Archive for the ‘“Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses”’ Tag
My mother taught me to thank people who do nice things, but in this case I often don’t know who you are. Therefore I’m taking this opportunity to thank the following people who have written reviews on amazon.com for “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses.” It feels good to be noticed, appreciated, and liked. So thanks to the following (by first name only): Mallory, ihales, Leelah, Beverly, Margaret, Joyce, Lindsay, Joan, and Sarah. I hope you folks will get to see this substitute for a hand-written note. (Remember the old days?)
And, while I’m at it, thanks to those who wrote reviews for her earlier version, “Mrs. Job.” Janice, Andrew, harpo, Sarah, Audrey, Dianna, Pat, Sheila, J, Laurie, D.K., Sheila, Pamela, Justine, and Renate.
It’s people like you who make life good.
Happy Labor Day!
I goofed and ordered the less-than-perfect kindle format for “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses.” Right now I’m trying to get it fixed so I can provide a more perfect version for you.
I was willing to resubmit the whole thing because of an error on page 115, so I’m certainly not going to let my mistake lead to an inferior product now if I can help it.
So please bear with me.
In the meantime, of course, the paperback is available and as close to satisfactory as I can get it.
Thanks
I just checked and found that Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses is already up on amazon.com, ready for reviews and orders if anyone is so inclined. They tell me it will take a few weeks before the “look inside” feature will be there.
I guess this calls for a celebration. Ready now! Please join me in a big HOORAY!
Thanks
They tell me “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses” is electronically on its way to amazon.com. Look for it on Thursday, August 28th they said.
I hope we will all discover it then. I’ll believe it when I see it.
I’ve been through “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses” again with a fine toothed comb. Now I’ve got to rein myself in. I suspect that no dedicated writer is ever perfectly satisfied with the final product, but editing has to stop somewhere.
I’ve been pleased by responses from people who feel as I do that we dishonor our readers if we provide them with careless grammar, spelling and style.
When the book is finally available (in a week-and-a-half or so) you may enjoy the challenge of looking for errors. Please don’t attack the g/G in god/God though. Those variations are deliberate.
One thing I was surprised to find myself doing twelve times was removing the unnecessary use of the word “that.” Since I recently read a critique of the overuse of “that,” I’ve found myself disturbed by it in other folk’s writing as well as my own.
For example, from “Figs …”
“… so that they would never again be as self-righteous as they had been … “
vs.
“ … so they would never again be as self-righteous as they had been… “
Maybe your ears don’t get affected, but mine are much more comfortable with the second version.
One more example, also from “Figs … “
“We wanted to promise each other that we would always be together in the same way…”
vs,
“We wanted to promise each other we would always be together in the same way…”
Well, anyway. That’s what I’ve been up to.
Thanks for hanging in there.
OH MY GOODNESS! I JUST RE-READ MY FIRST SENTENCE. How about “that.” Or is it OK there?
On August 7th I received the proof copy of “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses.” I thought I would find it perfect and it would be on amazon.com in a few days ready for comment and purchase.
But this is a story about the inevitability of errors, and the compulsion to overcome them. It’s an example of the need for careful editing.
Just to be sure, I proofed the proof. This must be about the 15th time. And shucks, it wasn’t perfect.
Back before it was published as “Mrs. Job,” I edited it several times before sending it off to iUniverse, where they both edited and copyedited it, involving me in the process. Then came the time when TMPublications intended to publish it under a different title, so it was again edited and copyedited. Again I was involved with checking their edits.
The next step in the story, as I guess you all know by now, TMPulications ran into financial problems so they couldn’t publish it. For the following year and a half when “Mrs. Job” (or whoever she was to become) wondered what her future would be, she was edited by me several times. And finally, when she was newly labeled “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses” I edited her several more times.
So, I thought she had attained perfection. But no. Right away I noticed that the unnecessary word “that,” carefully removed in several places, was still showing up where I didn’t want it. Oh well, that’s a stylistic matter, I thought, so we’ll let it stand.
But then I hit page 115 where what should have been the word “moved” was missing a “d.” That just provides one example why I don’t rely on spellcheck to pick up on errors.
And on page 169 I discovered the same verb appearing twice in the same paragraph. My ears didn’t like that.
