Oh, This is Gonna be Fun -- Jay

All the itsy-bitsy contract details were worked out on a Friday. First my agent called to say it was a done deal. A few minutes later I got another call. “Jay? This is Kristen Pettit.” “No, it’s not,” I said. “It’s my editor!” We had a very fun/hyper/squealy phone call...and I hardly ever squeal.

That was followed by a wonderful weekend.

Then, on Monday, my editor sent me an e-mail which included the words “down to business.” And she meant it. The book is scheduled to come out next fall and I had three assignments to complete throughout the week. One was a brief paragraph describing my novel for their use when talking about my book. The next was a one-page summary of the novel for all of us to use so we don’t lose focus of what we’re trying to accomplish during the editing process. Then I needed to write an outline describing everything that happens in my 261-page manuscript so we can juggle the events for maximum suspense.

What? Juggle the events? You mean, like, change things?

Just kidding. I knew that was coming. But this is going to be a very difficult book to juggle scenes with. It has two first-person narratives running simultaneously. On each page, both narratives weave in and out several times. To move one scene in one narrative requires the other narrative to change in several places throughout the novel.

At lunch today I’m supposed to speak with my editor regarding which scenes to move where. So I’m trying to figure out if it’s better to eat my food before or after that phone call…

- Jay