Sail, you're going to be in the Twin Cities for the Halloween event, right? Get a copy at Once Upon A Crime, and support your local indy bookstore.

That's actually probably the best idea, Deb, thanks. I won't have to worry about overweight bags (and with all the birthdays and gifties I'm bringing to Denver and SF, I just might have to worry) or having it get lost or forgetting it. I will do that!

I actually didn't start editing on Tuesday. Giving myself permission killed the urge, so I kicked back for a few more days. But now it's been a full week since I finished the draft. I've given myself a deadline by entering the Golden Heart. I've printed a working copy of the manuscript.

By rights I should be sailing in on my first quick read. (I'm thinking one quick read over 2 days, three at most, then dive into the serious editing.) But now I'm looking at the manuscript askance, because it's so big and there's going to be so much work.

Moral of the story: If you want to take time off, just set yourself a deadline.

But how do you know there's going to be a lot of work? There might not be! Read it through first, then see.

Oh, I'm going to start as soon as I hand off Annabel to Dylan for bath and bedtime. But I do know there will be a lot of work. Something hasn't been coming through right in Anna's characterization; that much is clear, because practically all my CPs have trouble understanding her--though some think she's too daring/brazen, while others want her to change in the opposite direction and be more of a sexy merry widow type. And I think I used too many pages on the first two acts and not enough on the third.

Almost all women I know throw things when in a temper. I tend to, if there's nothing for me to kick. I don't tend to slam my hands down on things. Less of a good thump or shatter that way.

I've found that, oddly enough, a lot of readers and reviewers see Haunted Ballads as just as much Penny's thing as Ringan's, and I honestly don't see it that way.

Penny's voice in the Haunted Ballads is actually stronger, IMO, than Ringan's. She comes through more clearly, and sticks in my memory more than he does. If they were real, and I was talking about them to someone, I'd describe them as Penny and Ringan rather than Ringan and Penny.

Jilli, that's lovely. (Though I keep picturing the groom in his zombie gear when reading that. Braaaaaaaaaaains.)

I don't throw things. I'll sometimes pound a pillow or cushion.

Something hasn't been coming through right in Anna's characterization; that much is clear, because practically all my CPs have trouble understanding her--though some think she's too daring/brazen, while others want her to change in the opposite direction and be more of a sexy merry widow type. And I think I used too many pages on the first two acts and not enough on the third.

Susan, do you think while you were writing, she was still so fresh in your head from the first book that you unconsciously assumed you'd already worked certain aspects of her characterization in, because, well, you had, just not in the new book? Would it help to re-read her sections in Lucy, then go and read the parts that your CPs are having issues with?

t /back seat editing

That could be it, though I changed so much from the original characterization of both Lucy and Anna, knowing full well the first book would never see the light of day unless I rewrote it intensively, that I don't think going back to the first book would solve the problem.

I think it's more that I need to make it very clear what went wrong in her marriage and how she responded to it. I tried to be subtle and imply a lot, show not tell, etc., but apparently I overdid it. Most of the questions and areas of misunderstanding cluster around that aspect of her character.

OK, time to sail in....

I think I've just realized the source of my anxiety problems. I never get visibly angry.

This may help explain why I write men better than I write women.

Hmm.