, Remo Went Rogue, is a powerhouse story that revolves around an attorney who decides to steal from a couple of his clients, figuring he could get away with it if they “ended up” in jail. Yeah…that doesn’t exactly go as planned, much to Remo’s misfortune and the reader’s pleasure. I thought it was fantastic, and had a lot of fun working on it with him. →

November 19, 2013

One More Body by Josh Stallings

My love for all things Josh Stallings writes is no secret, as I have given glowing reviews to everything of his I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The first two Moses McGuire books—Beautiful, Naked & Dead and Out There Bad—knocked my socks off, as did his memoir, All the Wild Children.

I’ve also had the pleasure of hosting Josh here for a couple of amazing guest posts: “Penguins & Vomit” (how can you not want to read that?) and “Mayhem & Thuggery” (I dare you not to read that!).

It was with great pleasure and a tremendous sense of honor, therefore, that I stepped up to the plate to work with Josh as his editor on the most recent entry in the Moses McGuire saga, One More Body. Given my involvement with the book it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to give a review per se, but here is what some well-respected authors have had to say:

“Hardboiled, intense, action-packed, with its heart on its ragged and bloodstained sleeve – Moses is back in another breathlessly brilliant pulse-pounding novel full of great, gaudy characters.” — Paul D. Brazil (Guns Of Brixton)

“Josh Stallings writes like a man possessed. He’s a live wire, a raw nerve — the rare writer capable of finding beauty in pain and pain in beauty.” — Chris F. Holm (The Collector Series) →

November 01, 2013

Remo Went Rogue

“I’ve worked with Elizabeth on both self-published and traditionally published books. Each time I found her to be extremely professional, timely and she provided a great knowledge of the genre of crime fiction, as well as fixed my grammatical travesties. I could go with any number of people to correct my spelling, but Elizabeth gave my writing a bit more that I feel really helped push it to its final stage.” — Mike McCrary

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Whether your manuscript is in the early stages and you’d like significant developmental input, you’re almost ready to query and are looking for someone to do a final copyedit, or anywhere in-between, I can help. For testimonials from authors with whom I have worked, as well as more detailed information about my editing services, please click here.

October 22, 2013

Characters Who Invite Themselves into the Story by William Petrocelli

Today I welcome William Petrocelli to talk about his first novel, The Circle of Thirteen. The year is 2082 and U.N. Security Director Julia Moro finds herself on the trail of the leader of a terrorist organization targeting women, including the Women for Peace, a group which was headed by thirteen bold women who risked their lives to achieve world peace and justice. But as Bill explains, not every character in The Circle of Thirteen was originally “invited” to the story…at least not in the role they ended up playing.

William Petrocelli A story may begin with an idea. It may even begin with a place, a memory, or a mood. But those things can easily fade and drift away until the writer is not really sure what he or she had in mind in the first place. The story only becomes real when a character invites herself into the story.

I say “herself” when, of course, I could just as easily say “himself.” And, in fact, there is an important male character who invited himself into my novel The Circle of Thirteen at a very early point and has clung to the story like death. And that’s the problem. Wherever Jesse goes, bad things happen. He might have invited himself into the story, but he’s not someone you would ever invite out for a drink or welcome into your home for tea.

I feel much better about Julia and Maya – the two main female characters in the book. When the book was finished, I was happy that there were two important women characters that I still genuinely liked.

Julia needed no invitation to the story, because The Circle of Thirteen basically revolves around her. (The novel is mostly told through Julia’s first-person voice, but not entirely – Maya has a lot to say, and Jesse pokes his way into the narrative as well). Julia grew up just north of San Francisco and went to University at Berkeley. During the main part of the story in the early 2080’s she is living in New York, where she is the Security Director for the reinvigorated United Nations. She’s in her late 30’s, tall, physically strong, and not afraid of very much – except her own inner demons. Throughout the novel she is fighting the memory of her mother’s illness and death and the man she holds responsible. →

September 30, 2013

A Killer Beginning by Ken Goldstein

Today I welcome to the blog Ken Goldstein, author of the satirical Silicon Valley crime-thriller This Is Rage. Given the intricate sequence of events that open This Is Rage, you’d think Ken had a detailed, master plan in place for the book’s plot from the outset…you’d be wrong.

