Where to Find the Time

I am trying a slightly different approached to proofing galley for "Game Faces." I printed off the PDF file and my initial list of corrections from the first pass. Now I'll mark those corrections on the print copy and start reading it again on paper. This has some advantages. First, I don't have to keep switching back and forth between the correction file and the PDF file to see if I noted something or not. Second, since the correction file must note page (of the novel, not the PDF), paragraph, and line number, this might be easier to do instead of trying to keep count while scrolling on the computer screen. Third, for some reason, some errors are just easier to see on paper than on a screen. I don't know why this is, but I prove it to myself over and over again. One more modification to my earlier proofing method is to give it a rest for a couple of days between readings. I get way too close to the material and stop seeing what's on the page.

Faces 3 is heading for another stall. I have a scene in mind coming up, but then I don't know where it's going except in the vaguest sort of way.

This being the case, I will probably do some more work on the rewrite of "Dabblers." I've been through the first chapter already, and I now like my character better that she's less of a victim. Instead, she has her peculiar talent that she chooses to hide from everyone, including her soul-mate husband. She dislikes being "special" or different and longs to fit in, just as she did in the earlier version, but I've tweaked the premise enough so that once she feels she must embrace that talent to solve her uncle's murder, she begins to morph into a different kind of person. As others around her see her begin to change, it causes -- guess what -- conflict! Oddly enough, when I concluded the novel the first time, I had envisioned a sequel to it, but with the rewrite, Stefanie is even better suited to that sequel.

Eagerly awaiting second quarter payroll from Write Words. While I'd certainly like to see a larger check, I also want to get some idea of what effect various promotion efforts are having. We shall see.