Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Heart of a Father -- First Draft Complete!

Dear Heart Friends:

I have just returned from Staples where I printed and bound copies of the first draft of the book for my co-editor and for Dr. Fedderly, who will write the Foreword for the book. It's 200 pages without any clip art or photos. So one of my first jobs with the line editing is to cut, cut, cut. Michelle Jestice and I cut The Heart of a Mother by at least 10% twice before we were done. I think if I cut HOF by 10%, that will be a good start. I'm not sure I want to cut it by 10% twice. The Heart of a Mother was over 400 pages when I realized that I had to cut, cut, cut.

I have really had fun this week with finishing up my phone calls to the contributors. I still have 6 or 7 calls to make. It has been so much fun putting a voice to the essay. Or in one case, putting someone else's voice to the essay -- since one of our contributors is deaf and I had to use a special relay service to communicate with him. I am hoping that this contributor will sign his essay so we can make it available to other deaf readers in ASL. As a former teacher of the deaf, this is something very special to me -- I'll certainly be letting all my deaf friends know about it!

I appreciate those of you who left a note that you want a copy of the book. I know you won't be disappointed. These gentlemen have really shared some special stories, advice and wisdom. I only hope that my editing and organization does them justice.

No comments: