(Or,
Can’t Help Marking Things)
A charity
water fact: The 2012 Crits for
Water campaign has raised over $2,000
so far, which gives 100 people water for 20 years. Our goal is to help another
400 people.
And
romance author Elise Rome is on board, helping out for the second year in a row
(see her 2011 interview: Tempering
Your Overprotective Muse). She’s got a 50-page critique up for auction here.
Meet super-mommy slash author, Elise.
~~~
Elise Rome has never
forgiven Margaret Mitchell for making her fall in love with Scarlett and Rhett
in Gone with the Wind and then not giving them a happy ending. She likes to
think that she makes up for this injustice with each romance novel she writes.
When she isn't telling stories about sexy, headstrong heroes and intelligent,
independent heroines, Elise stays busy chasing after her two young daughters,
semi-attempting to do housework, and hiking in the beautiful foothills of
Colorado.
~~~
NAE:
What is your favorite thing about receiving a critique back?
Elise: I really appreciate having another set of eyes looking over
my work. I usually edit as I write and then go back to edit even more, but I
know that there are things that my critique partners catch that I never would
by myself. And when I do something right, I love getting that confirmation from
a critique partner that it worked for them as well.
NAE:
Why is critiquing important?
Elise: I see critiques as feedback from the author's first
readers. Yes, they probably read more slowly and analyze more than normal
readers do, but they're still readers when it comes down to it. If I don't have
a strong opening, my CPs will tell me. If they don't like my hero, my CPs will
tell me. They're not just there to correct my spelling or grammar or tell when
a sentence doesn't work; they're invaluable in making all aspects of the book
as good as it can be before it's actually published, and my writing would
definitely not be as strong without them.
NAE:
Your critique style is like which of the following: Red Pen Editor, Overall
Commenter, Supportive Critic, You’ll Know It If I Catch It?
Elise: Red Pen Editor. Even when people just ask for me to beta
read, I can't help marking things when I see them. Unless something really
strikes me while I'm doing line edits, I'll save all the good stuff for my
summary at the end. My marks and comments in the actual manuscript are for me
to tell the author what I think needs worked on.
NAE:
Name one of your favorite 2012 books (coming out or already released), and why.
Elise: MARIANA by Susanna Kearsley just blew me away. This is the
first book of hers I've read, and I can't wait to get time to read other books
in her backlist. It's not really a romance novel as much as a mainstream time
travel with romantic elements, but I still loved everything about it. She has
such a fluid, easy way of writing that pulls you in with each sentence, and
although the pace was never gripping as it might be in suspense novels, I
couldn't stop turning the pages.
~~~
Crits
for Water Quickfires – And, go:
1.
Oxford comma? Yes!
Leaving it out drives me crazy.
2.
Should "I like him too" have a comma before "too"? Yes.
3.
Italicize or underline? Italicize.
4.
How do you separate scenes: #, ***, line break? ***
5.
What's your favorite verb? To
love. ;)
~~~
Thank
you, Elise! Elise’s novella, The Sinning
Hour, is scheduled to be released soon. And it looks fabulous.
A man accustomed to
getting whatever he wishes and a woman whose wishes have never come true: at
night, all they need is one another.
~~~
For
those who’d like to see the types of things Elise can’t help marking in a
critique, take a stab at her 50-page critique here, and save lives.
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