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Author Tina Donahue on Revisions and Giveaways!

Author Tina Donahue shares about Revisions and how she tackles it. She comes with Giveaways!

Tina Donahue is an award-winning, bestselling novelist for Samhain, Ellora’s Cave, and Kensington. Her romances have been finalists in the EPIC competition, named Book of the Year at a French review site, received an Award of Merit in the Holt Medallion competition, and won second place in the NEC RWA contest. Tina is featured in the 2012 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market and is a total chocoholic.

Find her here:
Over to Tina now...

The dreaded “R” word – Revisions

Like most authors I know, I sigh, gripe and moan when I get revisions from my various editors. Given that my manuscripts tend to be damn clean, there’s no reason for my dread, but there it is. I know I’m a perfectionist and I’m always looking to make the story perfect, right down to the last comma.

Never happens.

I tend to write very tight, which means that when an editor asks me to revise something, I have to read well ahead of the revision and well after it to make certain the flow isn’t interrupted. To give you an example of what I’m talking about - we’ve all seen movies where the hero or heroine is speaking and then suddenly there’s a subtle change in the sound of his/her voice, which screams that the audio portion was dubbed over. Breaks the magic for me and pulls me out of the story. I try to avoid that in my novels.

Although doing revisions isn’t at the top of my ‘can’t-wait-to-do-this list’, I realize that the process is necessary. My editors have found mistakes that completely passed me by. For example, I once had ‘gum’ instead of ‘gun’ in the hero’s hand. Ain’t no way he’s gonna shoot anyone with a wad of Bazooka bubble gum. Another time I wrote that the hero lathed the heroine with his tongue (rather than laved). Ouch.

I can honestly say that my editors’ suggested revisions have made my stories stronger. I’m grateful for their insight. So when those babies come in, I pull on my big girl pants, take a deep breath, park my pride and tackle them with all the enthusiasm I had while I was writing my story.

It takes many people to make a successful author. No writer can do it alone.





Read the blurb of Tina's latest book, Make Me surrender.
When it comes to two of the hottest guys in town, she has a proposition…to win their attention, passion, hearts.

Blurb:
For over a year, Mercy’s had her eye on Travis and Dutch, two of the hottest guys on the Oregon coast. Dark and dangerously virile, Travis owns a saloon that caters to bikers. Dutch looks like one, right down to his impressive tats, and operates a motorcycle repair shop on the premises.
When a position opens in the saloon’s kitchen, Mercy sees a way to be near these sinfully sexy men, wanting the job and lodging, her cabin snuggled between theirs.
Travis isn’t so sure about having Mercy nearby. She’s deliciously curvy, but too nice. He’s into temporary fun. To Dutch, forever is a dirty word.
Imagine their surprise when sweet little Mercy encourages wild nights of carnal pleasure with a dash of bondage and spanking…followed by friendship and tenderness.
Before she’s through, these tough guys won’t know what hit them.


 MAKE ME SURRENDER is part of this multi-book boxed set,
Brought To His Knees
The Alpha male. Strong. In control. Letting no one and nothing rule him…until he meets the one, and all bets are off. The world tilts, the bed rocks, and suddenly that tough guy finds himself Brought to His Knees—in more ways than one.

This collection of ten hot to erotic novellas and one short erotic novel will take you on journeys of lust, love, and adventure, leave you breathless and quite possibly in need of a cold shower.

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20 comments:

  1. Great post! I always find it amazing when I find words I've totally missed during my editing. I recently had copy instead of cop. Not very reassuring for my characters with the copy riding to the rescue! :)

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    1. I'm the same way, Jemi - I once had gum instead of gun. :)

      Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

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  2. I love finding those funny words I've missed while editing. It's almost always good for a laugh (and so much more fun than fixing plot holes, haha!).

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    1. I know what you mean Meradeth. Plot holes are murdered. Glad to see you here. Thanks for commenting! :)

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  3. I couldn't help but laugh at the errors your editors found. I've had some silly ones on my writing as well. We're only human. ;)

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  4. I've noticed in movies where they will do a cut and the clothes will be different, especially collars. I once watched a movie where the guy was wearing a trench coat and the collar kept going up and down.

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    1. I've seen that too, Elizabeth. Sometimes that's more interesting than the movie! Thanks for dropping by. :)

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  5. So true that it takes a lot of people to make a successful author. No author can do it alone! Congratulations on all your awards!

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    1. Thanks, Sherry! Writers absolutely need support of editors, publishers and fans. It's a lonely job. I appreciate your comments. :)

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  6. It's nice to meet Tina! Working on revisions right now. I can't say they are always my favorite part of the process, but they are good and necessary, that's for sure. :)

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    1. Nice to meet you too, Karen! I'm not crazy about revisions, but like you, I know they're necessary. Thanks for dropping by!

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  7. Wow, Make Me Surrender sounds deliciously sexy! So I'll check it out.

    I don't mind revisions, which my writing always needs, but I find that I get bored with them after a while, and then I have to force myself to continue, which isn't fun!

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    1. I hear you, Helena. I try to make everything as perfect as possible so I don't have a lot of revisions. However, I never get commas right. Don't know why. Thanks for dropping by and looking into our boxed set! :)

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  8. I, too, always hope for that perfect draft, but it never is. Revisions make the story better. :)

    Congrats, Tina!

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    1. Thanks, Cherie! If I ever have a perfect draft with no revisions, I'll be shouting about it all over Facebook! :)

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  9. Sounds like a hot series of books. Have a lovely weekend.

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  10. No writer can do this alone -- unless we sacrifice quality for a quick release date. With the exception of only a couple instances, I've enjoyed working with all of the editors who have helped me polish my work over the past 5 years. They've helped to make me the writer I want to be from here on out.

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  11. We definitely can't do it alone. I've grown, and continue to grow, so much when working on a manuscript with others. Their feedback is tremendous.

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  12. Wonderful thoughts. That tight writing is my favorite, and I agree that editors add a whole new dimension. I don't know what I'd do without mine, either of them. =)

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