Dec. 16, 2017 – And just like that, Under the Shadows is done. I just emailed the really-truly-final tweaks to Midnight Ink copy editor Sandy Sullivan, who deserves to perch atop the highest pedestal in the land.

I never make a timeline. (Bad, bad writer.) Sandy always does – and then points out the necessary adjustments throughout the book. She reminds me that a character is drinking from a glass on one page, and sipping from a straw on the next. She points out that I’ve used the same distinctive word twice in two paragraphs.

Reading Sandy’s notes damn near results in a trip to the ER because I smack my head so often. Why she doesn’t address her emails to me as “Dear Idiot” is beyond me.

Copy editors, people. Worship them.