All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy:
I will open my mouth and tell stories;
I will bring out into the open
things hidden since the world’s first day. – Matthew 13:34-35
I have some excitement to share today. My new book is close to its release! I have essentially completed the content as well as a number of editing cycles, bringing the project to the “galley proof” stage.
The purpose of a galley is one more layer of review, as editors tend to see things that are missed in other presentations. It’s like the difference in buying something on-line (say a pair of jeans) versus physically putting them on after the package arrives. “Oh, so that’s what they actually look like. I guess I’ll be sending these back!”
This copy, then, sets up another intensive round of editing and critical analysis, from type-face to spacing to pagination to layout to punctuation to phrasing to questions such as, “why did I include that story?” and “I really need to explain this better,” and “do I seriously want to come off that preachy in such-and-such a section?”
My Life As I Remember…
The book is a memoir. What that means is stories from my life as I remember them. For a memoir to work as a piece of literature it also needs a through line, a thread that runs from start to finish to – in a sense – pull the whole thing together.
I believe that now, after two years of work, that is what I have. And, while the temptation to tweak this manuscript indefinitely is all too real, I am pleased with how it is coming together.
I have not been this excited about a book in a long time and so – like a kid with a new toy – this week I took it with me when we had dinner with friends. I am glad I did because the short readings I shared landed well, and everyone was very encouraging.
Here’s one, in the short video segment below: We had been talking about the 49th anniversary of our first date (Standing in Love) and somebody asked, “How did you describe it in your memoir?”
Enjoy – DEREK
You should give away your book for free. Capitalism and making a profit is bad.
Democratic Socialism is the way forward in this 250 year experiment.
You sound a little confused! Maybe this comment was meant for some other writer’s post??
[…] A few days ago I wrote a post about the progress I am making in my latest book. I had completed the manuscript, the layout, the chapters and subheadings, along with a couple of major edits. The project was ready for the “galley proof” and – great excitement – I have one in hand (Exciting News About My New book). […]