And the Crows Took Their Eyes is getting closer to publication (pub date is October 16, 2020,) and I've just finished yet another read-through of the typeset proof. It's kinda amazing how many errors crop up in the typesetting -- not to mention my own errors I'd overlooked in previous readings. I was so happy to correct a particularly bad mistake I made--on one page I have Polly shut and bar the door and a few paragraphs later, a man runs into the house. All it took was a quick removal of bar the door, thank goodness! Most of the confusion occurred with letters and quoted Bible verses and songs where extra indenting and line spaces are called for. I wanted all that stuff in italics but the publisher's house style doesn't like italics except in small doses. Two days of intensive proof reading and back and forth with the editor and all that got straightened out. Now I'm faced with the cringe-inducing task of asking for blurbs. Early blurbs will go on the advance reading copies (ARCs) that are sent out to the big reviewers and a positive notice from a well-known author increases the chances that one of these big reviewers will even open the ARC. So I'm gritting my teeth, girding my loins, squaring my shoulders, and doing whatever I must to solicit blurbs. I have three folks already who say they'll take a look at an ARC, for which I am really grateful. But there are a few more out there from whom I'd really love a stamp of approval. Like I say, this is the part I hate.
