Maureen Bush

Page Proofs Away

I’ve just sent in the page proofs for Crow Boy. It almost looks like a book! The publication date: April 9, 2010.

Now I can get back to writing, after too long a break. Everything seems to be a distraction from writing, now. I need writing time every day or I get antsy.

BTW, I read Leviathan, a YA steampunk novel by Scott Westerfeld. I loved it – it would be a great gift for older kids who like quirky adventure.

Maureen

Chaos Reigns

Chaos reigns as I try to get organized to leave town.

The dryer broke, so we have wet laundry draped around the bathroom and mudroom. One daughter has bleeding toes from ill-fitting shoes for a drama production, running three nights this week. The other needs help navigating a poorly created website to understand a training program she’s interested in (why does every program application have to be submitted while I’m away?)

Page proofs for Crow Boy arrived. I received an invite to participate in the Calgary Young Writer’s Conference; they need a workshop description and a bio before I leave. Plus, of course, I have to organize myself, and help my family get organized for while I’m gone. The calendar is filled with gigs and bingo nights, writing groups and classes and rehearsals. And, of course, Christmas is coming and requires attention.

Somehow, through all of this, I have to emerge rested and peaceful, ready for a 10–day meditation retreat. Argh!!!!

Maureen

Page Proofs in the Mail

I finished the page proofs for Crow Boy and sent them off. While I worked, I made pages of notes for the third book, for ideas triggered by re-reading Crow Boy. Now it’s back to work on the new manuscript, sorting through my latest pile of scrappy notes.

Maureen

Proofing Crow Boy

My desk is tolerably excavated, the kids are settled in their fall programs, the house is quiet, the *%$@!#& funding application is in, and now I have time to spread the Crow Boy page proofs across the kitchen table and pour over them.

Somehow all italics were deleted, so I’m reading through the original, marking the italics, and making sure I’ve caught them all in the page proofs. Plus I’m checking for all the other picky bits – finding wandering paragraph breaks and misplaced indents and correcting repeated uses of words that suddenly became obvious with the new layout.

As I work I get to admire the little crow glyph marking the beginning of each chapter. Crows make me smile.

Maureen

Page Proofs!

The page proofs just arrived for Crow Boy. This is an exciting moment – it almost looks like a real book. A small crow is being used as a placeholder for the glyph. It’s charming – hopefully the final version will be even better.

Having printed out the proofs and gone ooh ah over them, I’m going to ignore them and work on the third book in the Veil of Magic series.

Maureen