Sunday, July 21, 2013

Copyedits and Cover Flats, Oh My!

Two milestones last week brought the publication of Why Kings Confess a little bit closer: the mailman delivered two cover flats (evidently they are so pleased with the cover they decided to produce them early this time, to make use of them). And then the copyedited version of the manuscript popped up in my email inbox.

For reasons known only to the Powers that Be, they made the cover darker than the version I saw. But while I liked it better lighter, I'm still very happy with it. The print is a nice metallic silver (in the photo, it shows up best in my name, but the title is the same).


The copyedits took most of last week to read through, since I always go over the manuscript very carefully. This is essentially my last chance to change anything (they get really, really cranky if you try to change things at the page proof stage). And since I'm coming at the story with fairly fresh eyes after not having read it for six months, I sometimes see things I didn't notice before.

I must say, I do miss the good old days when copyeditors made their changes on the printed manuscript, and I could sit down with the manuscript pages in hand and read. Now it's all done electronically with Track Changes adding color-coded bubbles in the margins, and I need to either read it on my computer or print it off in an itty-bitty font in order to get those bubbles in there.


Life was also complicated last week by the death of our refrigerator. Barely seven years old, it's been problematic ever since we bought it while rebuilding after Katrina (there's a reason appliances purchased after Katrina are known around here as "Katrina Klunkers"). So we decided not to fix it again. This new one is huge (they no longer make them the size of our old one) and includes a giant, shallow drawer across the bottom of the fridge part for pizzas! Seriously. Every French door style refrigerator we looked at had one. Do people eat that many giant pizzas that they need a special drawer for them? At least this one doesn't have a dispenser for coke and beer cans built in the door, the way so many of them did.

I'm now looking at my other Katrina Klunkers--specifically the dishwasher and washing machine--and thinking I ought to look into replacing them BEFORE they die. The infuriating thing is, these were not cheap appliances. If you want to see me go red in the face, just whisper, "LG..."


18 comments:

Barbara Butler McCoy said...

Oh my, is right! This cover is fantastic and I am slipping into that zone of sweet anticipation for the book's release. (My fridge has a side freezer ... with a pizza shelf ;0)

Rachel Walsh said...

Oh wow. That cover is fantastic! In fact, it may just be my favourite. :-) Congratulations, Candy!

Charles Gramlich said...

we've had quite a few house costs this summer too. Has not been a particularly good year for that. Great cover!

LOgalinOR said...

Candice,
OMG, the cover is still captivating and more engaging than ever! Being a little darker with the metallic touches, lends more an aura of mystery and intrigue. This cover, could very well end up being your readers' (Sebastian St. Cyr) favorite! Let the countdown continue.....sigh.
Sorry about your fridge. Ours, finally broke down last summer and I had a very difficult time finding one that would fit in that enclosed space. Everything else on the market was taller and/or wider! I thought I was going to have to remove and change cabinet space so I could get a new fridge (& cost even more $$$). I ended up buying a 'new' refurbished Kenmore with a good warranty. Has anyone else out there had that problem?

cs harris said...

Barbara, I always heard that was one of the drawbacks on a sidebyside--not enough room for a giant pizza! It must be a big freezer?

Rachel, it is really pretty. And I just heard today they're going to do a full color ARC! Normally I just get brown paper wrappers.

Charles, you'd think that given how much those dang things cost they would last a bit longer.

LOgalinOR, this one is so wide it essentially eats the space we used for a garbage can. Thank goodness there weren't any cabinets on the other side, just a doorway. The delivery man was complaining that they make them so big these days that they're hard to get in houses. This was the smallest we could find in that style, and we still had an awful time getting it in the front door and through the arch to the kitchen. What's the sense?

malita said...

I feel your pain, I just had to replace my stove. The repairman said but a GE, he hardly repairs them, he said second in line is Whirlpool

paz said...

The cover is very nice, and the silver provides a good visual impact.

My mother recently purchased a new fridge, again, because her 25 year old one finally gave out. She converted her pizza drawer into a meat cuts drawer. I have to change my fridge soon, but I find the new ones so visually off putting.

lmhess said...

