Reviewed

Done. I read the book, out loud to myself, from cover to cover-all 401 pages. I found a couple misspellings, two formatting problems and some short sentence revisions. I tried not to look too critical at my writing. Yes, I laughed again at the comical parts and got teary-eyed reading some of the more dramatic parts. This is my story and I'm allowed to do that. If this is not an emotional story for you, then I've failed as a writer. In-between, I hope you find some humor. It's there. Novels are for entertainment. We're all different in what triggers laughter or sadness. Non-fiction is mostly for solving your personal problems such as how to lower you cholestrol in 10 days by eating French fries.

My proofreader did her work and we are meeting tomorrow in San Diego where I will incorporate her changes into my final corrections for the production team. She will be more critical and more into grammar. I worked hard to get it clean for the Advanced Reading Copies that went out in December. It is disappointing that none of the "big mouths" read it. Looks like there won't be any big pre-publication publicity but that's life when you are an unknown. I delayed the release date hoping for an endorsement: nothing. We move on and get the book in the hands of readers. The book is a young adult drama. This is an evolving genre and a popular one. How this story fits that genre remains to be seen.

By now, you know that Southern California dodged another bullet because last Sunday's 7.1 quake was deep underground in Northern Baja, Mexico. I was reading my story, actually, Sunday afternoon, at the kitchen counter when suddenly the house began to shake. It was a horizontal shaking lasting 15 to 20 seconds. What a relief when it stopped. You are paralyzed with fear as you look around hoping nothing falls. I saw the cactus cookie jar move towards the edge of the ledge. I was glad for the risers along the edges of the top cupboards where some heavy pottery were placed for decoration.

Over the weekend, I'll send the corrections back to the production team. Next, I'll have a book prototype and then when that is approved, the inventory will print. I'm getting close.