MONDAY MUSING: REVIEWING AND THE NEED FOR A GOOD FICTION EDITOR

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Many of you know I do book reviews. I read a lot of books. I love reading a good story and those stories aren’t confined to strictly traditionally published authors. Many of the books I do review are from traditional publishers. I also read books that are published by small indie publishers, and self-published. I’ve reviewed them.

I'll be honest and say that I tend to approach some of the Indie and self-published with reservations—especially for reviews. Not because it's self-published or from a small press, but because so many, while having a good story premise, haven't been edited as well to overall story presentation.

I’ve upset a few by refusing to review a book. I have many reasons why I may refuse a book. The number one reason is my schedule is full.  But there are books that I’m not the target audience for and I don’t feel I can do it justice in a review. I don’t read horror and I don’t watch it either. I occasionally read YA—and that depends upon the genre. I’m not a big erotic and kinky sex stories fan, although there are a few erotic romance authors I enjoy because they tell a compelling story and not just loosely connected graphic sex scenes. I rarely read memoirs. If you write in those genres you want to find those who can read and appreciate the story you’re telling. They’re the best reviewers for your work.

Then there are those books that are just not ready to be published, but they are. They should be going to a good critique partner not a reviewer. I know this because I’ve read or attempted to read some sample chapters. Sorry, I’m not writing a review for it.

Because I know the effort and hard work that goes into writing and completing a manuscript, I’m not going to trash your poorly edited or written book—especially when I see potential for a really good story in it. I’m not fond of snarky, wise-assed reviewers. They make fun of books-whether they are well edited or not, or ridicule the author. That’s not professional behavior on the part of reviewers or review sites, in my opinion. Better to have your book turned down for a review than have a reviewer fill twitter feeds with ridicule or drop a 2 star review on Amazon or Goodreads.

This brings me back to my reservations for some small press or self-published books.

Some small presses don’t have the money to employ diverse enough editing staff to successfully edit their books. That is especially true of self-published authors.

A properly edited book is more than reading for misspelled words and improper grammar usage.

The story also needs an editor who knows fiction. This type of editor enhances the story because they know the genre and the market. They pay attention to word usage (does it fit the genre and characters?), plot (is there enough plot for the length of the story?), building the proper tension for each chapter and scene, and they look at conflict (internal and external) is there enough in each chapter and the overall story?

Fiction editors are particular when it comes to story elements—character point of view, character voice, does the story start in the right place (or is the first chapter all back story?), they check to be sure there is a good balance between dialog, action, and narrative. Does the ending fit with the beginning’s promise? Is the middle sagging and going nowhere?

For the self-published, this means having a good set of honest beta readers who can read for story content and spot the those weaknesses. This allows the author to catch it the story glitches and fix them before sending it to a good fiction editor.

This is why you hear authors who are traditionally published moan and groan about edits and rewrites. Most of those edits have to do with story content, not grammar and spelling. Ask them. They’ll tell you about the chapters cut or slashed because they detracted from, or didn’t fit, the overall story. Ask them about the list of story elements that need reworking. They’ll tell you. They’ll also tell you about the glitches that were caught by their beta readers before the finished manuscript even reached their editor.

Whether employed by a publishing house (small or large) or a self-published author, a good fiction editor is worth their weight in gold. Fiction editors take a good story and make it better.

And that’s the kind of story I want to read or review.

Now Where to Begin…

In February I did a Review of THE HIGHLANDER'S SWORD. I like doing reviews and the opportunity to read some fabulous books and some wonderful debut books. Reviews are all about THE BOOK and not much about the author aside from their bio, unless you also interview them--which isn't always possible due to time/scheduling factors.




Over Coffee primarily focuses on the authors: "SHARING THE LAUGHTER AND THE TEARS, THE GLITCHES AND THE TRIUMPHS, AUTHORS FACE IN THE PURSUIT OF THEIR AMBITION TO WRITE."

So this time around we get to do that with Amanda Forester. Her topic is one that many writers struggle with in today's writing market. Where's the beginning of the book and the problems with backstory.

When I started to write my novel, THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD, I thought I would begin at the beginning. I know… rookie mistake. My historical adventure romance tells the story of a Lady Aila Graham who finds herself an heiress after the death of her brothers in battle. In order to gain needed warriors to defend her clan against attack, Aila is married off to a Highland warrior who is poor in material wealth but has a large fighting force. The Highlander, MacLaren, is filled with bitterness because his fiancé betrayed him, so he agrees to marry an heiress he doesn’t know in order to provide for his clan.

I thought I’d begin the story where I thought it started, when MacLaren learns that the woman he loves has betrayed him to the English. I wrote the scene, polished it up, and sent it off to the Emerald City Opener Contest feeling rather proud of my literary masterpiece. When I got back my score sheets, any sense of accomplishment evaporated. The comments were kindly meant, but to the point. I had started in the wrong place. I had started with… backstory.

Backstory came to be the bane of my writing existence.

Backstory is all the stuff that happened to the characters leading up to the main event, the primary conflict in the story. Books of yesteryear commonly began with what is now considered backstory. I’ve enjoyed reading Georgette Heyer lately, but if an editor got a hold of those romance books now, huge sections in the beginning would be chucked. For myself, I am content with a slower paced book, a book that creeps up to the primary plot slowly, so as not to scare it too awful much. I actually like backstory (there, I said it). But if you want to get published in the 21st century, backstory is a big no-no.

