Nitpicking

I've got the proof pages of The Secrets of Life and Death to work through, and it's slow going. I've managed 60 pages - before my brain went numb - reading every word out loud and looking for tiny errors. Spaces in front of dialogue, a couple of those. A couple of commas perhaps I shouldn't have taken out, an 'of' instead of 'on'. I can't believe that the many many edits haven't found these tiny snags, that I could have read them wrong so many times. I know there will be some in the finished document. Ouch.

Worse, today I seem to have my 'literary' hat on. Normally I just rush through telling my story, and don't worry too much about whether I have written well, but today I am wincing at all the odd phrases, accidental alliterations, things that could have been worded better. I know this is my shop window, this is the book that will be out there on its own for a long time as the only available example of my writing, and it's not my best work because I have learned so much over the last eighteen months.

Meanwhile book 2 is having its first read through, by my agent, who will hopefully gently point me in the direction of the major snags and highlight what works and what doesn't. I feel rushed at the moment, perhaps I will ask for more time to really finish book 2. It isn't going out until June 2014. Having said that, I always think that.

On a different subject, the building work and decoration over in my new bedroom, we took delivery of my new bed. We ordered it in the Christmas sales and it's finally here, so I may unwind with a quick bounce on my new mattress - immature but there you go. I've had a really busy day.