Back in February, I wrote about page proofs. An eagle-eyed copy editor at Haworth had reviewed the manuscript for Mahu and found many inconsistencies.
Well, it's like it's February all over again. I just got a six-page single-spaced Word doc from my publisher with more inaccuracies and problems in the book. A gold and diamond bracelet that morphed into gold and emerald bracelet later in the book. A drive that began in one character's car and ended in another's. Kimo wanting to be "a Hawaiian J.D. Salinger" when he really meant "a Hawaiian Holden Caulfield." Kimo asks "Do you think he shot our victim because..." when the victim was not shot, but hit on the head. And on and on.
Jesus, how many mistakes did I make in this book? I'm so grateful that these copy editors keep catching these problems-- but really-- does it ever end? I guess part of the problem is that I began the book back when there people had tapes in their cars, then changed most-- but not all--references to CDs. And changed the method of murder somewhere along the way. I was reminded that one of Kimo's brothers has a new baby in this book-- a baby who has mysteriously disappeared from the next book, which takes place a month later. Oops, got to bring that baby back.
I'm seriously grateful that Haworth has such dedicated copy editors, and I'm feeling very humble. I've always taken pride in submitting very clean copy-- no grammatical errors, no wrong facts. But obviously a whole novel is a different animal.
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