When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

So, when the manuscript was sent back again and again with more notes, I’d sometimes wonder if I’d ever get it right. Throughout all this, I sometimes felt frustrated-I’m not going to lie-because it’s a long, emotionally draining process. This part of the process involved some back-and-forth through emails, and the draft traveled between me and my editor a few times-to get certain scenes just right-before it was approved for the next step, which was copy editing. After the contract, I received a four-page, business-style editorial letter with further revisions needed. This version was the one that ended with a contract.īut, as we all know, revising doesn’t end there. Diaz, further developing some of the secondary characters, and working on making the two main teen characters distinct and the diary entries and letters indistinct, meaning they had to read as if they could have been written by either girl.

These included scaling back the adult character, Ms. She sent general notes and line-edited the first 40 pages, so I could really understand both the global and line-level changes she wanted. The rejections with notes were helpful because we saw trends and knew those aspects needed to be fixed.Īround the same time, the editor who would eventually buy my novel wanted revisions before she’d take it to her team. I first revised based on my agent’s feedback prior to going on submission to editors. My manuscript went through tons of pre-contract revisions. In an emotionally taut novel with a richly diverse cast of characters, readers will relish in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and be completely swept up in the turmoil of two girls grappling with demons beyond their control.Ĭould you describe both your pre-and-post contract revision process? What did you learn along the way? How did you feel at each stage? What advice do you have for other writers on the subject of revision? And with Dickinson’s poetry as their guide, both girls must conquer their personal demons to ever be happy.

Both are hovering on the edge of an emotional precipice. Diaz’s English class, where they connect to the words of Emily Dickinson. From the promotional copy:Ī Goth girl with an attitude problem, Elizabeth Davis must learn to control her anger before it destroys her.Įmily Delgado appears to be a smart, sweet girl, with a normal life, but as depression clutches at her, she struggles to feel normal.īoth girls are in Ms. Rodriguez is the first-time author of When Reason Breaks (Bloomsbury, 2015).

When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez