THRESHOLD

To my fans and readers,

Threshold Editing Issue

Threshold is receiving an average of 4.5 stars out of 5.0, and I am grateful to those readers that loved the novel.

“It’s the coolest damn thing I have read in…years.. Makes what is happening now, just a small glitch in time..

What is bringing it down, the reviews that are 3.0, are editing issues. This is being resolved.

Threshold, a 500-page Sci-Fi novel with a significant amount of technology-related content, both real and fictionalized, was edited once already, obviously not thoroughly enough. That editor edited The Martian for its UK release. I thought I was in good hands.

Know that Threshold is being copyedited again by a very competent editor. This will take some time. I estimate the updated version will be available in late August or September. I will post here when it is available. The book will be the same that you can access now, but hopefully with even the slightest error corrected, punctuation etc.

Also know that many times I write partial or incomplete sentences intentionally.

Here is an example:

In the first passage, Becca is struggling to survive on K2.

This place hostile

This is her internal dialogue. I am well aware that a grammatically correct sentence is:

This place is hostile.

Some reviewers might flag this as sloppy, or an error in writing or editing. It is not. It is what she thought.

Here is an extreme example of this problem, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy has an average of 4 stars on Amazon. 4 stars out of 5. That’s 80%. If the book was in school it would have barely made a B grade. McCarthy is one of the greatest writers of our generation. I love his work. This 4-star book also won the Pulitzer Prize. It is full of partial sentences, and creative license with grammar. And It is beautifully written. I am no McCarthy, but I think you get my point. Not every reviewer will, or should, love McCarthy’s work, but many readers do not grasp his style as intentional. It is art.

There are errors in my novel that are not intentional, I am sure. That is why I am hiring another editor. It needs to be perfect.

It is very difficult for an author to edit his/her own work. Why? Because you know what a sentence is supposed to say in your head when you write and read it, even if the words are slightly off. That is why a skilled copyeditor is needed with no preconceived expectation of what or how a sentence is supposed to mean, read, flow, etc.  

Thank you for reading my work. I hope you enjoy it. CELERITY will be published in a few days. It is a wild ride. Beta readers found a couple of scenes shocking. Send the kids to bed before you read it.

I am researching my fourth novel, another thriller, of course. TideFall. The best may be yet to come.

Scott