An Old Familiar Place

Rachel, After the Darkness— The exhausting job of proofing the book block and cover copy is over, and soon I will see the final proofs before we call this book published! I can hardly wait. This is not easy. The worst part is handing it back to the publisher for the final dip. It has my blood, sweat and tears all over it. There is at least one error in every book that has ever been published, but I crave a perfect book. To clear my personal hang-ups, I went to the shelves at Barnes and Noble and laid my hand on Gone With The Wind . I own a copy of this timeless tome, but I wanted to do it this way, so I opened it, and you know the intimidation of a book designed with two columns on a page, like The Complete and Unabridged Works of  Flavius Josephus ! Yes, I opened it to the middle part of the book and, low and behold, a mistake on that very page. I looked no further. I was convinced. So if you go searching my book for a mistake, please don't tell me. ...

I'm at the finish line with Rachel, After the Darkness . It is all with the publisher, and I am now at their mercy for a beautiful book block and cover. I can hardly wait. It's always fun to watch this part of the process unfold and to see the splendid handiwork of the design team. I do love my publisher! Here's a little excerpt from the story. I hope it will make you thirst for more! By Far the Greatest Rachel glanced toward the door where she had left the dress on the wood hanger her mother had packed in the side of the big box. She knew I would have no way of hanging it, thought Rachel. Madeleine Beauregard does think of everything. Rachel touched it again, lost in the feel of luxurious fabric, the fragrance of store-bought finery. Her head was spinning from the sudden eruption of a thousand possibilities. In an anxious moment, she removed the skirt from the hanger and slipped it to her slender waist, then the jacket, fastening the long row of covered butt...