Maureen Bush

Editing The Veil Weavers

I’ve just finished another round of editing for The Veil Weavers, and my brain is fried.

Following Art Slade’s suggestion, part of my edit involved reviewing it by reading the chapters in reverse order. This is painful and strange, something I wish I’d never heard of (thanks, Art) – and yet it’s really effective. It helped me see the story with fresh eyes, even though I’ve been immersed in editing it for a week.

I could follow threads backwards, from the end to the beginning. It also gave me a different sense of the pacing and rhythm of the story.

My last pass before sending it back to Coteau was to read it out loud. I find this remarkably useful for hearing the rhythm of the words, and catching any awkward bumps.

Now I’ve sent it off, and I’m glad to have it off my desk. I need to wade through all the debris there I’ve been ignoring, and then I can get back to my true love, writing something new.

Maureen

Another Book

The third in the Veil of Magic series has an official go-ahead from Coteau.

This will be my fifth book, and I’m thrilled. I’m also panicking, as it’s coming out next spring. Editing will define my summer and fall, around renos and holidays and, I’m hoping, a writing week at the Banff Centre.

It should be fun.

Maureen

Launch Dates, Award Nomination

It’s been an exciting week:

Coteau has set a launch date for the sequel to The Nexus Ring. Well, not a date exactly, but a season –  Spring 2010. At the moment we’re calling the story Crow Boy, but I’m not sure whether that’s going to stick.

Orca will be publishing Witchdoctor (title still to be determined) in the fall of 2010. Like Feather Brain, it will be an Orca Young Reader.

Feather Brain has been nominated for another award, the Rocky Mountain Book Award. That’s Alberta’s Readers’ Choice Award, with voting next May.

And the howweirdcanyouget.com contest is wrapping up – I’ll be announcing the winner on the weekend.

Now I just need to find some time to write.

Maureen