Editor Love Day!

It's Editor Love Day! (in the vein of Agent Love Day last week)

Because editors need love too. Even if you don't have one, chances are many of you have had some interactions with them, business or casual. I've had interactions with several editors, and the coolest thing I've learned: THEY'RE PEOPLE. I know, crazy right?! Yes, for writers they are people with immense power, gatekeepers for one of the last doors an author has to get through. But they're actually kind of cool. They like certain music, they do things in what little spare time they have, etc.

Anyway, onto my editor: The Incredible Abby Ranger, of Disney-Hyperion. Or as I often call her, the second member of my A-Team (since Abby and Amy both start with A).

Now, I'm writing this post from an interesting place, inside the belly of the beast of edits. This isn't one of those situations where I can look back on it and glorify the experience. I'm IN it. Edits are hard.

My editor is hard. my editor is intense. She is an Editrix, and she has earned the term. But guys, let it be known, let me shout this even in my time of distress:

My editor is Brilliant (that's right I capitalized the B because that's how brilliant she is).

If I could show you my edits, they would be an exercise in red, and yet somehow I have NOT lost hope, and I've only spent a minimal amount of time in the fetal position on my office floor. Why is that? Because my editor has the strange power to make me think that *gasp* I can do this. She just gives me a call, talks through it with me, and suddenly my fears seem kind of small, suddenly the solution seems within my grasp (now the time after I've hung up when I turn back to my word doc might be a different story). Abby makes me feel like I can do this.

And even if Editor Abby is still busily nibbling on small (and not so small) bits of my soul, even during that, I still stop now and then and mutter to myself, "Damn she's good." I still can't believe I HAVE an editor, let alone one as incredible as Abby. The things she sees! The way she sees!

Edits are HARD. My editor is HARD. But she is also BRILLIANT (oh now I've gone and capitalize the whole thing!) and WONDERFUL, and SUPPORTIVE, and FRIENDLY. And she wants to help make NEAR WITCH the absolute best it can be :) She BELIEVES in me, and in this book, and that is an amazing feeling.

I have an editor. She might still scare the s*** out of me, but mostly I just adore her, and I adore what my book is becoming with her help.

Now, I'd better get back to my edits!

People I Love: Courtney Summers

Up next in my "People I Love" series...





~*COURTNEY SUMMERS*~

(I think Edit Fairy likes Gaga's look)

How can I describe Courtney Summers?

Well, I know how I describe her BOOKS. Her books are brutal, un-put-downable, wonderful, wrenching, real, disturbing, addictive, destructive and FABULOUS. I once described her upcoming book, Some Girls Are, as "suicidal teletubbies with purple lipstick and switchblades." There is this incredible push-pull in Courtney's books, something akin to morbid curiosity. You just can't stop looking.

Describing Courtney as a person gets trickier, only because I don't have the right words. Courtney and I have had a roller coaster year, but she's been beside me every step of the way. We've cheered each other on at the fun parts, and she's given me an incredible shoulder at the really NOT fun parts, and even let me emotionally vomit on her a few times when the ride got out of hand. Essentially, she's been there. And she's become an incredibly close friend. Not only is Courtney one of the nicest, most accessible writers out there, not only is she INSANELY talented, and getting some of the praise she absolutely deserves, but I can say that she has made a profound impact on my life, and that I wouldn't be where I am if not for her.

Courtney, thank you. Thanks for filling my good days with ~*~*~ and my bad days with hugs and rants and every day with emoticons, capslock, acronyms, enthusiasm and love.

Edit Fairy Smolders, Team Sparkle, well, Sparkles.

So it turns out Edit Fairy isn't terribly gifted in the editing department, BUT he is quite good at smoldering. And boy does he smolder. And I cannot stay long, since I need to inject some *smolder* into my own book.

But first! Today's lovely recipient of the V Loves You Award is...

~*~*~Team Sparkle~*~*~

What is Team Sparkle? Well, TS is my support group. TS is:

-Courtney Summers
-Scott Tracey
-Susan Adrian
-Tiffany Schmidt
-Emily Hainsworth
-Linda Grimes


Team Sparkle is appropriately named, because boy do these guys sparkle. But it also makes me laugh, because the books that come out of TS tend to be dark/edgy/odd/other. Less like this:



And more like Edit Fairy:



Team Sparkles keeps me afloat. They fill my inbox with love, they deal with my panic attacks and minor tantrums, they cheer and bemoan and are all themselves absolutely brilliant. Over the next few days, I'll tell you just a little about that brilliance. Up first, the astounding unstoppable Courtney Summers.

Edit Fairies Awesome Australians

So, I'm in edits again. I'd give a glimpse of them, but I think it would just be easier to spread my arms wide and say I have to do thiiiiiiiiiiiis much work. My ms is currently an exercise in red. BUT. I will prevail!

This is my Edit Fairy:



Yes. I have an Edit Fairy (thanks to Nicole; I suspect he might be Jude Law, though he came from a random health and beauty site) and apparently he will either help me with my edits, or whisk me away, or both.

The problem is that during edits I really need all my brain power for, well, EDITING. So I can't seem to write much of a coherent, thoughtful post.

Still, I don't want to slack off on my blog here, so I'm doing something different.

I'm going to talk about a person I'm really thankful for each day for the next week or so, until I've satisfactorily beaten this chunk of edits back into submission.

First up,

~*~*~*~Tye Cattenach.*~*~*~

Tye is an incredibly sweet, energetic, and all-around awesome librarian in Australia, and she deserves some attention. She runs a blog called The Book Gryffin (which recently hosted The Grimm Off) and she has to be one of the nicest, most passionate women in the book world. I simply adore her. Tye has been this wonderful little shimmer of light during my edits, and her constant energy and enthusiasm make me smile and keep me afloat. Thanks, Tye :)

PS. I recently came to know two of Tye's cohorts, Sonja and Nicole, and I can say, Australia has an incredible quantity of Awesome. I suspect it might be stealing it from other places. Because, of course, Iocane comes from Australia, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals! (points for knowing where this line comes from).