Editing by Elizabeth

November 16, 2015

Nine Toes in the Grave by Eric Beetner

You ever feel like the biggest fucking idiot in the world? Well, you’re not. I am. — Reese

Despite being trapped in a dead-end job at a greasy-spoon diner in the middle of nowhere (Miles away from anything interesting and too far to make a run for it. Boredom was our chief export and business was good.), Reese has been content to just grind out a life and keep his nose clean.

Well, mostly clean.

He’s recently started sleeping with fellow diner employee, Moira, who also happens to be the wife of the joint’s owner. Not the most upstanding behavior, but still nothing to call the cops over. That call is coming, however, because Reese happens to have the worst luck, and the worst decision-making skills, in history.

Moira, you see, has a scheme in the works, one she wants Reese to help her pull the trigger on. When Reese refuses to assist, Moira takes matters into her own hands in a way that points the finger at Reese. Instead of sticking around to try and clear his name, Reese does the first thing that comes to mind: run.

Of course, having no money to speak of and being in the aforementioned middle of nowhere, he doesn’t get far—barely an hour down the road, in fact. As he rolls into a strange town and heads to a dive bar to take stock of his miserable situation, Reese is about to experience firsthand the concept that no matter how bad you think things are, they can always get worse. →

November 10, 2015

Ten Things I Learned Writing My First Novel by Trace Conger

It’s a pleasure to welcome Shamus Award-winning author Trace Conger to the blog. You’d think after winning a Shamus for your debut novel things would be easy street, but as Trace is here to talk about today, writing is a tough business no matter which way you slice it.

Ten Things I Learned Writing My First Novel

I published my first novel, The Shadow Broker, in October of 2014. It was a fascinating experience, and after releasing my second novel, Scar Tissue, last month I took some time to reflect on the process.

Your mileage may vary, but here’s what I learned along the way.

1. Writing a novel is only as intimidating as you make it. Starting a novel is like holding your newborn for the first time. You’re ready to crap yourself thinking about your newfound responsibilities of raising a living, breathing human being. Taking on a novel can feel the same way, but it’s only as bad as you make it out to be. Take it one word or one page at a time and one day you’ll wake up with an 80,000-word novel.

2. Outlines make the process easier. Other writers will debate this, but for me creating an outline kept me on track. I create a brief outline for each chapter, including no more detail than can fit on one side of an index card. After I have the story fleshed out, I sit down with my stack of cards and write each scene or chapter. Yes, the story changes. Yes, you’ll throw away some of your ideas or characters, but having a road map will help you get to your destination, even if you take a few detours along the way.

3. It takes a long time. If you want to unleash quality work into the world, put on your patient pants. If you work with a traditional publisher, it can take a year or more to bring your novel to market. But even if you self publish, it takes time to write, edit, solicit beta reader feedback, rewrite, edit again, create a cover, layout the novel, and more. →

November 03, 2015

I Have A New Book Out. I’m Sorry. by Eric Beetner

It’s a pleasure to welcome Eric Beetner back to the blog. You can check out all of Eric’s previous guest posts, as well as my reviews of his work, in the Eric Beetner archive. Eric’s most recent book, Nine Toes In The Grave (All Due Respect Books), was published two days ago. Today, Eric’s here to talk about the double-edged sword that results when an author publishes five books in one year.

I Have A New Book Out. I’m Sorry.

I’ve just released my fifth book this year, Nine Toes In The Grave. Much of this unusually prolific year is cheating since Nine Toes is a novella so it’s fairly short. Two of the novels, The Backlist and Over Their Heads were cowritten so I only had to write half a book. My novel Rumrunners was written four years ago and rescued from the slush pile. And The Year I Died Seven Times was serialized last year but compiled into an omnibus this year.

But I did still write them all and I should feel proud, but mostly what I’ve felt is apologetic. I don’t want to plaster people every two months with a new round of, “Buy my book!” interactions. I don’t want to seem like I’m trying to dominate the conversation or take attention away from anyone else who is rightly proud of their book.

Well, screw that. I need to learn to embrace being a prolific author. I enjoy writing, so I do a lot of it. The idea that someone would publish my work is a privilege many authors are still seeking. I work hard at it. I support other authors as best I can. I host reading events for people to get their work out there. I tell people about books I love and try to spread the word. I need to just get over it. Right?

Lurking underneath is the fear that being prolific has the appearance of tossing out any old thing whether it’s fully baked or not. This accusation has been leveled at every prolific author from Stephen King on down. Although I will mention that one of our least prolific authors, Harper Lee, has many in agreement she should have stuck to only the one book so it cuts both ways. →

November 01, 2015

Young Americans

I have had the honor of working with Josh Stallings on both his Moses McGuire series and his newest release, the Anthony Award-nominated Young Americans, a heist story set in the thick of the 1970s glitter/glam/disco era.

—

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 26, 2015

Big Shoes by Jack Getze

How the hell did I get myself into this mess—dead-ass center of a war between two crime families? — Austin Carr

Wondering how he ended up in yet another mess isn’t really a new question for Jersey Shore broker Austin Carr, who seems to have a unique talent for finding himself up to his eyes in one sticky wicket after another (Big Numbers, Big Money, Big Mojo). Unfortunately for Carr, he’s really gone and done it this time.

In a classic case of too little too late, Carr has finally decided to break ties with his partner at Shore Securities and make a fresh start. The hitch in that giddyap? His partner Vic Bonacelli is the son of infamous mobster Angelina “Mama Bones” Bonacelli, and no one just walks away from Mama Bones.

Complicating matters further, Carr’s best friend and confidant, Luis Guerrero, is arrested by crooked cops at the behest of mobster Johnny “The Turk” Korsay. Why? To put pressure on Carr, who witnessed The Turk commit a murder, or so The Turk is convinced.

