My latest book project is The Templar Reprisals. To stay fresh, I write a different book between each of the Steve Dancy Tales. My latest is a contemporary thriller that uses the truth and myths surrounding the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, commonly called the Templar Knights.
To escape a deadly attack in Paris, a small-town police chief and his wife end up killing two terrorists. This fateful clash draws them into a centuries-old feud between two secret societies. Returning to America, they discover the incident has followed them home. To survive, they must figure out who has ensnared them in a conspiracy that endangers their lives and their hometown. Are they the victims of intrigues by a secret society … or have they been betrayed by their own government?
Before I send a manuscript to my editor, I make a final pass-through for continuity, clarity, and crispness. What I call the three Cs is explain fully here. Basically, I check to make sure that events, people, scenery and the timeline remain consistent; everything makes sense; and unnecessary words and explanations are stripped away. Good storytellers never yank the reader or listener out of the story. Properly applied, the Three Cs smooth the path for the reader so he or she never drops the book in their lap exclaiming, what the hell? A good editor also removes speed bumps for the reader and saves the author embarrassment.
Polish your manuscript provides another perspective on the final stage of manuscript revision and editing.
Simultaneously, I've started the next Steve Dancy Tale, tentatively titled, Los Coronados.