Began another edit of Hell's Horizon, my second D B Shan book, today. This time I'm working from my editor's notes -- she read through my revised draft a month or so ago, made some tweaks, suggested some changes, noted some mistakes, asked some questions. It's always a relief as an author when your editor comes back with ways to make your book better. Sometimes there can be differences of opinion and you have to go your separate ways as soon as you can. (I remember when a temporary editor on The Saga said she didn't like time travel and maybe I should remove mention of it from the books -- given that it was an essential part of the overall plot, and something I'd been working up to for most of the series, I just knew we weren't going to have a long-term working relationship!!!) But good publishing houses have a knack of putting together their authors with the right editors, editors who get the books, who are in tune with the authors, who can see the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscripts and find ways to improve them.

I've been very impressed by Sarah Hodgson, the editor of my D B Shan books, just as I've been very impressed by Stella Paskins, who's been with me all the way on The Demonata. I feel like I'm in sync with them both, and far from being wary of their notes, I actually look forward to hearing from them, because I know that nine times out of ten they'll be spot on with their suggestions or complaints. (And the one time that they're not? Well, again, good editors who have a good relationship with their authors know when to give us the benfit of the doubt. e.g. Stella absolutely HATES the way I use hyphens, but when she saw how much that meant to me, she let me break all the rules and do what I wanted.) I always mention my editor in the credits at the start of my books, because I think they're instrumental in bringing the finished work to life, and deserve the nod. But you can never have too much praise if you're doing a good job, so let's hear a big Hip Hip Hooray for Sarah and Stella -- freaks and grave-robbers of the very highest standards!!!!!!