Just in case you ever wondered what the editor aka SFG aka Scott Fitzgerald Gray does for you specifically, my lovely readers, I stumbled across this seven year old Facebook post that exemplifies his power for good perfectly:

And how was the book going to end (had SFG not intervened)?

[massive spoiler for Dowser 1 below, just in case you haven’t read it yet!!]

I gazed at the golden god of a man across from me. My mind was reeling and my thoughts unfocused. He looked maybe thirty-five if I attributed the crinkles around his eyes to age, rather than to sun and laughter.

He let me look at him. His sword had returned to wherever he pulled it from. His arms were at his sides, palms open to face me … in surrender or acceptance?

“I have my mother’s eyes,” I said, releasing the breath that had been blocking my ability to speak.

“Yes,” Yazi, the warrior of the dragons, answered. “But every other inch of you is me.”

He was right. I was his spitting image.

Half-witch, half-dragon. Well, that was one mystery solved.

I smiled, hitting him with one of my best efforts ever.

“Hi, Dad,” I said.

– Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 2)

I’m doing a final pass on Dowser 8 before I send it back to the editor for line and content editing. At this point I’m scanning the entire book, checking on and (hopefully) resolving anything that I’ve highlighted in my previous pass(es).

Highlights usually denote new sections that I’ve written (in response to the editor’s story notes) that I want to go over a few more times. I also highlight certain words that are bugging me (this happens a lot while I’m writing) and things that need to be double checked – timeline, background, etc.

And some highlights are things that need to be verified by google. Because I often don’t want to take the time while writing to go online and possibly break my flow.

So I thought it might be fun to make a list of the things I googled while doing a final editing pass on Dowser 8.

• Is there a a series recently built brick townhomes on the corner of Vine Street and West 2nd Avenue in Vancouver? Nope! I’m mixing up streets. According to Google Maps, the red house with the tiny picket fence is still there!
• Are there lights along the seawall path by Kits Pool? Google Maps confirms yes!
• The menu at Browns Socialhouse.
• Amedei Porcelana Chocolate Bar (I have one in the house, but I was too lazy to go look at the label).
• Was BC Place built for Expo 86? Answer: Nope. 1983. Removed reference in text.
• I also spent A LOT of time poking all around Gastown on Google street view.

Also, for fun, here are a few things I had to double check from the other books during my final pass:

• Was Jade wearing cupcake pajama pants in Dowser 4? Answer: Yes.
• Jade first met Yazi four years ago? Answer: July 2013. So almost four and half.
• Was the Southern Pack mentioned in Oracle 2? Answer: No! I changed the name to the Gulf Coast North American Pack
• Are there laurel hedges at the top of Gran’s driveway? No specific mention in Dowser 1, so I went ahead and added them.
• Double checked the description of Pulou’s knife. Seen in Dowser 4: a nasty-looking blade with a gigantic emerald embedded in the center of its guard. And in Dowser 6: shortsword with the huge emerald embedded in its guard.
• Description of the treasure keeper’s ivory Buddha. In Dowser 4: a three-foot-tall Buddha carved out of some sort of tusk. And Dowser 6: The three-foot-high carved ivory statue was still wearing my mangled katana like a lopsided crown.
• Pulou’s age: 600? Answer: Nope. 500+
• Taste of the elf’s magic in Dowser 7: “It came with the smell of rain after a terrible dry spell … a storm on the horizon … and, underneath the wildness, sharp woodsy notes — cedar and sap, perhaps.”

I need to go over the final scene again but I’m going to leave that to tomorrow when I have fresh eyes.