Bookworm Meme

I found this meme on Helen's blog, and I believe she picked it up from Kerryn. Being the inveterate bookworm that I am (the picture is of the stack of books currently beside my bed), how could I resist?

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
It doesn't really matter much to me, as long as it's readable--I do like books that I can easily prop open with a bookweight (or tube of toothpaste) so that I can read "handless" from time to time.

Amazon or brick and mortar?
Both,please.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
In my neck of the woods the only real choice for this type of bookstore would be Chapters, although I've been in Borders in the States. Mmmmm, nice.

Bookmark or dogear?
Always a bookmark. I don't think I've ever been guilty of dog-earing, and I love having pretty or interesting bookmarks. I also like these little copper linemarkers also known as Book Darts that I bought from Lee Valley. But a grocery receipt, piece of tissue, or shopping list will also do.


Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Some of my books are alphabetized by genre/author, some are grouped by size, others rather randomly. The important thing is, I know where to find what I'm looking for...usually.


Keep, throw away, or sell?
Mostly keep. Give away would be next. I don't know if I've ever sold any...and now I get a lot out of the library just because we're running out of room!

Keep dustjacket or toss it?
Keep it, although it's an irritation sometimes.

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
I usually take the dustjacket off to read, and replace it later.

Short story or novel?
I'm on the fence with this one. I enjoy both novels and shorts.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Hard for me to choose here, too. I suppose I've read many more anthologies than collections, but I don't know if it's by design or happenstance.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
I think I like Harry Potter better, although I've read only snippets of Snicket.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Heh. I stop exactly when I'm tired. Even to the point of sometimes stopping mid-sentence. My daughter thinks this is extremely strange as she must read to a chapter or scene break.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
I think a combination of the two hits the mark for me.

Buy or Borrow?
I used to buy almost exclusively, but now I'm a frequent patron of the local library. I still buy, but more selectively, and if it's a new author for me I generally borrow first.

New or used?
As long as it's readable, I really don't care. A large part of my book collection was bought used when I was in university, and I still love used book stores. They have much more of the feeling of treasures waiting to be found.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
Usually I'll only buy if it's a tried-and-true author or if I have a solid recommendation or review that I trust. However, bookstore impulse does come into play sometimes, especially if I'm using a gift certificate!


Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
If I have the next book ready to hand then I don't mind cliffhangers, but a while back I gave up buying trilogies as soon as each book came out--I don't have the patience to wait any more.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or night time reading?
Anytime is reading time, although I do most of it at night, tucked into bed.

Standalone or series?
I like both, although I'll give up on a series if it gets too repetitive.

Favorite series?
Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker books, Nancy Kress' Sleepless series, Terry Pratchett's Discworld, and Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic books, to name a few. Oh, and my new favorites, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Someone has certainly heard of it, since it won the Arthur C. Clarke award in 1988, but I rarely come across anyone who has read George Turner's The Sea And Summer. It's one of the first books that looks into a near future that I read and thought, "yes, that's how it's very likely to be." It held the ring of a possible truth for me and stayed with me for that reason. Hmmm...I should read it again sometime soon...

Favorite books read last year?
Hmmm...off to check my All Consuming account for the list...oh, my, I really liked a lot of the books I read last year. I guess my favorites were Bushworld by Maureen McDowd for its absolutely cutting insights, Polaris by Jack McDevitt for intriguing storyline, Cat's Eye Corner by Terry Griggs and The Hunter's Moon by O.R. Melling for wonderful writing, and Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot for sheer fun.

Favorite books of all time?
Wow, tough call. Hitchhiker's, Discworld, and the A Man of His Word series by Dave Duncan. They're all on my desert island list.

Writing Space

Following a post on Helen's blog which pointed to a request from Bloglily to show our writing spaces, I present my office. This is not the best picture I have of the space, the search for which has led me to the sad conclusion that my digital pictures are just as disorganized as my prints. Another job to put on my "someday" list.

But getting back to the point, you can see that my office serves two purposes; my writing and my colored pencil hobby. And a third and fourth, I suppose, as you can additionally see from this view of the other side of the room: book storage and reading room.


My husband very generously worked hard to finish this room for me when the imminent arrival of our second child meant that my office upstairs was about to be transformed into a bedroom. It's a lovely, cozy hideaway filled with books and greenery and far too much paper, but it's my space and I adore it.

Review: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

(Book One of The Dresden Files)
This season on Space came a new series, The Dresden Files. The previews looked interesting, and I made a point to watch the first episode. I was quite impressed. I watched the next one, and the next. Yes, I'm hooked. It's permanently set to record on the PVR now.

Then I found out that the series is based on a book series by Jim Butcher. I called up my library's online site and managed to locate a copy of Book One, Storm Front, through interlibrary loans. It came into my branch on Monday and I picked it up in the afternoon, intending to put it in line after the book I'm currently reading. Then I made the mistake of just taking a peek at the first few pages Monday night.

