And the truth comes out…

Well, I am now being blogged about … by someone other than me. It makes me feel kind of like a celebrity. Kind of.

Never mind that the blogger is my wife, Sheila. Or that she is my editor. Or that she has her own take on me and my writing, which might not be exactly the same way I see myself or my work. Or that she is further exposing my raw nerves, making me feel even more vulnerable than I already felt about releasing my debut novel. Because, despite all of that — and everything else she has had to put up with from me over the past seventeen-and-a-half years — I know that Sheila is my #1 fan. (Well, my parents might give her a run for her money in that category, but they are biologically biased.)

It took me a week or so to post a link to Sheila’s blog, so she has already completed the second instalment of a seven-part series about Goodnight Sunshine. I’ve read drafts of her first six posts, which are being released on a weekly basis. I have no idea what the seventh will say, but I’m optimistic — far more optimistic than I was ten days ago when I saw Sheila’s first draft of posts one thru six. It was a tough read, and it led to an intense discussion. But, as always, Sheila and I worked through the layers — mostly related to my sensitive ego and Sheila’s direct words — and we both came away with a better understanding of the other person’s perspective.

There’s a saying that one should “write drunk and edit sober.” In our recent relationship as writer-editor/husband-wife, I’ve been the “drunk” one … and Sheila has provided sober second thought every step of the way. Now that Sheila is writing — even if it is about me writing — we turn the table and return to the dynamic that we shared early in our relationship: Sheila as writer, and me as editor (albeit an amateur one).

Even as I type this, I know that Sheila is doing yet another pass through Goodnight Sunshine, editing my book one last time to make sure it’s ready to print. But I digress. This post was supposed to be about Sheila’s blog … which you can check out for yourself at http://www.sheilacameron.ca/blog/