So I revised. I cut out some things and this time started with Aila. I showed her daily routine, her difficult relationship with her mother, her shyness around others... and, yeah, you guessed it – more backstory. So I began with Aila’s father on the walls of the castle looking over his fields which had been set ablaze. More backstory. Next I wrote a scene where MacLaren receives the message from Aila’s father and MacLaren debates whether or not to enter into the marriage contract. And yes, that was more backstory too.

By this point I had written about four chapters, none of which made the final cut. As a writer this is hard. Some of the chapters I loved… loved like a comfortable old bra whose elastic is all stretched out and only has one remaining hook in back. It doesn’t really do a good job anymore, but it’s so comfy. Well, these chapters became comfy too. But no matter how much I liked them, it was still backstory.

So where to begin? I think this is one of the hardest questions for a writer, or maybe just a novice writer (or maybe just me!). I had to really stop and consider where the primary plot began for my characters. I struggled for a long while, wrote the rest of the manuscript, and then came back to the beginning. Eventually I little light bulb clicked on in my brain. My primary plot is a love story about two very different people who have every reason to distrust each other, but fall in love instead. Chapter one in my published novel begins with the relationship – at the moment Aila met MacLaren and discovered she had been given to him in marriage.

Since I have all these “deleted” scenes taking up space in my computer I thought I’d share one with you (kind of like the extended DVD offerings). So here is a scene from my original beginning, where MacLaren is betrayed by Marguerite, his French fiancé.

“I bring you good tidings of the defeat of your enemy.”

Marguerite smiled at Maclaren’s declaration, radiating her beauty, drawing him toward her. “You have done very well.”


“But it came at a high cost,” MacLaren continued though the words caught like ash in his throat. “Sir James Patrick is counted among the dead.”


Marguerite looked blankly at MacLaren before recalling the name. “Oh, your cousin, what a shame.” Quickly closing the distance between them MacLaren reached out to take her in his arms as he had long ached to do, but she put up a hand to stop him. “Oh, no sir. Perhaps you do not care for your appearance but I do not wish my gown to be bloodied.”


“Shall I have this person removed?” Gerard de Marsan, a neighboring lord, strode through the door. He was dressed in velvet of scarlet, a jeweled dagger hung from his belt, and his shoes had the exaggerated pointed toe that was the latest fashion. Gerard gave MacLaren a quick glance then snorted in disgust.


MacLaren returned the favor and turned back to Marguerite. “Margot, what is he doing here?”


“It is customary for a man to visit his betrothed,” Gerard said with a malicious grin.


“You are daft Gerard. Marguerite is betrothed to me.” MacLaren held out his hand to Marguerite, but she laughed and turned away.


“Oh dear. You didn’t really believe that did you? I could not actually marry you.” She turned her violet eyes back to MacLaren. “You’re a Scot,” she said with a shrug as if that explained it all. MacLaren felt like he had been knocked in the gut with a mace. He looked at his feet on the floor surprised to see them still standing there. Cold realization began to dawn.


“You deceived me,” he said softly to Marguerite. “You feigned love to win my defense of your lands.” He waited for her to contradict his words. The lady simply looked away.


“We have no need for your defense, barbarian. While you needlessly fight the English we have simply allied with them,” Gerard sneered with open contempt.


“No!” MacLaren refused to look at Gerard and watched Marguerite as she carefully smoothed her gown with a delicate hand. The truth became clear in her silence.



“But why?” asked MacLaren, his voice hoarse.


“You really must not upset me with your impertinent questions.” Marguerite’s tone was impetuous, but she could not quite meet MacLaren’s eye. “The English were too many, too strong. Submission was inevitable, but their conditions were unlivable.” Marguerite gave him a slight pout. The effect would have been more endearing if her words had not been so chilling. “When you marched against them it made our alliance more valuable and the terms became much more to our liking.”


MacLaren stared at her. His heart that had been pounding in his ears suddenly seemed to stop, his breath caught in his throat.


MacLaren grabbed Marguerite’s shoulders. “My cousin died so you could better your terms of submission?” He choked on the words. She tried to look away but he turned her face with his hand to force her to look him in the eye. All he saw was the glint of the knife.


Ah that lovely backstory.

• What is your preference when you read a book?

• Do you like a slow build so you really understand the characters at the beginning, or do you like to jump right into the action?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Amanda Forester holds a PhD in clinical psychology and a Masters degree in theology. As a psychologist, she has worked as a clinical researcher and a university instructor (what they call you when they don’t want to give you tenure). None of which has anything to do with writing romance novels. After trying for many years to stop the internal storylines floating around her head, she finally gave up and wrote one down. Now when she is caught daydreaming and talking to herself she can just say, “I’m plotting a scene for my next novel,” which sounds so much better than, “I’m hallucinating and responding to internal stimuli.”

Amanda lives in the Pacific Northwest with her officer and a gentleman husband and their two remarkably active, naturally brilliant children. They share their home with two fiendishly destructive cats and one lazy dog.

The Highlander’s Sword is Amanda’s first novel, so she would greatly enjoy hearing from readers. You can view her book trailers and fun facts.