Three solid hours later I convinced myself to lay it aside because otherwise I'd never be able to get up when the alarm went in the morning. I finished it Tuesday afternoon once I'd done my library volunteer stint in the morning. Whew, what a page-turner! This author knows how to turn up the heat and keep it on!

The protagonist is Harry Blackthorn Copperfield Dresden, a modern-day wizard living and working in Chicago. Work isn't exactly plentiful for a wizard-for-hire, so he also works as a consultant for the Chicago police department if an unusual case turns up--that is, something that smacks of otherworldly intervention, for those who are willing to accept the possibility. In Storm Front, that intervention takes the form of a couple murdered in a particularly unpleasant and, by mundane standards, seemingly impossible way.

Harry is a likable guy, but he has more on his hands than just solving a weird double murder. He also has to face demons from his past (of the figurative sort), demons in the present (of the literal sort), rogue black wizards, anal-retentive white wizards, sometimes hostile cops, decidedly hostile mafiosos, beautiful vampires, and clients trying to keep too many secrets. It's little wonder he doesn't have much time to breathe during the course of the book.

The magic aspect is appealing--Harry's not over-powerful, and he has Rules he has to follow. Most folks think he's a kook or a con man, but he tries his best to shrug it off and just get on with his life. The ending is quite a rip-roarer, and ultimately satisfying.

There's a modicum of sex and a fair bit of violence--I wouldn't let my 12-year-old read it right now, but in five or six years' time it would be okay.

If you're in the mood for a fast-paced read that stirs up mystery, horror, fantasy, action, and a very likable good guy, pick this one up. I'm off to the library website to order up book number two.

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000

Further to my last post, I went browsing the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000. Some of the reasons for challenges are "sexually explicit material," "offensive language," "unsuited to age group," "occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism," "violent," and "anti-family," although you should visit the site for further information on how these break down. Unfortunately, I couldn't see a way to determine on which grounds a particular book was challenged, because I'd really, really love to know how Where's Waldo? made it onto this list.

At any rate, I thought I would see how many of these "unsuitable" books I've actually read. I've bolded them.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Hmmm...not too many. I guess I haven't been overly corrupted. ;-) Feel free to treat this as a meme if you'd like.

Bridge to Misrepresentation

(Warning: Contains partial spoilers.)

I'll admit up front that I have neither seen this movie nor read the book myself. My comments are based on what I've read about it.

My children saw the trailer for Bridge to Terabithia and asked if we could see it--it looked interesting to me, too. When I mentioned it to my husband he said that the daughter of one of his co-workers was reading it in school this year (6th or 7th grade). Hmmm, I thought. School boards don't generally cozy up to pure fantasy works. So I did a little research.

Ah, the book is a "beloved children's classic" (written by Katherine Paterson, published in 1977, and also made into a previous film for tv in 1985). I was immediately suspicious. I've found that "beloved children's classics" are often real downers. After reading up on the plot of the book and investigating some reviews I knew it was not the movie that the trailers had lead us to believe. The fantasy elements are apparently incidental to the story, which revolves more around being an outsider, dealing with unexpected tragedy, and finding inner strength.

Now, there is nothing wrong with those themes at all. But be up front about them in the movie trailer. The trailer presents this story 100% as a fantasy about a magical land. I don't necessarily have to know beforehand that a main character is going to die, but there should be an indication that the story deals with real-world events, themes and problems.

Maybe one could argue that I should be doing my research on any film so that I'll know what to expect. Possibly that's true. But when the target audience is children and young adults, I think that there should be some effort to present a truer representation of what the film is about, and not just pull out the elements that will sell tickets. And if fantasy sells tickets, then make more good fantasy movies.

I also found out that this book is number 9 on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000. Mostly for what I consider ridiculous reasons, by the way. Ah, the wonders of Wikipedi.

Valentine's Day

Interesting that I pulled this heart-shaped potato out of the bag two days before Valentine's Day. The kids thought it was very cool!

So it's Valentine's Day, possibly the "holiday" that many people have the strongest feelings about. I was picking up a card for hubby yesterday and another woman was there doing the same thing. "I hate this holiday," she said to me. I was a bit taken aback and automatically chuckled and said, "Oh, really?" "I love him every day of the year," she said. "Why should I have to buy him something to show that?"

At that point I just smiled and walked away, having found a card I liked. Now I'm wishing I had said, "I just take it as an excuse to have some fun," which is true. I buy a little candy treat and some socks for the kids (in fact when I presented them with these goodies this morning, Mark laughed and said "We always gets socks for Valentine's" and Emily said, "Yeah, it's like a tradition"), and a treat and a card for Terry. We use the day as a reason to get out without the kids to a movie or something, which is something that couples with children often fail to do as much as they should (I know we're guilty of that). So instead of griping about it, I think the better attitude is to see what fun you can get out of it.

I have to say, though, that I am fully against what the stores and marketers are trying to do (which they do with everything)--turn it into a major gift-giving occasion. It will never be that in this house. It's just a reminder to show and tell the people we love that we love them. Most of us in our busy lives can use those kinds of reminders once in a while.

