Paksworld

Yesterday I finally (!) got the copy edits boxed up, taped up, and ready to go when (out of the blue, literally) a storm landed on top of us and for over an hour we had lightning, wind, and (wonderfully) rain.  The power flickered on and off and I declined to go out in it, risking the manuscript, until things settled down, which they finally did.   Then I drove the 20-something miles to the Kinko’s/FedEx place and handed over the box to the nice fellow keeping the doors open until closing time, and drove back home, lighter in heart and pocket both.  (You really don’t want to know what it costs to send over 850 pages of paper ‘overnight’ to New York City from central Texas…)

Now I can concentrate on the new book(s) again, and come Monday, Production will get its hands on the manuscript and start doing what it does, putting it into shape for the printer.   In the meantime, due to the copy editor having turned it in so late, someone else’s books moved into the slot originally reserved for mine, and mine is shoving into spaces in the schedule that originally belonged to someone else’s book(s).

Lessons learned–I can no longer do copy edits after midnight.  I was trying to do them as fast as possible, but discovered on re-check (which is usually fast and painless) that I had made a lot of mistakes myself.  In the words of the old Book of Common Prayer (revised for writers), I had stetted those things which ought not to be stetted, and left unstetted those things which ought to be stetted (wait, I think that’s reversed.  Anyway.)   Judging by where the waves of errors were, they occurred in those post-midnight sessions and one “interrupted by conversation” session.   So I had to check the whole manuscript again, twice, finishing up a solid week and a bit after starting.

Today, however, I have other commitments, and though I slept until almost 8 am (amazement!  Actual 8 hours of sleep last night!)  I have two full days of Stuff, mostly away from here.   So I’d better quit loafing here and get at it.

But on Monday it’s “back to book.”   I hope Book (either one) is in a cooperative mood.