Morning, Today I am excited to be joined by Trevor to talk about what happens once the book is finished.
Writing the book’s the easy part
TA (Trevor) Williams talks about all the rest of it…
It’s a great feeling when you finally write The End on the last page of your manuscript and head off to the fridge to open that bottle of champagne that’s been in there for a good while. But, when you surface a few days later, once the hangover has receded, the real hard work starts.
First, you’ve got to edit what you’ve written. With my latest book, What Happens at the Beach… , I added over 3,000 words the first time I revisited the book I had just finished. This wasn’t just seeking out typos (why do I keep leaving out the first letter of the? Spellcheck doesn’t mind, but the reader will) and turning commas into full stops. This wass also inserting description, tweeking dialogue to make it more natural, checking the chronology of the book (how come they go to the party on Friday night, but the previous day was a Wednesday?) and making sure I hadn’t inadvertently used the name of one of my characters from a previous book instead of this one. It’s surprisingly easy to make that mistake.
Then the book goes off to my editor and I wait anxiously for her verdict. This usually comes back in the form of a three or four page document full of “suggestions” – and we all know what that means. These can range from the most simple, “why not give Henry an Oxford accent?” to more complex changes like, “Three men vying for XXX’s affections is too many. How about removing YYY?” And so I then have to set about erasing the existence of poor old YYY forever. Oh yes, and then there are names. In my last book, What Happens in the Alps…, my editor felt that the main male character’s name wasn’t “alpha” enough. The name I had chosen was Jimmy. I spent a whole day looking for a suitably macho name before hitting upon Matt. Luckily, all I then had to do was to click edit/find, type in Jimmy and then click replace and type in Matt. Voila! 676 changes made in the blink of an eye. But it all takes time.
Then it goes back to my editor again and, if I’m lucky, she accepts the changes and sends it to somebody with those little half glasses, probably wearing a cardigan, who checks spelling, punctuation and so on. I used to be an English teacher so I’m not too bad on the grammatical side of things, but I did object to one copy editor a couple of years ago who went through my manuscript taking out every passive and changing the sentences to the active voice. Erm, excuse me… it was in the passive for a reason… . The edited version comes back to me (Harper Collins refer to that stage of the procerss as AAs – author amendments, I think that stands for) with every change tracked so I can accept or refuse them. All joking aside, these copy editors do a great job and by the time the book goes off to the digital boffins, it’s normally pretty well perfect (although I guarantee I’ll find a mistake the first time I read the finished article on my Kindle).
And that, you might think, is that. Sit back and wait for the glowing revues and the mountains of royalties to start flooding in. Wrong. Now begins the social media blitz with a blog tour and tweets flying around all over the place, Facebook posts, talks to the local Women’s Institute and so forth. Oh, yes, and that means writing blog posts for lovely bloggers who feature me on their blogs. Thank you!
What Happens at the Beach... by T. A. Williams Also by this author: Dreaming of Italy
Published by Carina on 11th July 2016
Genres: Chicklit, Humour, Love & Romance
Pages: 276
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For the perfect summer romance…
It’s finally time for Natalie Dryden to decide what she really wants! After ditching her sparkling engagement ring, and her ghastly fiancé, she jets off for the sun-kissed shores of Southern France – the only place that has ever truly felt like home. For the first time ever, Natalie is determined to forget all about men and follow her dreams!
…head to the French coast!
Only, avoiding the male population isn’t quite so easy, especially when she meets smooth-talking Philippe and gorgeous fisherman, Remy! But then Natalie, quite literally, bumps into brooding millionaire Mark whilst swimming in the glittering azure-blue bay – and her life is turned upside-down.
Love might be off the cards for Natalie, yet suddenly she finds herself in her dream job and working with her dream man! But is it all too good to be true…?
Giveaway
About T. A. Williams
Firstly, my name isn’t T A. It’s Trevor. I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book, “Dirty Minds” one of the (female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn’t possibly comment. Ask my wife…
I’ve written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I’m enjoying myself hugely writing humour and romance. Romantic comedies are what we all need from time to time. Life isn’t always very fair. It isn’t always a lot of fun, but when it is, we need to embrace it. If my books can put a smile on your face and maybe give your heartstrings a tug, then I know I’ve done my job.
I‘ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked away in south west England. I love the place. That’s why you’ll find leafy lanes and thatched cottages in most of my books. Oh, yes, and a black Labrador.
I’ve been writing since I was 14 and that is half a century ago. However, underneath this bald, wrinkly exterior, there beats the heart of a youngster. My wife is convinced I will never grow up. I hope she’s right.
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