We just printed out the entire first draft manuscript of our second Vampire Empire novel. Now we begin RE-WRITING! There is nothing more fun than editing a manuscript, recognizing problems and fixing them, cutting the fat, sharpening the narrative, tightening the themes. Perhaps after reading 3 or 4 drafts, you might tire of your own words. But the first complete read-through is great fun when you see the spots that work, but not so fun when you see the spots that don't!
And, yes, we edit on paper. We simply have to have the words on a sheet of paper, with pen in hand, to really get a feel for it. The people who make ink for printers make a lot of money off of us.
7 comments:
Dear Susan and Clay, an advance reader's copy came into my office the other day. For Reasons that are only partially explained by the npr radio and web piece below, I have read 116 vampire novels in the last 15 months ( the piece was done when it was up to 75). Some were great, some mediocre. But I LOVED your book. Gareth/Greyfriar is a fabulous character, deep and poignant, and Adele is wonderful too. I can't believe I am going to have to wait eons for the sequel. Good luck I hope this book does fabulously well. Sincerely, Margot Adler, Correspondent, NPR.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123115545
Margot
Thanks so much for the comment. We're glad you enjoyed the book, and that it stood out among so many. Your NPR piece of vampire stories was very interesting; particularly the aspect about illness being your impetus for interest in the topic. We've had similar events in our family over the last year, and it likely feeds into some of the character elements in the book. We love these characters and although the book is intended first as a wild entertainment, it's lovely for someone to call out Greyfriar and Adele as you did.
Best
Clay & Susan
I just finished reading "The Greyfriar" and can't wait for the second book. :)
I'll definitely recommend the book in the forthcoming review (though written in Bulgarian), as it offers an interesting perspective on vampire-human civilization clash.
What can I say... thank you for the work, Susan and Clay.
P.S. It is a wonderful script-material for an anime movie. Hopefully the guys at Studio Ghibli realize it. :)
Thank you very much. We've had enquiries from a Bulgarian publisher, but I don't know if anything has come of it. And we were talking the other day about how it might work as an anime, specifically Studio Ghibli. We love their stuff.
Dear Susan and Clay,
First let me thank you for creating The Greyfriar and Princess Adele. I bought your book on a whim and 24 hours later I closed the book after experiencing emotions ranging between laughter to ultimately desperate heartache (which left me sobbing.)
I have a question and within the particular blog I was reading you mentioned you were "proofreading the second Vampire Empire novel" and that you had to print out the book to hard copy to do proof reading. My question is as someone who wants to be a proof reader for either an individual author via contract or a proof reader for a publishing company, is that still a viable position in the publishing field? I know from all the books I've been reading if they don't have one they sure need one as spell check and grammar is failing miserably! Do you do all your own proof reading or do you hiring or have contracted proof readers?
Any kind of information you could give me would be appreciated, as being a proof reader would actually be one of my dream jobs. I LOVE reading!!!
I'll thank you in advance for any time that you give me as I know your time is VERY important and any that you spend responding or even considering my message is generous. Thank you so VERY much.
Congratulations on your major success with Vampire Empire Book One: The Greyfriar and here's eagerly awaiting Vampire Empire Book Two plus!!
Sincerely,
Karen Davis-Doyle
Dear Susan and Clay-- THANK YOU for writing such a great book! I rec'd this book as a gift from an atty at work. I just finished last night @2am! I lost some sleep but well worth it--I am so in love with your characters and I just love how you allow us to glimpse & feel each character-even the annoying and self-indulgent Clark! (this is terrible but I was hoping he would die) hehehe! Great writing!! I've never read anything "steampunk" before. I already pre-ordered your 2nd book and will prepare myself for more sleepless nights! :) p.s. I hope you come to chicago in the future for a book signing! :)
Lucy
Thank you so much for the comment. Glad you enjoyed it. We're considering a Chicago convention next year, so maybe we'll get up there.
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