The Editing Cave

Posted byjenniferannerainesPosted inUncategorizedTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last month I was admiring my award ribbons and reflecting on my success at the Romance Writers of New Zealand (RWNZ) 2025 Conference where Masquerade—Choosing Family Book 1 did very well against internationally successful authors, including multi-published Harlequin Mills & Boon authors placing second in long romance and third in overall book of the year (e-book available from all major booksellers, while a paperback version can be bought through Amazon or Barnes & Noble).

This month, I’m late with my newsletter because I’ve been buried in edits.

I tend to become very focused when I receive my edits for a book. I lock myself in a room until I think I’ve addressed every question, plus tidied up phrasing where I realise I should have been more precise.

This book is a bit different for me. Finding Cleo is a standalone contemporary romance set in Helsinki, Finland where two Australians meet almost by serendipity. It releases in March 2026. I love it, but I love all my books, when I’m knee-deep in the creation process.

There were two main triggers for this one. One was falling in love with Helsinki on a very brief stay there a few years ago. Mixed up with that was my interest in the obscure—as then—unsolved assassination of the PM of Sweden, Olof Palme in 1986 while walking home from a cinema. I’m not writing an historical novel, but I could imagine how an unsolved assassination in a peaceful country could tantalize and fascinate investigative journalists and writers over generations.

My lead female character, Cleo Montford, is the daughter of an investigative journalist, Hugo Montford who was with her father in Sweden eight years ago, when Hugo was working on the story. Unfortunately, he was killed in an accidental gas explosion on his way to meet a contact.

My main male character is Jack Spencer, a successful Australian author with severe author’s block (yep, we’ve all been there). Jack’s read Hugo Montford’s work in the past, and seen the annual stories of Hugo’s death—portrayed by his wife as a political assassination. While Olof Palme’s death is a genuine mystery, Hugo’s death was very much a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The contrast intrigues him, and he decides to follow Hugo’s last investigation as the basis for a thriller.

You’ll have to read it to find out what happens next. I know, I know, you’re already wondering what I did with those characters and details.

Anyway, back to first edits, the grind of reviewing page by page, paragraph by paragraph, scene by scene to see if the story works. Editors do this, and I’ve learned not to overlook a single question asked, or suggestion made, or poor transition identified, or “a WTF just happened because it sure as hell wasn’t clear” reaction.

Editing is time consuming, and my editor needs track changes, so the pages can get very messy. I also need to see the text from a variety of angles. So, I print a version and scroll through the lot to see if there are easy fixes. Then I focus on more complex questions and rewrite those sections in my computer-based version. When I think I’ve got that sorted, I save the document as a pdf, so I can review a clean copy as a final book. I read as an editor might, looking for inconsistencies that have resulted later in the book from fresh changes I’ve made. Then, I fix what I find there. And yet again, I print and check every individual question and query. Would you believe, this time I found something I hadn’t addressed smack bang in the middle of the first page?

Whew! Done. They’re be more rounds of edits, but this is the major developmental one, and I find I save myself time in the long run if I devote lots of concentrated time to this first round.

Upcoming 1: Taylor’s Law—The Anderson Sisters Book 1

Taylor’s Law, Second place in RWNZ 2023 Koru Awards—Best First Book will be discounted to $0.99 from 10-24 October 2025. Don’t miss your chance to pick up a copy if you don’t already have one, or buy it for a friend.https://jenniferrainesauthor.com/anderson-sisters/

Upcoming 2: A festive anthology

I’ve done something completely different, or different for me. I’ve written a short story in first person point of view (POV), just to see if I can. RWNZ runs  a short story competition (1800 words only) with the best stories included in a e-booklet to members. Merger placed third. Boy was I chuffed, especially because there were some short story specialists in the finalists. Mixing it with the top performers gives you a real lift as an author trying to find her place in a very crowded market.

My publisher, Inkspell Publishing, Melissa Keir decided to do a festive anthology of short stories by authors in her stable. So, I added some depth and words to Merger and it will be released in October 2025 under the title Inkspell’s Enchanted Holidays, so watch this space.

Upcoming 3: Australian Romance Readers Association’s (ARRA’s) annual author signing for 2026.

I’ll be signing at ARRA’s A Romantic Rendezvous in 2026 in Sydney. I’m looking forward to chatting with you about TBR piles, what I’ve got coming out, what we love about romance, our favourite bookshops and trends. ARRA has been hosting romance book-signing events since 2009, and they are always so much fun. I can’t wait to see you there!

Want to be the first to know when tickets and special prizes drop? Join the official Facebook group to keep up to date with all announcements: https://www.facebook.com/groups/arr2026attendees

Tickets will go on sale in October, but in the meantime you can put your name in the draw to win the Golden Ticket. One lucky reader will win an all-day access pass (panels, lunch and signing) to the city of their choice—Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Perth.

Just fill in the entry form to go in the draw: https://forms.gle/k5LrU3cEsz3khGFb9

And don’t forget to join the ARR2026 Facebook Group for all the latest news.

You can find me and my books here: website FaceBook Instagram

Find me on

You can also contact me directly via the contact page on my website if you have any other questions.

One thought on “The Editing Cave”

Leave a reply to Mary Hacio Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.