And Here We go

The above pictured book can be found HERE.

So now I'm at the stage where I start going back over my labor or love and identifying all the blemishes. It's not always easy to to, and yet at other times it can be too easy as well. That why any writer worth his salt has to have proofreaders. I will begin with the problems I have found myself, and some that have been identified by a couple of prrofreaders who were allowed an early look at the manuscript before it was finished,

Currently that involves a lot of sentences that were too long, an action by a veterinarian character that both a friend and my veterinarian wife informed me was way wrong, a problem with restating the obvious and beating the reader over the head with some things, and several other character interactions that need work. Apparently, the zombies themselves are a big hit with all readers.

Anyways, this is the part of the process that can be the most painful...but it is also the part that elevates your work from the poor or mediocre, to the polished effort worthy of a readers time. Its kind of like preparing a kid to send out into the world. If you're going to go to all the trouble to have kids, it only seems right you should prepare them so they have every chance to succeed. It's the same thing with a novel or collection of short stories....after you have put all the work into writing the thing in the first place, it only seems logical to make sure it goes out  into the world in the best form possible.

It's just not as fun as writing the thing in the first place. But after doing it a while, you can really start to take satisfaction as it begins to take shape as an obviously superior product to the original. So there are rewards. It's just the gratification isn't immediate at this stage, and I think a lot of us writer types are all about immediate gratification. I know that's been an issue with me from time to time....just a teensy bit.

Anyways, it's this and the cover art to keep me busy. And busy I shall be.