Eureka! An editor.

Success! I have found an editor and she will be editing book one of my fantasy trilogy, today!

I’m very excited and she seems like a good fit.

What a journey it’s been to get this far as I haven’t had much luck with editors in the past.

Or is it me? Do you know the expression “self-sabotage”? We all do it from time to time and in my case I think it’s both a fear of success and being seen. If that’s the case then, subconsciously, I keep picking the wrong editor over and over again. My subconscious saving me from riches, fame, film deals and very expensive single-malt whisky. Thanks, subconscious?

Irregardless, I thought I might retell some of my past experiences in the form of anecdotes.

The following is all true and let my experiences be a warning for you all and a template for your own subconscious to sabotage your success, LOL.

When looking for an editor for “The Forgotten” I really didn’t know where to start as I wasn’t in the book writing scene. I canvassed my facebook friends for editors they might recommend. I got a few names and one editor reached out and said she had been tutored in the editing arts by a friend of mine who was a relatively well-known author. Fate? Could it all be that easy?

I sure hoped so.

The editor did a sample edit for me and all was well. We worked out a fee and off she went.

As my book was a collection of short stories, we agreed that she would edit one at a time and send the edited version back to me.

First story, good. Second story, good, Fourth story, good. Fifth story? The sound of squealing car breaks and the ensuing horrible crash into the brick wall at extremely high speed.

Oh, my God! What had she done to my baby?

Apparently, my newbie editor assumed that it would be okay If she used my intellectual property as a platform to promote her lesbian agenda. Now, I have nothing against lesbians. I’ve probably been one in an alternative timeline. However, my creative writing is no place to promote your own agenda no matter what that agenda might be.

Needless to say, I was gobsmacked and so angry - I may have let slip a few expletives and maybe more than a few.

I fired her on the spot for what I would personally call - unprofessionalism.

Sadly, that was not my only experience with unprofessionalism.

I’m sure some of you might be smirking or at least frowning that I didn’t learn my lesson. Good for you and I hope you enjoy your high and mighty attitude! As if you’ve never made a mistake!

I blame my non-lesson learning on my subconscious who seemingly loves to get me into trouble and leave hidden booby traps all along my life-path.

Fast-forward to just a few months ago as I sought an editor for the first book of my fantasy trilogy. As I said in my other blog - I find the process of finding the right editor, exhausting and not fun at all. And this time around I had to deal with editors who used Ai. And if you really have been reading my blogs, you’d know how I distain the use of Ai for any creative work. It’s not creative - it’s cheating!

As I scoured social media and the internet, I wondered to myself - are there any editors out there that don’t use Ai?

You’ve got to think that the ones on fiverr and those with a really low fee are using Ai.

And then I found an editor that in plain black and white said “I don’t use Ai.” Oh, thank the heavens! This editor also didn’t want a lot of swearing or sex and a few other things. I like people who have clear boundaries and as my book didn’t have sex or a lot of swearing, I thought we might be a good match.

The editor would do a first chapter edit for a small fee and since many other editors follow the same format - I paid and sent along chapter one.

There is a scene in this chapter where the protagonist visits another world/ dimension and meets the Great Mother or Mother Earth. Long story short, the Great Mother chastises the protagonist for being ashamed of her own body as they are both nude and skinny dipping.

Nothing happens sexual nor is there sexual inuendo or anything of the sort.

This scene is instrumental not only in book one but subsequently. It’s a commentary, by yours truly, on societal shame when it comes to nudity. This trilogy is also exploring Christianity and the biblical concept that we were made in God’s image. If that’s true then why would anyone and society be ashamed of our bodies? Unless, of course, we really didn’t believe in God or the bible but were just playing along.

The editor, in question, decided to stroke out all the bits with nudity.

Obviously, I was more than a little Gobsmacked and wondering why these editors, I was choosing, were so unprofessional? Was this God’s way of sabotaging my work? In my other timelines, was I ashamed of my lesbian body?

When I approached the editor and verbalized my dismay and anger, she just said, “sorry you feel that way.”

WOW!

So, that’s the luck I’ve had with editors up until now.

In case you are wondering, before I chose this new editor, I sent her a list of questions about professionalism and how would she feel about this and that and would her personal beliefs come into play in the edit. She passed with flying colours and that’s why I chose her.

So, there you have it.

See you next blog perhaps post edit.