The edit is here! The edit is here!

Well actually, the edit was here almost two weeks ago, but the fact that I haven’t been able to blog about it (let alone actually make any start on it) is an indication of just how busy things have been! A wedding in Canada, lots of exciting projects at work, the Olympics… everything has culminated in such a jam-packed couple of weeks that the poor edit letter seems to have fallen by the wayside…

Well, it’s not all doom and gloom. I had a great chat with my editor a few days after receiving the letter clarifying my initial thoughts and also the deadline – which is still very achievable despite two weeks of neglect.

But probably the most frequent question I get asked whenever I mention I write (for a living) AND edit (for a living) is: how do you – as an editor – feel about being edited?

Well, I guess I haven’t really been able to answer that question until now. I always believed that I would be OK with it – since I know – and understand intimately – the value of a good edit. Yet  it was with a strange sense of trepidation that I first opened the edit… and now that it’s been a few weeks, I’ve been able to properly assess my reaction.

I think I got off lucky. My edit was light, but most importantly, it was spot on. Every point that was made, every change requested, was something that I should have anticipated… but when you are so close to a work and have toiled for so long with the same words, it becomes difficult to see the plot errors for the prose. I think the best editors don’t let you get away with anything. The relationship you knew was a bit weak – they ask you to really make the reader feel it. That bit of backstory you threw in but thought you could fudge through the logic? They make you reevaluate every word. And this is really the last chance to make any major changes to a novel – so why not strive to make it the absolute best it can be? I know I couldn’t achieve that without my editor holding me to my best standard and making me reach for it with every word.

Now to actually do it! I’ll get back to you on that… in the meantime, here’s a picture of my gorgeous friend Jess’ wedding – one of the best reasons for not being able to edit a book .

A visit with Doubleday Canada

Toronto holds a lot of great memories for me – it’s the place where I went to uni, where I first thought up of The Oathbreaker’s Shadow, where I wrote the first draft (in a particular Starbucks just north of Yonge and Bloor, where they would give me and my writer friend free top-ups of tea and Americanos), where I had my first job. It’s also the home of some of my best friends in the world (one of whom has just had a gorgeous baby), and so it’s always a pleasure to head back to Tdot.

And this trip back was particularly awesome, not least because I had the chance to visit my new Canadian publishers – Doubleday Canada – and finally put some faces to names/e-mails! I was truly terrible at taking photos though, so I apologize for the lack of photographic evidence.

In fact, the only picture I did take was of the ‘Wall of Fame’, where portraits of Doubleday Canada’s many illustrious authors are proudly displayed. I did squee a little when I saw the photo of the wonderful author (who also happens to be my boss) Jane Johnson on the wall.

It was great to get to peek inside another publisher’s working space, and upon arrival my wonderful editor handed me a bag full of Doubleday YA goodies! Blood Red Road, The Gathering, Seraphina and You Against Me – what a treat! I’d already read the amazing Seraphina (review to come soon), but I’m so glad to own it in hardback now. It’s definitely the kind of book you will want to own and treasure, and the US/Canadian artwork is absolutely stunning.

After a wonderful lunch at Terroni’s on Adelaide (which is situated in the old Toronto courthouse – where Toronto’s final hanging took place, spooky!), I came back to meet and greet the rest of the team. It was also an absolute pleasure to get to know the amazing Indigo Teen team, who listened to me ramble on about when I write and how to juggle the writing + full time job. I’m really looking forward to launching Oathbreaker in my home country, and it means so much to me to have such an enthusiastic team at my side, albeit across the pond.

Oh Canada!