And because Carr can never get out of his own way, he manages, in the midst of everything else, to turn his obsession with redheads into the ultimate Achilles’ heel when he hits on the wrong firebrand one too many times.

Now, Carr is caught between Mama Bones, who wants him alive to help run a part of her empire, and The Turk, who wants Carr dead because he’s the last piece standing between The Turk and expanding his empire into Mama Bones’ territory. Oh, and did I mention the illegal, underage sex ring and massive horse racing fix? Yeah… Carr is definitely in it up to his eyes. Again. →

October 23, 2015

Casting the Book by Jack Getze

Pleased to welcome man of many hats Jack Getze back to the blog today. In addition to working as fiction editor for Spinetingler Magazine — following a career as a reporter — Jack is also an author himself. Today he’s here to talk about who he’d cast as the two leads in a film of his Austin Carr series, which recently saw the release of its fourth entry, Big Shoes.

Casting the Book

The first time someone asked me, “Who would you like to see play Austin Carr in a movie?” the actor I immediately thought of was Vince Vaughn. Tall, good looking, smart enough in appearance to dish out top-notch, cackle and chuckle-producing wisecracks. That’s the guy—Austin Carr to a T.

And then years later I saw this picture of Johnny Depp.

My world ripped to pieces. Vince Vaughn was already embedded in my psyche, a mainstay visual as I wrote the next Austin Carr adventure. How could I change? I had a few drinks that night and put my e-purchased glossy photo of Vince Vaughn onto the wall with a thumbtack. (My wife was not pleased.) Beside him, I attached a poorly reproduced version of the above, movie-promo shot of Johnny Depp. I stared for long minutes, first Vince. Then Johnny. My thoughts crystalized: Johnny was Austin Carr — cute, smart and goofy. Look at that hair! Vince was not goofy enough. →

October 13, 2015

Billy’s Monsters by Vincent Holland-Keen

I wish to be more than just a voice whispering from the dark beneath your bed.

For most people, the idea that something is lurking beneath the bed waiting for just the right moment to leap out and grab them is a routine part of childhood, but one that goes away as we grow into adolescence and come to understand there’s no such thing as monsters.

Except…what if there is?

Sixteen-year-old Billy knows all too well that the things that go bump in the night are, unfortunately, real. And that they aren’t confined to either the night or under the bed. You see, not only can Billy see monsters, he’s actually been to the other side, to their realm.

There, he received training that allows him to move through our world fully aware of the monsters among us, and which gave him the skills to do what he can to fight those monsters that seek to do more than coexist on our plane.

Yet even Billy had no idea just how ambitious some of the more aggressive members of the realm of monsters were, or what they had planned.

Until his chance meeting with a girl named Scarlett. →

September 30, 2015

The Outsider by Arlene Hunt

“I think I am normal. I am normal for me.” —Emma Byrne

Though Emma Byrne’s self-assessment that she is “normal for me” is accurate, her belief that she is simply “normal” couldn’t be more mistaken. Truth is, there is nothing normal about Emma, and there never has been.

From the time she and her twin brother, Anthony, were born to Evelyn and Jack Bryne, it was abundantly clear there was something different about Emma. She did not react to stimuli in the ways other babies did, nor did she grow out of her odd bahaviors as she aged.

Quite the opposite, she became even more entrenched in her highly particular mannerisms and routines, not caring at all about what conventional expectations, or her parents, demanded of her.

For those around her, Emma’s self-chosen isolation and taciturn nature make her difficult to deal with, and her occasional violent outbursts have earned her invitations to leave more than one school.

Emma’s unusual behavior has been hard for her parents to fathom, the situation made even more difficult by the everybody knows your business life they lead in their tight-knit rural community in 1970s Ireland. As far as her twin, Anthony, is concerned, Emma is a colossal embarrassment, one whose bizarre bahavior makes him a social pariah and target of bullying by association. He, of course, resents her deeply because of this.

Fortunately for all, there is one area where Emma’s uniqueness works to her advantage: she has an uncanny ability to commune with animals, especially horses. So gifted is she in her equine dealings, that at age 15 she officially leaves school to “study” at home, though in reality she ends up working full time for a friend of the family who trains and keeps horses. It’s a situation that finally appears to be working for everyone, until the fateful night a tragic occurrence sets in motion a chain of events that will irrevocably change the lives of everyone in their small Irish village. →

September 28, 2015

The Backlist by Frank Zafiro & Eric Beetner

Oh, Christ. I was being laid off by the mafia. — Bricks

Paula “Bricks” Brickey is a mafia legacy. Her father, Antonio, served long and faithfully, even going so far as to do a stretch in prison rather than rat out the family. It’s why even as a woman she was able to get a foot in the door to do more than answer phones, though her skill and efficiency more than earned her a place as a button (wo)man once she got a chance to show her stuff.

Cameron Lowe is also a mafia legacy, though with not nearly the skill, polish or prestige as Bricks—hell, he doesn’t even have a cool nickname. Cameron grew up hanging around his uncle Rocco’s crew, happy to run whatever errands they sent him on. And though he’s now a grown man, he never really grew beyond his role as a glorified errand boy. Until now.

Seems not even the mafia is immune to a severe downturn in the economy, and when several high-ranking capos decide to head south with part of the family business things get critical financially for the boss Bricks and Cameron work for—downsizing is in order.

As there will only be room for one button man on the payroll in the family’s future, the boss decides to have a competition: both Bricks and Cameron will be given a list of “overdue accounts” to settle, and whoever turns in the most impressive performance will get the job. For Bricks it means proving she deserves to stay. For Cameron it’s a chance to prove he’s ready to step up. →

Editing Services

Featured Reviews & Interviews

Anticipated Reads