Writing 101: The Professional Editor Visits *gulp*

I’ve heard tell of them--Editorial Letters. Eight or nine page beasts that require an author to sift through their manuscript as cold sweat drips down their back and the taunt “Now everyone knows what a terrible writer you are,” echoes in their ears. But I had never encountered one myself, though I must admit that the taunt runs through my mind throughout the writing of a manuscript, e-mailing of finished product, and subsequent edits. There now. That doesn’t leave out any part of the process, now does it?

But this, my very first “official” editorial letter, was different. Not at all what I expected.

It all started out innocently enough. I received an email. From this lady. Her name is Jamie Chavez and this is how it started:

Hi Sandra!
This is just a quick email to introduce myself and tell you that we're gonna
work on your novel, A Recipe for Deceit, together. Really soon! And quickly!

What captured me right away is the cadence of her email. The energy. And if any of you have ever read a LaTisha Barnhart mystery, you know LaTisha is all about attitude and, in her own way, energy. I think I expected something stodgy and stuffy. “Greetings, My name is William Wunderkiedz and I am an intellectual genius with a three digit IQ and more degrees in English, particularly Grammar, than you have teeth. . ."

What I got was. . .

HI! So nice to meet you! A quick background on me: I'm a mom (OK, OK, my boy is 27), I worked for Thomas Nelson for 11 years before I went freelance back in 2004, and I love, love, love what I do. I have a website, so you can see my portfolio. Oh, and I'm on Facebook, if you're
interested. :)

Down to earth. Kind. Funny. Spunky. I was relieved. I then did what any self-respecting author would do. I googled “Jamie Chavez” and found jamiechavez.com (duh, now why didn’t I think of that?). Jamie’s picture grabbed me by the throat! Can’t you just SEE LaTisha looking over her reading glasses like that? Okay, so this lady is legit, and she’s jazzed, and I’m getting excited because I like working with high-energy people.

Second, third, fourth, and fifth thing to grab me is. . .she’s a Mac gal! Yeah! A woman who has not only stepped into the 21st century but has embraced the simplicity and beauty that is Mac. Check out her Macbook Pro! Drooling. . .

Then, within a week, she sent me THE LETTER and I realized. . .



Over the course of the next few Tuesdays, we're going to peek into the relationship between an author and developmental editor as Jamie Chavez and I work through Recipe for Deceit, the third and last of the LaTisha Barnhart Mystery series. Jamie is going to join me in this and we’re going to be open to any questions you might have. Drop us a line!