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Susan Berliner is the author of six supernatural thrillers ("DUST," "Peachwood Lake," "The Disappearance," "Corsonia," "After the Bubbles," "Soldier Girl"); three short story collections ("The Sea Crystal and Other Weird Tales," "George's Mother and Other Weird Stories," "Crash Effect and Other Weird Stories"); and a memoir ("Doing the Write Thing"). If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact me.
Faulty pedaling
I'm reading the first formatted pages of my post-apocalyptic thriller, The Resolve, and although I've read this manuscript 10-15 times (I've lost count), I'm still finding errors. Fortunately, most mistakes are small, usually a missing word or a punctuation goof.
But I found one error that I repeated THREE times within four pages! I didn't catch it and neither did my husband, Larry, who read the book at least three times. Larry is a retired English teacher, educational writer, and author.
Even though I know the difference between peddle (to sell something) and pedal (to ride a bike), I used both words to describe bike riding.
Here are my three boo-boos:
"...he peddled through the woods, heading towards the highway."
"Ange hopped onto the bike behind Tyler and he resumed peddling."
"After another fifteen minutes of peddling..."
I hope I don't see more mistakes like these as I continue to read the formatted pages. But this experience proves that—no matter how many times I read my book—I can still find errors. At least these mistakes will be corrected before The Resolve is published.
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Cover comments - February 10, 2025
After 12 revisions, the cover of The Resolve is finally done. If you follow this blog, you know that I switched direction in the middle of the cover process because I was afraid to illustrate guns due to Amazon's rules regarding children and guns: "Weapons should not be handled or associated with a minor."
Almost immediately after I approved my cover (which now contains just a tiny image of a man holding a gun), I saw an ad for the following Kindle book, subtitled: "A Western Adventure for Teens."
The weaponry on the cover made me laugh. Maybe it's okay to depict kids in the 1880's aiming rifles and guns, but not in the near future when my post-apocalyptic young adult thriller takes place. In any event, I had been a bit concerned about the tiny gun on the cover of The Resolve. Now that image no longer bothers me.
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The book is done! - February 4, 2025
Finally! The Resolve is finished. I thought it was done last week, but found another issue and had to reread the book again. But after the latest (and final) revisions, this post-apocalyptic thriller is truly finished.
I was hoping the company I'm working with would start formatting the manuscript while the artist continues to revise the cover. Unfortunately, they won't start working on the interior until the cover is completed.
However, the good news is that I actually like the latest cover design so, hopefully, the cover will be finished soon. But at least I see the light at the end of the tunnel—and should be able to publish this young adult thriller in early March.
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Major cover concern - January 29, 2025
Just when my cover artist finally understood what I wanted (by Version #10), I realized what I wanted wouldn't work—and the mistake was entirely mine.
The Resolve is a young adult thriller—and I wanted a bad guy with a gun on the cover. Not a good idea, especially because Amazon has specific rules about guns on covers, which I had never thought to check.
Since I don't want my book rejected or even flagged, I am pivoting to my second cover idea. It's also relevant to the story, but with an image that won't raise red flags. Although the new cover design won't be as flashy, at least it won't result in publishing problems.
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Gun count - January 23, 2025
The Resolve, which I hope to publish next month, is a post-apocalyptic thriller with lots of very bad people who use lots of weapons. In this young adult novel, my teen hero and heroine battle these villains and occasionally swipe their guns.
As I read and revised the book, I had to constantly count the number of guns the good guys had at all times. In my last (and hopefully, final) reread, I realized I had changed a scene that resulted in the teens accumulating too many guns.
As a result, I had to rework that scene in order to lower the gun count. Although it took a while, I finally figured out a logical solution. Now, unless I find more problems, I'm nearly ready to have the manuscript formatted. (Of course, the cover isn't ready yet—but that's another blog post.)
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Cover concerns (continued) - January 17, 2025
I'm back to square one with the cover for my young adult post-apocalyptic survival thriller, The Resolve. Why? After seeing the first four designs--which incorporated most of my suggestions--I studied the covers for a long time to figure out why I wasn't more excited about the art.
Here's what I finally realized: The covers were not what I had asked for. The artist was producing covers featuring realistic people and backgrounds, while I wanted a simple cover with a hazy background. In the forefront I just wanted a menacing man holding a weapon.
I conveyed this information (with an apology about switching direction) to my liaison before the artist created the next cover, although I had asked for this stylized approach originally. Nevertheless, Cover #5 shows a small figure of a non-menacing man standing in front of a realistic-looking backdrop. The only thing I like about this cover is the large red title and my name.
So I repeated my instructions and hope for better results with Cover #6. As I mentioned before, the artist will keep generating covers until I'm satisfied. Unfortunately, it seems like that won't happen for a long time.
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Cover concern - January 11, 2025
After nearly a month of waiting to see the first cover for The Resolve, my YA post-apocalyptic survival thriller, I finally received the artwork last week.
The company had sent me the cover in mid-December, but I never got it—and my contact person never notified me that it was sent. Since I assumed the holidays had delayed the artwork, I didn't check with him until early January.
This cover wasn't worth the wait. I asked for a bold red title and an ominous-looking villain. I got an all-orange cover, with illegible type and a figure who looks more like a hero than a villain.
It's unfortunate because I was hoping the artist would do a better job. But this company has many artists. The cover for my last book was almost finished after one try; this cover will probably take much longer.
The good news is that this artist will keep producing covers until I'm satisfied and since I'm still proofing and editing the manuscript, I'm not ready yet to move forward.
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More plot plotzing - January 4, 2025
Each time I think The Resolve, my YA post-apocalyptic thriller, is finished, I find new plot issues to fix. Some are minor tweaks, others are story improvements, and a few are sneaky mistakes.
Here are several examples:
* Since this book is a thriller, my teen protagonists have to extricate themselves from many dangerous situations. At one critical time, however, I didn't like the way I handled an escape, so I rewrote it with a more suitable character initiating the action.
* Although I'm basically a pacifist, many guns are fired in The Resolve. I changed (and improved) the way one minor character gets a weapon.
* I realized my protagonists tied a character's hands and feet—before removing his shirt and pants.
When I reread this book again (hopefully for the last time before it's formatted), I want to fix just little things like commas, repeated words, and synonyms. That's when it really will be finished.
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