Anchee Min’s — Wild Ginger *****

Set during the Cultural Revolution, Wild Ginger joins the Red Guards to save herself after her father is labelled a traitor and her mother commits suicide. But after she rises in the ranks, she’s faced with a dilemma. Evergreen loves Wild Ginger, but Mao prohibits romantic love. When Evergreen moves on to Maple, Wild Genger’s response is unpredictable.

Janie Chang’s — Three souls *****

While Leiyin observes her own funeral, she is confused as to why she cannot enter into the afterlife. Her two other souls join her on a journey back in time to solve her dilemma. In spite of her unwanted marriage and domineering father, it is her own actions that she must make amends for before she can enter the afterlife.

Mary Lawson’s — Crow Lake *****

Kate has three brothers, but it is her elder brother she adores. His passion for nature inspires her to become a biologist. But after a tragic car accident, the children are separated, but when she tries to reconnect with her brother she is overcome by the loss of the brother she once knew.

A closer look

I thought writing an 80 000 word manuscript a daunting task, but now I know that’s the easy part. I shared my story with my writing group, and because I made changes from their suggestions, I thought I was almost done.

Ha!

Now I’m in the middle of yet another edit where my focus is verbs — those boring passive verbs; my favourites I repeat far too often; and ones needed to convey a character’s feelings without spelling it out.

Today, our editor/facilitator announced to our group, “Focus on one thing at a time in an edit,” and I wished everyone had pounded their fists on the table with applause because her advice reminded me, I’m on the right track.

Editing is a daunting task, so don’t try to fix everything at once, and remember my tip from an earlier blog about allowing time in between edits.