Edits are in and approved. Hardworking Anne has handed (that term has moved smoothly into metaphor – there will be no ‘handing’ of anything) the manuscript over to Painstaking Erin for copy edit.
Copy edit is where the nit picking happens. Painstaking Erik will flag issues of grammar, repetition, inconsistencies, typos, repetition, and grammar. I’m sure she won’t find any in my section of the book. How sure? Very sure.
It’s also time to think about dedications. My past dedications have gone to partners, children, parents, absent friends. Usually the dedicatee had something to do with the book. So whose turn was it now? I went blank. I couldn’t come up with anyone who ‘felt’ right. If I had a best friend with an Indigenous background, or a relative who had evolved past obvious racist attitudes, they’d be – well, obvious, but also – fitting. I don’t have that person in my life. Can you dedicate a book to an abstract idea or a cause?
And then Melanie came up with a great dedication. It was apt and true for me too. I was delighted to spin my dedication to go along with hers. Hardworking Anne is happy. So that’s where we stand.
We’ll get Painstaking Erin’s clean copy sometime this week, unless there are lots of nits to pick. If Melanie’s half of the book is full of lots and lots and lots and lots of repetitions, then Eric – and typos and inconsistencies – then Erin will have to work overtime.