If you’ve been following along here for a while, you know that I’ve been working hard on Mending Hearts, the first book in my Sunrise Beach series. And friends, we are getting close. Like, really close.
Right now, I’m deep in the book editing process, which means Rachel and Greg’s story is almost ready to be in your hands. Every time I sit down at my desk with Jessie and Belle curled up nearby, I’m reminded that this book has been a long time coming. And that feels really good.
What Does the Book Editing Process Actually Look Like?
Going back through a manuscript you’ve already written is a fun experience, or at least to me it is. You fall in love with certain scenes all over again. You delete a sentence you thought was brilliant six months ago. And sometimes you stumble across a moment between your characters that makes you remember exactly why you wrote the story in the first place.
For me, the book editing process starts with reading through the entire manuscript with the freshest eyes I can manage. I try to read it the way a reader would, not as the person who wrote every single word, but as someone experiencing Rachel and Greg’s story for the first time. That’s harder than it sounds when you’ve lived inside a story for months.
While I’m reading, I’m asking myself some important questions.
- Does the story flow naturally from beginning to end?
- Are Rachel and Greg’s emotions coming through clearly in every scene?
- Does the reader get to feel what these two characters are feeling, or am I just telling them about it?
Sweet romance lives by emotional connection, so I want to make sure every page feels intentional.
I’m also watching for the smaller things that are easy to miss when you’re deep in a first draft — repetitive words, awkward dialogue tags, pacing that drags in places it shouldn’t. It’s slow, detail-oriented work. But it matters more than most readers realize. The book editing process is really where a manuscript transforms from a rough draft into something you’re proud to put your name on.
The Hard Days and the Good Ones
Some days the book editing process feels tedious, and I’ll admit there are moments where I wonder if a scene is working or if I’m just too close to it to tell. That’s normal, I think. But then there are other days where you get to that scene — you know the one, where everything finally clicks for your characters — and you just smile to yourself at your desk. Those days make all the slow ones worth it.
If you’ve ever been curious about what goes on behind the scenes before a book lands on your e-reader, now you know — it’s a lot of reading, a lot of second-guessing yourself, a lot of coffee, and a whole lot of heart.
Mending Hearts Is Almost Here
Mending Hearts is set in Sunrise Beach, South Carolina, my fictional coastal town tucked between Pawley’s Island and Myrtle Beach. It’s a sweet, closed-door romance about two people who believe love has passed them by, and the dog who has other ideas about that. (There’s always a dog in my stories, and this one is no exception.)
Rachel and Greg’s story has been close to my heart from the very beginning, and I want to make sure it’s absolutely ready before I share it with you. I’m hoping to publish it later this month, and I cannot wait.
One More Thing…
I’ve also been thinking about starting a YouTube channel next month. I don’t have all the details figured out yet, but if that’s something you’d be interested in, I’d love to know! What would you want to see from me on YouTube? Drop a comment below and let me know — your input might just help me figure out where to start.
Stay tuned. Mending Hearts is almost here, and there’s a lot more to come.