Vacation

Published August 17, 2011 by rochellewisoff

Hold the cakes!

At present I’m in California visiting my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter Olive. Everything else can wait for a while. Just this morning she turn from her back to her tummy and her bubbe got to see it first.

Now that’s something to write home about!

What? My writing’s not perfect just the way it is?

Published August 10, 2011 by rochellewisoff

Someone thinks my writing is worthy of publication! How intoxicating is that? I have arrived! Right? Well…not exactly.

The first galley arrived two weeks ago with an encouraging note from the editor. She loves my stories. Strong voice, she says. But…(here comes the inevitable)…I have a lot of work to do.

Overuse of gerund. For those of you, who like me, are running for your dictionary because you slept through English grammar, gerunds are “ing” words. She says I’ve also overdone the punctuation.

My OCD kicks in and I go on a witch hunt, pencil-slashing through every colon, semi-colon and out of place comma. Gerunds, beware! You’re going down next. Then I change words and questionable syntax.

At last I’m satisfied and ready to send it back and wait for the second galley. It arrived Monday with a nice long letter from the editor. Now she says she didn’t mean for me to whack all the gerunds.

After a nice long chat with her on the phone yesterday, I feel less daunted. Gratitude for the opportunity to learn the craft floods me. It’s good to have another pair of eyes with more experience to help me along. I turn the page to make more corrections. A printed book I’ll be proud of can’t be far behind.

Back to the other World

Published July 28, 2011 by rochellewisoff

After two days of sequestering with computer and manuscript it will be nice to have human contact. I’ve enjoyed my own company in my own little corner of the world. It’s a little cluttered, but, then, so is my head.

Now it’s back to work decorating cakes. These days I really enjoy my job and my coworkers. All things considered, I’d rather be writing.

Right up my Galley

Published July 27, 2011 by rochellewisoff

It’s been an educational day for me. I’ve spent the day making corrections to my manuscripts. I hope that I’m understanding the editor’s directions.
Nonetheless the process is exciting. So tomorrow I’ll send the first galley back to High Hill Press and await further instruction to come with the second galley.

Where do I Begin?

Published July 27, 2011 by rochellewisoff

This is a first for me. I’ve never blogged before. But then again, I didn’t consider myself an author until about five years ago. So has begun a new chapter in my life. (Pun always intended.)

My first book “This, That and Sometimes the Other” will be out by the end of this year from High Hill Press. It’s an ecclectic collection of short stories and original illustrations. I’ve had a great time writing them and I hope that others will have a great time reading them.

The process has been both exciting and frustrating. At present I have the first galley in front of me and am following the editor’s suggestions to make it a better book.