Buried in edits...and snow!

I've been dealing with something most writers will encounter from time to time, if they're lucky - edits due on two different books at one time. In my case, they were with different publication houses, which means adjusting your edits to the individual house style, etc. Each publication house has their own rules about how they like to handle certain grammar and punctuation mandates so it's necessary to conform to those. In my case, one house likes to use the serial (or Oxford) comma; the other house does not. A serial comma refers to the last comma before "and" in a list of items: i.e., the ball, car, and house, by the way. I grew up using the Oxford comma and it's been really difficult to "unlearn" that habit. But that's all part of conforming to what each individual publisher wants.

A few weeks ago (yes, it's been that long since I've blogged - bad blogger!) Leilani asked what I was working on. I've just completed first round edits on Insatiable, a contemporary m/f erotic romance due out in early 2011 from Loose Id and also edits for Reveal Me, another contemporary m/f erotic romance coming to Ellora's Cave in 2011. Along with that I've been readying another story for submission - which has involved extensive edits as well - and also trying to write a new story. This is how it goes if you're trying to make a go of it as a professional writer. Not to say that some writers may not have a different process and only focus on one thing at a time, but usually once you're submitting, you'll be dealing with your books at different stages of the game simultaneously. It can be challenging, but it's also hugely rewarding to do what you love. I can honestly say I'm thrilled to be pursuing my "dream job" and I'm so grateful to have an opportunity to do what means the most to me.

And then there's the snow! By last night, we'd reached 42 inches of new snow in 72 hours in my area of NY - and it snowed throughout the night! We'll definitely have a white Christmas this year. 

So I've been buried, metaphorically and literally, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get into some "Ask The Editors" posts. Any questions you may have, feel free to ask them here or email me at cariquinnauthor at gmail dot com.

In the meantime, happy holidays!