The time has come to put a hard stop on the story I #amEditing and (gulp) send it off. The temptation is to scrutinize it endlessly for just one more thing to fix, but after 4-5 rounds of editing including in hard copy it's time to let go and move on. I'll be revisiting it anyway whether accepted or not, here goes nothing! 🤞 #LjWrites

Have fully and officially finished editing Lună's Vision!

Next week is my (new) monthly self-care week where I won't be doing any writing, but Feb first I'll be handling the formatting and front/back matter.

I am in the home stretch.

#AmWriting #AmEditing #L3

Gonna try to finish editing Luna's Vision before Shabbat starts.
Wish me luck!

#AmEditing #L3

Editing done for the day, only one chapter left on Lună's Vision, which I should be able to finish tomorrow without much trouble.

Third round edits -- mostly just proofreader -- usually goes pretty quickly, so I should have a finished manuscript soon.

#AmEditing #L3

Time for some editing. Aiming for a chapter and a half. Wish me luck!

#AmEditing #L3

It's #WIPWednesday so have a snippet from Luna's Vision:

Natalia smiled at him, eyes gleaming. "Clear sight. You'll also be able to see wounds and weaknesses." She flushed and cleared her throat, "According to Ozana it can have… other uses."

"Other-" Marcus shut his mouth with a snap and turned to study the floor. Oh, he was definitely blushing now.

"Weaknesses, huh?" Victor whistled. "Hey, Marcus, where's Leyla ticklish?"

"Don't you dare!" Leyla squealed when Marcus turned to look at her. "Marcus Lear if you say one damned word I will-"

"Dishes."

Everyone blinked.

"What?"

"You do the dishes for the next week," Marcus said, a wicked grin lighting up his face, "And I'll keep your secret."

"That's blackmail!"

"Nah, giving my teammate some extra motivation."

They were still arguing when the pizza arrived.

#Snippet #L3 #AmWriting #AmEditing

Ugh. One hour to edit one chapter and I am WIPED. Think I did good though. At least, I caught and fixed a bunch of stuff, including two consistency errors.

But damn did that take a lot out of me.

Gonna futz with formatting a bit and take a break.

#AmEditing #L3

Time to get some editing done on Lună's Vision.

Starting second round edits today, with a focus on pacing, dialog, and word choice.

#AmEditing

Time to start editing on Luna's Vision. Hoping to get through the first couple chapters today.

Wish me luck!
#AmEditing #WritingCommunity

Yesterday, I crafted a RegEx that finds double words (aka “the the”). This is something that’s pretty useless if you write or edit in a relatively recent word processor — and maybe I’d better start doing an edit pass in one of those — but I share it here in case it’s useful to you.

(\b[A-z’‘’]+\b]) \1

Don’t do a replace-all with that. Until you’re confident it’s not picking up false positives … and probably not even then.

Not every RegEx implementation will allow you to reference a capture group inside the search term so be sure to intentionally put a “the the” in the text somewhere to make sure it’s working correctly for you.

If I get a moment, I’ll explain what it’s doing so you can make adjustments if you need to.

#AmWriting #AmEditing #WritingCommunity #Writing #RegEx

Yesterday, I crafted a RegEx that finds double words (aka “the the”). This is something that’s pretty useless if you write or edit in a relatively recent word processor — and maybe I’d better start doing an edit pass in one of those — but I share it here in case it’s useful to you.

(\b[A-z’‘’]+\b]) \1

Don’t do a replace-all with that. Until you’re confident it’s not picking up false positives … and probably not even then.

Not every RegEx implementation will allow you to reference a capture group inside the search term so be sure to intentionally put a “the the” in the text somewhere to make sure it’s working correctly for you.

If I get a moment, I’ll explain what it’s doing so you can make adjustments if you need to.

#AmWriting #AmEditing #WritingCommunity #Writing #RegEx

Did it! Finished editing Last Lady of Luna AND got the pronunciation guide done!

Tomorrow I'll run a quick spellcheck and start on layout and shit.

For now, work is done for the day. Gonna get some housework done, have dinner, and go for a walk.

