What do I like to edit?

Why do I have a picture of a dachshund with a post about editing? Read the post to find out!

The more editing experience I get, the more I realize I have a preference for certain styles of writing and certain kinds of books. I like stories with snappy writing, with fast-paced storytelling. Books where the writing is upbeat and has movement. Humor is a must. Not wry, depressed humor, but true, guffaw-inducing fun. I like a well-told story. If there are flashbacks, they’re minimal and used for an effect that can’t be created some other way.

Casey Griffin’s newest release, Ruff Road to Romance, is a good example of my kind of book. (If you click on that link, you can read the book’s first chapter.) The story begins before the book even starts. What do I mean by that? Lily has already made the decision to run away to America and is on the plane when the first chapter begins. The first paragraph - the first sentence, really - sets up the scene:

Lily’s day had been full of firsts: first time away from her family, first time leaving England, and first time waking up next to a gorgeous man whose name she didn’t know. He may not have had much choice in the arrangement—the airline had assigned her seat at random—but she’d vowed to make the most of every opportunity her trip presented. After all, she’d made a promise to her gran, and she was nothing if not dutiful.

Rather than expound on why Lily is dutiful, why she hasn’t ever flown, or even where she’s destined, Casey starts into the action.

Turning on the overhead light above her seat, she checked the travel guide her best friend, Chloe, had gifted her. She flipped to the bookmarked page. Step Twelve: Flirt with a Stranger.

Okay, so it was less of a travel guide and more of a life guide. Or, at least, the life she wanted—one she got to choose. She was going to do just what the title said and Live Boldly: Be a More You You. She only needed to figure out who “you” was.

The hot guy in 23C stirred next to her. He’d practically fallen asleep the moment they boarded the direct flight from Heathrow. Lily scanned the page, nervously rolling the corner as she read. Living in a small town, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d talked to anyone new, much less flirted.

Oh! Now we know a bit more. We know Lily has a book that’s going to play a significant role in her trip. We know she has a well-meaning friend. We know a bit more about the duty, or at least about the significance of having a choice in how Lily lives her life.

We also know Lily considers the person next to her is attractive, and we are meant to assume she’s heterosexual and single. We know Lily doesn’t know this guy and that she’s shy around newcomers. We’ve learned she lives in a small town in England, which can lead to all sorts of presumptions on our part.

Pro tip: Strike up a conversation with the next person who catches your eye. Ignore that self-doubting inner voice and flirt your way to a more confident you. Even if it goes nowhere, the interaction will help you pull yourself out of that rut.

Rut? More like a chasm. The Mariana Trench she’d wallowed in for the last twenty-six years of her life. She didn’t see how batting her eyelashes would change that. But Chloe had seemed so excited when she’d given the book to her and said, “You can leave Old Lily behind.” So, she was going to give it a shot. Because if she didn’t go back home to Worcestershire a changed woman with a plan, she wasn’t sure she’d ever have the guts to claw her way out of the “rut” again.

After a deep breath, she turned to 23C—or Joshua, as she’d discovered by peeking at his landing card earlier. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

Sleepyhead? What? Am I talking to a toddler? That isn’t sexy!

Lily is 26 and ready for a change. Her life has been unending sameness. Another author might have opened the story with the repetition, with the boring, frustrating blandness of Lily’s life, with the quiet way Lily escaped to America, but Casey doesn’t. She drops us right into Lily’s journey and starts feeding us bits and pieces of information. But that info doesn’t come as a list, it’s dripped to us amid accidental food fights, lost luggage, and unexpected chauffeurs.

“Ethan.” He shook her hand. “My sister, Piper, volunteers at the dachshund rescue center. Your aunt is her manager.”

Lily nodded. “Piper Caldwell. I know who she is. She’s in a lot of my aunt’s social media photos.”

“I stopped by there today, and Marilyn asked if I could meet you. She’s sorry she couldn’t come herself.”

As his gray eyes swept over her, the corner of his mouth curled like he wasn’t sorry. She bit her lip, thinking she might get another shot at Flirting with a Stranger.

He reached out to touch her hair. She froze and swallowed hard. Maybe she’d even get to Step Thirteen: Ask Someone on a Date.

When Ethan drew his hand back, he was holding a chunk of broken crisp. “Rough flight?”

Lily looked down at herself, at the food smears, her blue-stained tunic, and the overall rumpled state of her. No wonder he’d stared at her.

She raised her chin. “I take it you’re giving me a ride to the center, then?”

And the action doesn’t stop. Professional confidentiality ensures that I can’t share any quotes with you beyond what Casey has published on her website, but you can buy the book and read the rest for yourself. But I can say that the pace doesn’t quit. Casey takes us along with Lily and Ethan as they take an unplanned trip (not the ride to the center). There’s also an absolutely adorable dachshund! Casey does a fabulous job writing dachshunds. She gives them personalities and totally authentic characteristics.

And that’s another thing I like about books: animals!

Tell me in the comments (which I’ve finally figured out how to enable), what do you like in books? What don’t you like?