Good grief - you could store dead bodies in that thing! I can see it now - the next C S Harris series - "The Refrigerator Murders"...oh, never mind. Appliance disasters are always a pain - I won't go into my tale of the exploding water line into the wash machine a few days ago. Suffice it to say, if I hadn't been home when it happened my laundry room would have been no more - or so the plumber says.
Your comments about editing the old-fashioned way brings back memories of my high school Journalism classes - editing our work with our little red pencils, one page at a time. Sound familiar? The cover still look good!!!

cs harris said...

Malita, my slide in range is a GE. Also a Katrina Klunker, it goes on strike if I try to use too many burners and the oven at the same time. Lovely at Christmas and for dinner parties! I just had a repairman out to fix my mom's Kenmore washer (so I could give it to a friend), and asked him for a recommendation. He said, "They're all crap these days." I said, "Well, that helps..."

Paz, the appliance salesmen says they've been putting those wide, shallow drawers in for a year now. If you can hold out for another year, maybe they'll be out of style. I had to ask what they're for, since it stumped me. Since we're vegetarians, I put cheese in ours. But we don't eat THAT much cheese! And oh for the good ole days when appliances lasted 25 years.

Imhess, yes, it is HUGE. Not only is it wider, but it's also deeper. Cabinets are 25"; so why is this thing sticking half way out into the middle of my kitchen floor? Who thought that would be a good idea? I've always worried about those washing machine hoses. I think they make something now that prevents that, and when I replace my #%@^ washer I'm going to be sure to put them on. As for the blue pencil...I miss it! I really do.

le fleur said...

I love the cover! I like the colors with the silver. Congrats on that! Very interesting pic of Sebastian. I'll have to get a better look when it comes out. Is there a risk in putting the face of the main chars on the cover? (If I remember correctly, this is the first one??) I remember that you said that even you imagined his looks differently in your head.

On the appliances side, we just got a new dishwasher and I LOVE it! Get this - we just scrape the big chunks of food and put it in. No more rinsing it off. It has a garbage disposal in it, plus a "power wash" mode for dirty casserole dishes that are hard to clean. Since I have to little ones, it's so much easier for them to do the dishes themselves. And it's very sturdy.
Next though is the air conditioner...not looking forward to replacing that.

Liz said...

Never heard of a pizza shelf. Do you think it is an American thing? The cover is lovely, and I think darker is better in this case. It's a mystery novel, right?

lmhess said...

Candice - you're right - blue pencils. I'm getting old... The new hoses are a woven galvanized steel inside of heavy vinyl - not rubber. The plumber says these new ones last forever. And they look like it - thankfully. Have fun filling your new monster.

cs harris said...

le fleur, I do think it's probably not a good idea to put a character's face on the cover of the tenth book, which is why I suggested they show him from the back. There's simply no way to get someone who matches everyone's image, although almost everyone agrees that this guy doesn't have Sebastian's fine-featured face. And we're currently replacing the air conditioning system in my mom's old house. We had to tear out a wall to bring it into code compliance!

Liz, according to the salesmen, they've only been doing it a year. And it isn't just a shelf, it's a DRAWER that goes all the way across that huge thing. Bizarre.

Imhess, ah, is that what they are. I can remember my mother turning her water on and off every time she washed, just to be safe, but I can't even get at mine.

vp said...

Big expensive appliance replacement is all the rage this summer. We replaced our fridge and dishwasher and yes, it was difficult to find one without that drawer. I do love my new dishwasher though, it is a Bosch and super quiet and actually gets the dishes clean! I'm sure my stove will go any day, so I'm already looking at those. UGH!

So in love with this cover! I think it is the best yet. And thanks for the sneak peek. I read right through the copy edits, just to see what I could glean of the plot.

cs harris said...

vp, thanks for the tip; I'll remember that when I go dishwasher shopping. I put in a Bosch two years before Katrina and really regret that when I replaced it, I let the salesman convince me their quality had gone down. My LG is terrible; it used to be quiet, but it gets louder every year. It leaks. The racks are breaking. And I always have to put it on superclean mode, despite the fact I'm one of those people who rinses the dishes clean before I even put them in there.

Kelvin Dawson said...

I really don’t get that giant pizza drawer too. If I want pizza, I’d go out for one or have them delivered. I just use mine to store drinks that didn’t fit in the freezer. I had to cave in to the ice dispenser, though. That thing is convenient. Haha! Hopefully your other klunkers hold out so you can save for a new one. Better yet if they’re still salvageable by a good mechanic.

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