I hope you have all managed to take advantage of the warm weather we have been experiencing recently.
At this time of year there is a plethora of foals out in the forest on their stilt-like legs. They are so entertaining to watch but a nightmare for both their mothers and motorists when they get a sudden attack of the ‘zoomies’ and dash around completely oblivious to the fact that they might put themselves in danger.
The stallions have also been released in their elected areas or ‘haunts’ and are working hard to ensure that we will have a new crop of foals to entertain us next year. I’m sure I don’t need to remind anyone that they are wild animals and should to be given a wide berth for everyone’s safety.
News
You might remember that Joffee Books have decided to record my books as audio books – available through Audible on Amazon. The Audible copies of Murder in the New Forest, Straw in the Wind, and Killer in the New Forest have all been recorded and are now available on prerelease on Amazon. The release date is 8th June.
https://amzn.eu/d/04kEPfN6 is the link to Murder in the New Forest.
All the books are read by the actor James McNaughton who you might have come across in Highlander, Fightland, D-Day and numerous other films. He is a popular narrator of audio books and has recorded a wide variety of genres. He was born in Somerset and grew up in Edinburgh so, in the selection process, that felt like a good fit for both Callum and the rest of the team. I am looking forward to hearing his interpretation.
Book Four
Shot in the New Forest is now being edited. This process is overseen by the publisher – in this case Joffee Books. I thought you might be interested to know what happens to my book when I have finished writing it, polished it to the best of my ability and sent it off to the publisher
When they receive the completed manuscript, they subject it to three separate edits before they are happy to publish it. At each stage, the author is asked to approve any suggested changes – it is, after all their book.
The first edit is a structural or developmental edit. This is intended to create a cohesive manuscript, examine the structure of the narrative and the organisation of the information in the story. Often, a writer will tell the story in a linear fashion but later decide that they want to change the order of the chapters to create more tension, or suspense. This can lead to conversations taking place about an incident that has not yet occurred. Or a confrontation that could not happen at this place in the book, as character B is hiking in the wilderness so cannot have seen the fight that broke out in the queue in the supermarket. It also safeguards characters having conversations with characters that the author has already killed!
When Murder was being edited, they thought that Amberwood Inclosure should be spelt as Enclosure, assuming this to be a typo. A response from the author and a quick glance at the map confirmed to them that the spelling was correct at Inclosure, but that is the type of thing they concentrate on.
The second edit is a copyedit. This is all about consistency and accuracy. It addresses grammar and spelling and watches out for a Mr Hampton becoming a Mr Hampson later in the story. It looks out for variations in the style of the writing, and the tone used. It is very easy for small changes to creep in over the course of seventy thousand words, and while we are sure this could never happen in our novels – it does. This edit highlights instances of ‘wordiness’, sentences that do not flow, or words that jar or are not the correct word to use in a particular instance.
The final edit is the line edit – or proof reading. This examines the punctuation, the formatting, how the text will appear on the page, the use of capital letters and so forth. This determines how the book that you get to read will look when you open it.
Every proposed change is highlighted for the author to approve and is only implemented when it is approved. Sometimes the unconventional use of words or incorrect grammar are used to define a character, and we do not want them altered. But we all make mistakes and are sometimes very grateful when a sharper eye spots things we have overlooked. So, thank you to the editors who help provide the reader with a presentable text. Without their input, you would get a less accurate, and less readable book.
Happy reading, Carol