"People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise." Somerset Maugham

[Rosemary Harris]

I don't know what I was thinking. Swept up in the auction atmosphere, some months ago I bid on and won, a critique by an author I admire, Stuart Kaminsky. One month passed, then two, then I shelved the book I was writing and took my series character on an adventure closer to home. I had just started that book when I got a friendly reminder from the folks at Sleuthfest about my critique. Now, I don't belong to a writing group, I don't have that one trusted soul who sees my scribblings long before anyone else does (every time I show anything to my husband, he tells me I'm great. Good for the ego, but not especially helpful.)

Stuart Kaminsky is not my husband, and chances are, he's not going to tell me I'm great. How do you handle criticism in the early stages of a book?

[Sandra Ruttan]

No, I understand re: clean copy. I don't think you're sloppy at all, and I expect most people with more established publishers have great editors. That's one of the key differences between them and the fly-by-nights - those guys don't hire pros.

I've learned a lot from being edited. A great editor is worth their weight in gold. And Rosemary, great example with the 'iced coffee' comment. Shows how much attention they paid to detail.