My Journal #2

Red Carpet or in the limelight

Have you ever had a red carpet moment? Not like an actor but a Wedding, Prom or something that made you feel important or special?

I thought about this and wondered if I'd had any moment like that.  One time came to my mind. Last November.
I had a finished MS and my family had read it. They loved the story, and I trust them. They would tell me if things didn't work, but I still wanted it edited and that would be  more than I could afford.

I talked to the wife of a co-worker  who comes to pick up her husband and reads a book until he's ready. We chit chat and she told me her friend is a retired school teacher. I asked if she would ask the woman if she would be willing to read my MS and make notes on it. I didn't have much money but if she'd give me an idea, maybe we could work something out.

I got a call from the wife. "Tina, Chris said she talked to the girls in the book club and we'd love to read your MS as our November project."  I was thrilled. I made the required copies and sent them home with my co-worker with a note : Please get your red pens and pencils out. Make notes of mistakes, questions you might have that don't get answered, anything that you have to read twice to understand." There was a questionnaire that said, Is the plot clear? Do you understand the goals of the main characters? Are the motivations clear and reasonable? Is there enough conflict to keep you interested? 

I was nervous all month. I got updates from the wife. She told me she finished it in two days. HMM  wonder if it didn't need any corrections. I thought it would take a week to read and make notes of things that needed attention. She then told me the English teacher and leader read it and loved it. "She couldn't put it down."  That was encouraging.

They'd set the date of the next meeting and I arrived early (it was my first time and I didn't want to be late by getting lost.) As each woman entered and was introduced to me, I got hugs and expressions of , "I loved your story." "You're the author of the story? It was amazing! It should be a movie!" That was a little shocking, but I began to feel like I was at a book signing. All 8 of the women had nothing but good things to say about the manuscript and my writing. There was only one question they all had. Why did Tim Die? Hmmm I guess I didn't clear that up. I made a note to do that.

As the evening went on the women responded with the parts of the story they liked and the characters. I basked in the warmth of their adulation. I've never felt so validated before. I created something that 8 (at that time and two ladies took copies home to read) absolutely loved and would buy it if it were published.

When I began to look over their MS for corrections I noticed that there were a few red lines or pencil marks in the first three chapters or so. After that, nothing. I asked the ladies at the next book club meeting (they invited me to join them) why? They all said they got so involved in the story they didn't stop to do any corrections. They said, "Don't change a thing." That made me feel even better.
That's my story.