The Singular Satisfaction of RIPPING Notes off a Manuscript

     So, I posted earlier in the week about receiving the typeset "First Pass Pages" of my 2011 YA novel Cleopatra's Moon. 


     As you can see from the photo on the left, it looked, basically, like someone with a Post-It Note obsession forgot to take their meds that day.

     In reality, it was all the work of my brilliant editor at Arthur A. Levine Books, Cheryl Klein. Did I mention she was thorough, too?

So what was on most of the notes? Often Just questions. Other times, flags about Style or word usage. And what Was the most Frequent question/issue to Arise? Why, yes, you're Right! It Was about my weird and troubling Habit of being Terribly inconsistent about capitalization. How Did you Guess?

     So it turns out I sometimes capitalized certain words like priestess or goddess (as well as countless other words), and sometimes I. just. Didn't. Couldn't tell you why either. My theory is That I have pinky-finger Tourette's, a syndrome I only just now made-up....er, I mean, Learned about.

     Still, I went through every single note on the manuscript, ripping each off with a wild and guttural, "YES!" when I finished.

   Okay, not really (couldn't disturb the cat sleeping on my lap after all). But I did finish it all just in time for the last FedEx pick-up last night. I sent back the manuscript in all its beautiful, pristine, and Post-It note-less glory!

Ta Da!!!!!!

     And then, very soon, we will go through it all yet again, not once, but twice! In the meantime, All I can Say is thank-gOd for editors Like Cheryl, who not only Find our Strange little Writing quirks, but are infinitely patient when they Stumble over them again. And again. and Again.

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