DUNE 7 BLOG

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Editorial Comments

Both of our editors have finished reading the fifth draft of HUNTERS OF DUNE and sent us their comments. Carolyn Caughey, our UK editor at Hodder & Stoughton, responded within days, having read the manuscript straight through. Our US editor, Pat LoBrutto, had a run-in with a computer virus and took a few extra days to get the file straight. He read the book, called me to discuss it briefly, called Brian, then sent us his letter. In the meantime, Brian had already gone halfway through the book on his own edit, taking care of some rewrites we had already decided we wanted to do.

Fifth draft is actually two edits earlier than we normally let the editors see each manuscript. We expected to receive quite a few revision requests because both Brian and I had already decided on several things we needed to do. We were both surprised at the enthusiastic editorial reception -- Pat even wanted to start typesetting the book within a few weeks, but Brian and I still won't be satisfied until we complete several more revisions.

Everything is picking up speed. Brian is finished with the sixth edit of HUNTERS already, and I'm several hundred pages into the fifth revision of SANDWORMS. Two of our three test readers have also finished the manuscript, with the third to be ready in a week. We'll get all their comments together as well, and incorporate them. Even though it's our name on the cover of the novels, we have quite an extensive team working on every book to make sure it¹s as good as possible.

Both Pat LoBrutto and Carolyn Caughey have been with us from the very beginning of the DUNE project -- nine complete volumes already. Pat LoBrutto is a great guy, compassionate and friendly, with a deft touch -- a pussycat when he needs to be, and sticks to his guns when he has to. He is intensely loyal and deeply interested in creating the best book rather than just following a routine schedule. Pat and I spent several days together at a conference on the fantastic in Mexico City. He's come to visit me at our house in Colorado and stayed with Brian in his house in Washington State.

Pat was the editor who bought HOUSE ATREIDES at Bantam and worked with us on HOUSE HARKONNEN as well. Unfortunately, he was "downsized" at Bantam, and we were given a different editor, Mike Shohl, on HOUSE CORRINO. When we moved to Tor Books for our subsequent Dune novels, the publisher -- Tom Doherty, a big Dune fan himself -- sweetened the deal by promising to hire Pat back as a contract editor. Brian and I jumped at the chance.

Carolyn Caughey has been our UK editor on all nine of our Dune books so far. Carolyn has a long-standing connection to Dune, having worked with Frank Herbert on some of his latter books. Carolyn is a tremendously sweet lady with a great sense of humor. She has a light editorial touch but a keen eye for things that need to be fixed. With the British publication of each book, Brian and I receive a celebratory bottle of champagne by FedEx from Hodder & Stoughton.

The first time I met Carolyn, Rebecca and I were flying through London on our way to Morocco for a week-long desert research trip prior to writing HOUSE ATREIDES. We had a stopover in the UK, landing in Heathrow airport but taking off again from Gatwick (some distance away). Carolyn came to meet us at Heathrow before 5:30 AM -- now that's dedication! -- took us to a nice hotel where we had a wonderful breakfast and tea, and some bleary-eyed conversation, then she arranged transportation for us to get to Gatwick. This past year at the World Science Fiction Convention, we stopped off in London to visit the Hodder offices, where Carolyn arranged a fine champagne reception for me and Rebecca, just prior to the release of THE ROAD TO DUNE. I signed books for a great many people in the offices.

We are extremely fortunate to have such dedicated editors -- and such consistency -- on this series. Brian and I welcome the input and work closely with all our sets of "eyes" so that Dune fans get the cleanest and most tightly plotted book possible. And with all that help, we¹ll keep HUNTERS and SANDWORMS on track, and out on time.

--KJA