FIRST PASS

by Kathy Cannon Wiechman

In June, my editor sent me a copy of my novel LIKE A RIVER to make a “first pass” to check for mistakes. There have been galleys and three more passes since then.

It has been a chance to see how the book’s design will appear on the page, how elements from the cover have been carried over onto the dedication page, the chapter titles, and even into the pages of the book. I think the designer has done an amazing job.

Cover artist for Kathy's book is Christopher Silas Neal

This was also a chance to view the book as a reader. I have always looked at it as a writer, and to some degree, I still do. But in the months since it went through copy editing, I have worked on a subsequent novel. My focus has been on new characters and new events. Even a different time period.

So I was seeing LIKE A RIVER through refreshed eyes. I was introduced to characters and followed their story. Yes, they are characters I invented and I wrote their story, but I was able to separate the reader part of me from the writer part of me. I have never quite done that before with my own work. It was an interesting experience, as though I was seeing these sentences for the first time.

Of course, I did know how the story ends. The element of surprise wasn’t there for me, so maybe it was more like reading a book for the second time.

Now I have put it aside and gone back to the new characters from the different time period. Soon it will be time for other readers to pick up LIKE A RIVER for the very first time. I hope they will enjoy it enough to want to read it a second time.