Saturday, 27 September 2008

A week of madness...

... apologies in advance for some more blog silence. I have a really busy week where I need to nail these revs and celebrate my babies second birthdays. Add to that a night at the opera, a Hi-5 concert and the fact that its the school holidays and you have a recipe for one busy, busy writer/mum...
...so sorry if things are quiet again for another week (but knowing me I'll be in to procrastinate anyway!)

Nikki asked about revisions - and whether the Christmas sub will be out then soon. Nikki, the amount of revisions varies from book to book - some are straightforward (like 'page 35 X needs clarification') to way more complex (like, 'the conflict is LOST halfway' - oops!). Sometimes you get it right in one round of revisions, sometimes two. Sometimes there are 3rd rounds - I've not experienced that yet but am bound to one day. Some people have the odd book go thru with no revisions at all - I haven't experienced that yet either but do live in hope! ;)

Revisions are kind of wonderful because they do make the book better and I'm always so glad to get my eds input because she really helps me in the murky bits - she seems to see things so much more clearly than me! But they are also hard - the set I have (and am about to go for a marathon stint at the library with) are tricky because its about tone - I lost the 'heat' in Modern Heat - and I don't mean the 'sauce' but more the upbeat vibe ;)
So I have to change the lens and put it in a more positive light... If it gets accepted after this round of revisions (and possibly another!) I don't know when it will be out - scheduling is a mystery that only the Gods (aka Editors) know and understand. But Modern Heats are usually out 7-10 months later. Some lines have a longer scheduling time after acceptance than others and special projects are completely different again.

Once these revisions are done I have a different book to write - that's the one due at Christmas - and its a Christmas themed one for the following Christmas. I'm so looking forward to writing it - it'll be my reward for fixing up the current pineapple :)
Hope this helps Nikki!!!

See you soon!

3 comments:

Joanne Coles said...

Wow, a Hi-5 concert. My kids absolutely love that. When it is on my little boy always wants it rewinding so he can dance and sing again!!

Glad your journey was safe.

Jo

Anonymous said...

Hi Nat!
Thank you so much for your blog it's more than I could have dreamed :) I love hearing about behind the scenes, and revisions aren’t a topic that anyone talks about probably because you come out the other side slightly traumatized? I've always wondered how it all works :)
I can’t wait to hear about the birthday celebrations!
Nikki

Natalie Anderson said...

Jo - Hi-5 is fun - we've been to all their concnerts i the last 5 years - will be differnt this time becuase there's no Kathleen, Charli OR Tim... but I'm sure it will be as much fun :)

Nikki - traumatized isn't QUITE it - to be honest its more a sense of relief - becuase suddenly you do 'get' what your ed meant - I'm at the point of enjoying my revisions at the moment because I can see what she's saying and I can see it getting better - there is a lot more work to do but its improving... yay :)