Off to New York

Today I printed out and made electronic copies of my historical novel dealing with early vaudeville in the Northwest. It is called The Beausoleil Brothers Follies, and follows a vaudeville company through Montana and Idaho in 1896.

I've revised it three times since finishing a draft before Christmas, snipping here, clarifying there, and always trying for consistency. I made some cuts I hope will speed the story along.

My editor at Forge (a Macmillan imprint) says he's always enjoyed vaudeville, and that is good. If there are weaknesses in the story, he will spot them and steer me toward solid ground. He is a senior, and gifted, acquiring editor there.

There were the usual last minute problems. My Brother printer began putting black blots onto the pages, which I ascribed to a cheap replacement toner cartridge I had gotten through Amazon. I hastened to Staples and got an original Brother cartridge, at breathtaking expense, but it solved the problem. (The cheap cartridge cost me a 55-mile round trip to Bozeman, and saved me nothing.) The old Brother printer wasn't grabbing the paper well, so there were a lot of pauses and red lights, but I finally got the 412-page story printed, and packaged, along with electronic copies, and off to my publishers.

I hope the editor finds it a worthwhile project.