#AmEditing#L3#Victory

stardew was fun and relaxing. Now I'm back to work, editing Last Lady of Lună. I should finish edits in the next hour. Woot!

#AmEditing#L3

"Is that what you call it?" Nastasia snorted. "You became distant. Silent. You went on duty, and everything stopped. Karen even stopped asking to see my knives."

Karen meeped and jumped on Nastasia. "I forgot about the sharps! Damn it, I forgot about the sharps." She buried her face in Nastasia's neck, and Leyla would have said something, but Nastasia pulled her close. "I'm sorry. Work messes with my brain."

Leyla sighed. "I'm starting to think it messes with all our brains."
---
4,300 words done on The Last Lady of Lună. Gonna take that nap, but may come back and do more later.

#AmEditing#L3#Snippet

Got some good work done on The Last Lady of Lună today -- about 5700 words done.

Less than 10,000 words left for the read aloud edit, so should be done by Friday.

#AmEditing#L3

"Woven fabric always makes me think of a square-net without holes." Ey continued to Chotaikytsai, "But you talk about 'looms' that were as wide as your arm. That's nothing like netmaking."

They spent the rest of the night talking about rope-making and village life. The next night, Chotaikytsai pulled out a little child's loom that was the only loom saved from the fire. Kyawtchais gave eir yarn, and the short-one showed them how to thread the warp and send the shuttle through to build the weft. The silent-one watched in fascination, and Kyawtchais thought it a pity the city had no room for another weaving family.
----
About 3000 words edited today. Yay progress!

#PlantingLife#Snippet#AmEditing

It's going well, I think. My current focus is editing, but Rai and I recently started re-drafting one of our stories from last winter. Progress and some fun on all sides.

Here's my most recent snippet from Planting Life:

They finished raising that section – the entire house-to-be now had walls to the height of eir knees – and Kyawtchais gratefully stood and stretched eir back. Spinning was not idle work, but a full day at the walls used more and different muscles than Kyawtchais was used to.

That, too, was like creating a family.

Together, Kyawtchais went with the gruff-one and silent-one to the outside hearth. Today, ey would stay for dinner.

#Snippet#AmEditing#PlantingLife

2000 words edited today. Less than usual, but progress still counts.

---
Kyawtchais' Cenn had loved the trees. Loved them enough that in spite of the risks, ey had insisted on going out into the forest when eir contractions began. Penpy had a common name – dawn. Ey insisted eir child would have a name that meant something more than the time of day ey had been born.

Penpy had gotten eir wish. Deep in the forest at night, attended by fearful healers and hired guards, ey had given birth. The moment the child had left eir body, eir eyes had been locked on the foxfire glow only seen by those who dared the woods at night. Kyawtchaisawt, the cold fire was called. Kyawtchais, then, became eir infant's name.

It was a name that spoke of mystery, of secret things, of deep darkness.

#AmEditing#Snippet#Fantasy#PlantingLife

Planting Life in a Dying City is not a love story in the traditional sense. But there is so much love in this story.

----
"I hope the day comes when you can give yourself to me as well. But you have shown me that you accept me as I am. I know if that day never comes, it will be because of your grief and not, as with others, because you reject me." Kolchais smiled and felt the smile to the depths of eir soul. Ey knew Lefeng now. Knew eir spouse-to-be as ey had known few others. Ey would grieve, yes, for a long time. But when ey was ready to move, ey would not be stopped.

Kolchais turned to face the night sky with Lefeng, the stars that guided the farwalkers and boatfolk in their journeys. When the day came, Lefeng would find Kolchais still here, steady as the stars themselves, which never stopped moving, but were always where you needed them to be. "How can I be angry that you grieve them? When it only shows me how great your soul is and how strongly you value those you love."

Slowly, Lefeng leaned over until eir head rested against Kolchais. Together, they watched the night sky.

"Perhaps one day, you can take me to the mountains. Show me how the stars are meant to look."

"I would like that."

"The spinner could come too."

"I think ey loves eir markets, the way I loved the mountains."

"Yes. But ey could still come if ey wants."

"Yes."

#AmEditing#Snippet#Fantasy