So, I’ll proof it one more time. I know the ideal would be to have someone else do it for me, but I don’t know who I could ask at the last minute, and I can’t wait much longer to get “Figs …” out there for review.
So, I’ll read through it again and try this time to perfect it. Fortunately it is a good read if I do say so myself. Yes, I do say so.
Just in case the title is misleading, “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses” is not a cookbook, just as “Mrs. Job” was not a self-help book showing married women how to get paid employment.
Here’s the source of the title, – a quote from page 50 when Dara’s mom is talking to Dara about her upcoming marriage to Job.
“Oh Dara, I did feel that way about your father when we first married,
but love changes over time. I guess you could say at first it is like
feasting on figs and pomegranates and special cheeses,
and later it is like enjoying the evening potage. The thrill may not be
so great later on, but each day it fills the empty hole that would be hunger
if you did not have each other.”
Yes, I will share some photos from the Alaska cruise, but first I need to finalize work for “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses.” With the help of two wonderful ladies, we’re getting there. Marilyn Brown on Watercolor. Jenny Janson of Janson graphics on layout and cover detail. So, Here’s what the front cover will look like when I finish the final proofreading and all the other stuff that’s needed to get it out there on CreateSpace.
Want to test your copyediting skills? I’d like to suggest a deal that might help both of us.
“Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses: a Biblical Love Story” will be a moderately edited version of “Mrs. Job.” Adding a little more action to meet the needs of TM Publishing who, in the end, ran out of money and didn’t publish the new edition.
So, anyone buying “Mrs. Job” at the reduced rate will be getting basically the same story. And I want to be sure the new version is as error-free as possible.
Therefore, here’s my challenge. Buy “Mrs. Job” and search her for typos or other obvious errors. Just don’t mess with the “g” or “G” in “god/God” because that’s intentional to reflect Dara’s conflict in struggling to accept Job’s one jealous God.
Also, please don’t quibble about things like using colons, or dashes, for example. Things that are a valid matter of choice.
For every error you find, e-mail me and claim a $1.00 rebate to the limit of the cost of the book (without tax and postage.)
If it should happen you find none, you can feel free to let people know how good a copyeditor I am.
That’s it.
Mona
Soon I’ll be rolling out “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses: a Biblical Love Story.” The layout is ready to go, just waiting for the new cover art to be finished. I’ll be meeting next week with the artist.
If you’ve been following me, you know that.” “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses: a Biblical Love Story.” is a newly edited version of “Mrs. Job.” (It has been through content editors twice and through copy editors the same number of times. To say nothing of my own perfectionistic editing and copy-editing.)
So now I’m offering my inventory of “Mrs. Job” at a reduced rate. Just click on the cover photo to order through PayPal:
Soft Cover $10.00 plus postage and handling (and tax for MN residents.)
Hard Cover $15.00 plus postage and handling (and tax for MN residents.)
Let me know if you want it signed in a particular way.
I’m including a copy here of the back cover comments. (click to make it larger.)
So why a new edition? Again, those of you who have been with me know that the big problem with “Mrs. Job” was the title. Everyone, it seems, read “Job” as if it had to do with paid employment, rather than the book of Job, one of the books of wisdom in the Hebrew Testament. Also, given that I left the Ph.D. after my name, people took it to be one of a few things: A self-help book for married women seeking paid employment; a heavy psychological tome; a – liberal, or maybe fundamentalist – rant.
But it’s none of those things. It is the love story of fictional Dara, the wife of Biblical Job, from her childhood and lifelong friendship with Adah, through her marriage to Job, the growth of family and wealth, through the biblical trials and their aftermath.
The cover of “Mrs. Job” is lovely, but “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses” will be more romantic and colorful, more likely, I hope, to grab the eye and illustrate the basics of the story.
I’ll bet you’re thinking I’m in danger this time that the book will be filed in the cookbook section. I’m hoping not. My expectation is that the visual cover and the full title will help to avoid that.
As for the source of the new title. It comes from her mother’s words in a conversation they have shortly before Dara’s marriage.
“Oh Dara, I did feel that way
about your father when we first married,
but love changes over time.
I guess you could say at first it is like
feasting on figs and
pomegranates and special cheeses,
and later it is like enjoying the
evening potage. The thrill may not be
so great later on, but each day it fills
the empty hole that would be hunger
if you did not have each other.”
monagustafsonaffinito 