Ken Goldstein It started with an initial thought — what if the unlikely collision of a failed radio talk show host and a voracious venture capitalist caused an extraordinary impact on the economy at large? For the most part, I imagined I knew how the story would unravel but then reality kicked in and character development took me down a very different path.

Having worked as a tech insider for many years, I knew the types of storylines and sub-storylines I wanted to incorporate but as a first-time novelist, I wasn’t sure of the pacing of the book. I felt some of the elements in the first few drafts sounded a bit forced, so it was back to the drawing board.

I had to put it away for a few weeks and remind myself of what I like to read and that’s dialogue. A great exchange of words can make me feel as if I’m in the book; knee-deep in the situation, which is the feeling I wanted my readers to share. →

September 22, 2013

Banned Books Week 2013: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

CBanned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

Today is the start of Banned Books Week 2013:

“Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted banning of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.

The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections. Imagine how many more books might be challenged—and possibly banned or restricted—if librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. Banned Books Week is also endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.”

For more information on getting involved with Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, visit their official website.

September 06, 2013

Hardboiled Wit Runs a 4-Color Gamut of Comic Book Chatter by Andrez Bergen

I am incredibly pleased today to welcome Andrez Bergen back to the blog. Andrez is one of the most gifted and creative authors I’ve had the good fortune to discover in recent years. His first two novels, Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat and One Hundred Years of Vicissitude, made my Top 10 Reads lists in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and he’s back now with his latest, Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?

Andrez Bergen Heropa is, for me, many things but mostly about the dialogue.

It circles around the way in which people interact, smearing naturalness with an underlying surrealism. Flip, awkward moments, misunderstandings, bravado and poignant asides all have their moment in the spotlight, since this is the way of the real world. People don’t always “get” one another straight off the bat — yet sometimes we click completely.

But this is also fiction, allowing artistic license to push the conversational tangents and have a bit of fun with the content.

The dialogue slant is also something that hallmarks classic hardboiled 1930s-40s detective romps — along with the 1960s Marvel comics I grew up on thanks to my older half-brother’s stash.

Just as in books like Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep and Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s work with the early versions of comic-book-people-now-famous (think Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Thor and Iron Man, along with the reinvention of Captain America — originally created by Kirby with Joe Simon in 1941) smacked dialogue right in there as a key point of the journey alongside costumes and fisticuffs.

In both the noir and comic books there’s a ton of interaction between oddball characters and the ofttimes rather scarred protagonist. Rapid-fire repartee, pithy remarks, the odd pun and bickering galore ride superbly cynical roughshod over the story to be told. →

September 03, 2013

Son of a Gun: A Memoir by Justin St. Germain

The events of September 11, 2001 dealt a blow to us collectively as a nation. Mere days later, while still reeling from those historic events, two young men were dealt another, much more personal blow.

While attending the University of Arizona, Justin St. Germain returns home from classes one afternoon only to be informed by his brother that their mother, Debbie, has been murdered in Tombstone, Arizona.

Shot in the back in her trailer, Debbie appears to have been the victim of domestic violence gone to the ultimate extreme. Her current husband, number five, has gone missing and is the prime suspect.

Given Debbie’s somewhat troubled history in Tombstone, both with a succession of ill-fated marriages and relationships, as well as in her business dealings, her murder amounts to little more than a blip on the locals’ radar–fodder for bar gossip and not much more.

For twenty-year-old Justin, however, his mother’s murder marks a very clear turning point in his life, even though it will take him nearly seven years to realize it and embark on the journey that led to Son of a Gun: A Memoir. →

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