Wednesday 7 February 2007

drive by.... proof checking....



The page proofs of Suite Seventeen arrived yesterday, and I'm hard at work checking them.

Checking proofs is a strange experience - half stressful, half enjoyable, all consuming. I'm really liking the book as I read it, even though there are bits I'd do differently of course, and bits that I'd love to change and improve, even though it's far too late to do so at this stage. In this particular case, the proofs have made me feel quite tearful... I know it sounds crazy, but as I read it, there's a part of me so wishes that the story, the characters and particularly Valentino were all flesh and blood real! There's a lot of emotion in this one... It started out initially as a woman's journey of self discovery tale, but I got so into Valentino that it very quickly became a deeply romantic, if slightly pervy love story. He's a very complicated guy, full of contradictions. An uber dominant Alpha male, yet he has vulnerabilities too. Exotic and unusual, yet he has a sort of sweet everyday side to his nature as well... He's arrogant, but he enjoys a laugh at the expense of his own foibles...

I've used the 'faux' cover above, because gorgeous as the publisher cover is, my own version of the cover really captures Valentino as I see him... complex, mysterious and beautiful.