Slow Progress

This third phase of the rewrite is going soooooo slowly. I think I'm a bit tired of re-reading the story so many times in quick succession. Is that a bad sign? I don't know.

Anyway, I gave the first three chapters to my reader on Saturday. I'm hoping that will make me speed up and get it done. That did not work today, but tomorrow's another chance. Of course I'm volunteering at the school library in the morning...

More Green Thoughts

I came across some more ideas for living in a more environmentally friendly way at an unusual place the other day, on the website for HSBC bank. They have a "what you can do" page for their Commit to Change program which is worth a visit. One new idea I got from the site:

> When making hot drinks--don't boil more water than you need. This saves both water and energy.

Then I got to thinking, if you do overestimate, make sure you use the extra water on plants or save it for use later (for washing or cooking vegetables, for instance)--don't pour it back down the drain.

I've also been reading up on Carbon Neutrality. There's a load of great information on David Suzuki's site. I'm investigating some of the options listed there, such as carbon offsets.

However, I was dismayed to have it pointed out (I'm ashamed to say it never crossed my mind before) that the publishing industry is a terrible drain on the environment, in terms of both energy and paper. Fortunately, there are some options for authors who would like to publish in a "greener" way, as talked about at ZeroFootprint. I think I'll be looking into it more.

A Book Meme

Here's an interesting meme I picked up over at M.D. Benoit's blog. Feel free to copy and do your own thing with it.

Instructions: Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole, underline the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk the ones you’ve never heard of. (I don't seem to have a strikethrough or underlining option, so the ones I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole will be in green, and the ones on my shelf will have a > at the front.)

>1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
>5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
>6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
>7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
>8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
>11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
>13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
>16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
>18. The Stand (Stephen King)
>19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
>20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
>21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
>25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
>26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
>28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
>31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
>34. 1984 (Orwell)
>35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)*
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)*
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)*
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)*
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
>57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
>61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brahares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
>76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
>80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)*
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)*
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
>95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)*
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)


I see that my days in university offered me a much broader reading experience than I've pursued in later years, but I still read outside my comfort zone from time to time. But not "literary fiction" very much. However, I finally realize, after reading "Genre Tropes and the Transmissibility of Story" by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold in this month's issue of IROSF, why this is. I don't identify with the tropes of literary fiction. It's as simple as that. Whew! That's a load off my mind.

Back to the Doctor...

Tomorrow I'm going back to the doctor about this seemingly never-ending bug I've been fighting for three weeks now. I thought it would simply run its course but I'm no better than I was a week ago, when I finished my course of antibiotics. Argh! I'm so frustrated at being so tired all the time and constantly congested!

Surprisingly, although this is the time of year when I am usually facing down a bout of seasonal depression, I haven't been troubled that way at all. I would have expected that being sick would have brought it on full bore, but that hasn't happened, despite the sudden descent of winter and very cold temperatures. I can't explain this, but I'm grateful for it.

The third phase of the rewrite (a complete line edit) is going slowly but surely. I definitely made the right decision in tackling this work before giving the manuscript to my next reader. Tonight I plan to get some of the members of my writer's group to have a look at the first chapter for me, as I'm using it as the required writing sample for the workshop I'm taking next month. I want as much feedback as possible before I hand it in to the instructor.

What begins with "P"?

Helen has tossed a letter P my way, and my job is to list ten things I like that begin with "P". A few things sprang to mind immediately, and then I had to put on my thinking cap...

1. I like planting things. I love gardening and it's about the time of year when I'm poring through gardening catalogs and deciding what seeds I'm going to be coaxing along this year.

2. I like poetry--sometimes.

3. Pineapples are one of my favorite fruits. Which is handy, because they are supposed to be particularly good for arthritis sufferers.

4. I adore puppies. Well, who doesn't?

5. This may be strange, but I enjoy proofreading. I suppose that's why I enjoy my involvement as a proofreader/copy editor with IROSF so much.

6. I love puzzles, especially crosswords.

This is where it got a little harder to think of things. However, I came up with:

7. Puns. I know, I know, the "lowest form of humour." I've never really agreed with that sentiment. I think punning is quite clever.

8. Along with green, purple is my favorite color.

9. Presents--I love giving them and getting them.

10. I'm married to a Pharmacist. So I pretty much had to include him, didn't I? ;-)

If you'd like a letter, I will happily throw one your way.

Phase Two Complete

I think phase two of my rewrite is complete, ahead of my newly revised schedule. I've fixed the inconsistencies I found in the read-through, and incorporated the initial markups I made. I also made some decisions about things I had thought I might add to the story but changed my mind on.

Now I'm trying to decide whether to give it one more line edit before handing it over to my next reader, or passing it along right away. I feel like getting it off my desk, but I do want it to be in the best possible shape before handing it off. I think I'll take a day away from it to think about it and then decide. I'm happy to be at this stage, anyway!