Finally! I finished editing all four published books with editing
software recommended by a fellow author. It picked up missing punctuation and
words, inconsistencies in spelling, including misspellings, and capitalization. It counted adverbs, highlighted overused and repeated words and
phrases. The program also caught my clichés and chastised me for cumbersome, sticky
sentence structure. These are only a few issues it flagged. It offers
twenty-five different writing related reports.
The program is a great boon to my writing, giving me instruction as well as pointing out possible problems, except plot and structure issues. I still send it to my critique partner and Beta
readers for feedback on those. For anyone interested, it is ProWritingAid
Now with those books as error free as possible, I can move
on to other projects. I have four-thousand words written for, Of Lions, Beasts, and
Lambs, the fourth book in my Lions and Lambs series. The story has deepened
from my original concept and I am excited about the changes.
Another tale bubbling to the surface is a lighter standalone
loosely based on my grandmother, Hattie Walker. Whenever I had a problem, I ran
to her for advice. Her solution was conversation over sweet rolls and tea. Thus the name of the new book, Sweet Rolls and Tea.
My grandmother was
an amazing woman with a wonderful, although sometimes skewed, sense of humor.
My mother once said, “Marie, just because your grandmother told you that story does
not mean you should repeat it.”
A strong Christian, she never compromised her faith but she
didn’t adhere to the prime Emily Post behavior my mother preferred. I had the privilege of living next door to her for most of my life.
Grandma passed away thirty plus years
ago and I still miss her. I wish I could sit down with one of her scrumptious
sweet rolls and a tall glass of iced tea, tell her my troubles and hear another one of her funny
stories.
Perhaps I can recapture that experience in a small
way through my book.
