Revisions and Cranford

My revisions went off yesterday. My editors made me dig deep and I do think the book is far better for it.

Sometimes, it is very much a question of KNOWING that you should be asking questions and then forgetting. One thing my editors had me do was to look at the hero's attitudes towards marriage, beginning, middle and end. And breaking it down like that gave me added insight. Yes, I knew his attitudes changed,but could I pinpoint the exact moment they changed and highlight it. Reading through the ms I had submitted, I had to agree that the turning points were not as defined as they could have been. And because of that, the ending did feel flat. Anyway, fingers crossed -- all is well.

I now get to do the next book, the sequel to this one. Hopefully the lessons I learnt in my revisions this time will come through with this wip and the revisions will be light. One always lives in thought. Although I do like challenging revisions.

My newsletter went today, complete with the recipe for mincemeat. My next newsletter will be in mid Dec and will have a recipe for Lamb's wool punch.

I was very pleased to read what Kate Hardy had to say about A Christmas Wedding Wager. Kate is a fantastic writer and knows her stuff, so I consider it an honour that she likes my writing. Of course, when I am reading her books, I am apt to forget everything else. They are wonderfully well done Medicals and Modern Heats. Kate also writes non fiction about researching local history and researching the history of your house. Having read them, I find they are very useful indeed to the historical romance writer...

Cranford which had its debut on Sunday is excellent. It is one of those landmark BBC costume dramas. Eileen Atkins as the elder sister, Miss Dorothy steals the show. It is the interaction of the various character that is wonderful to watch. You get the feeling that here are people who have lives. Philip Glenister's character appears to be slightly Gene Hunt in 19th century. In other words -- strong and willing to act -- alpha male. The exact romantic lead has not been telegraphed -- Simon Woods is still in the running as is Greg Wise who plays Sir Charles Maulver. Time will tell and I prepared to shed a few tears, as I am certain several story endings will not end happily. BUT I know what I am doing on the next few Sunday evenings.