Editing: An Excuse

First and foremost, I apologize for my lack of consistent posting. But, I have a really good excuse—I mean reason why I haven't written much this week; I edited another manuscript.This makes three since my hire at Caveat Press.

Doug's Miracle: A Family's Journey with Cancer was my first full edit of a book. The content of that book hinged around the death of the author's husband. This last book I edited, On His Own Terms, involved the death of a loved one, the author's father. Each book uses a distinctly different voice: one feminine, the other masculine.

Both had moments that caused me to tear up. In the case of On His Own Terms, the moment of Joe Sacco's father made me wish,for my sons, that I die in my sleep some unsuspecting evening.

The middle book I edited, the one that kept me away from blogland for quite a spell not too long ago, is called The Island Gardens of Takau...my first fiction novel edit. Folks, this is my post-graduate dream come true. I got to bear down on a story and tell the author, G.L.Kay, what worked and didn't work for me in the story. The story comes out in the spring, and I may share the production and marketing efforts stories with you here.

As for now, I'm mentally preparing myself for my group's presentation for the Jefferson Nature Center's Marking Our Place Project. I've prepared the layout, incorporating my short short story, Michael Jenkin's poem "Mist Netting," and Paula Fong's watercolors. We'll be speaking in front of anywhere from thirty to fifty people. I'm not nervous, really, I'm not. But, I do need to put myself in the proper mindset.

About a month ago, I was wound up and ready to go, but now I'm much too distanced from the project. I plan on taking some time tomorrow to meditate on the project, the collaboration, the purpose of our work. Then, I'll practice reading my story out loud, figure out where to annunciate or strike bold tones.

This week we have the owner and representative of our distributor visiting, Eric Alan is presenting on Wild Grace, and Saturday is the Third Annual Southern Oregon Author Fair, which I will help facilitate in some degree.

Somewhere during this period, I plan to write a brief movie review of Gus Van Sant's Last Days and a piece called "Willy Wonka: The Neocolonialist." Watch for them, along with a post concerning unisex gatherings on The Search for RELLevance.

I leave you with my special farewell: Peace in inspiration.