MARY ANN POLL

๐„๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ : ๐–๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐’๐ฐ๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐‰๐š๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐“๐š๐ฅ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Œ๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ฉ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐†๐š๐ซ๐๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐†๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ ๐‘๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ž!

Editing can be frustrating, but a little humor goes a long way. Discover lighthearted editing tips that make revising your manuscript more enjoyable.

The Swear Jar: Set up a swear jar next to your computer. By the end of editing, youโ€™ll have saved enough for a vacation โ€” or at least a nice dinner out.

Talk to Your Plants and Your Prose: Just like you talk to plants, talk to your sentences. โ€œGrow, my little simile, grow! No, not you, adverb, youโ€™ve done enough.โ€

Gardening Gloves for the Tough Weeds: Sometimes, you need to put on your metaphorical gardening gloves to deal with the prickliest paragraphs. Beware of the thorny run-on sentences!

The Emotional Ecosystem: Editing emotions range from โ€œI am a literary genius!โ€ to โ€œWho let me near a keyboard?โ€ Itโ€™s all part of the natural ecosystem of the writerโ€™s mind.

And remember, in the world of editing, when you accidentally delete a perfect sentence, itโ€™s like accidentally uprooting your prize-winning rosebush while trying to trim a hedge in the dark. So keep that swear jar handy, talk to your words with conviction, and donโ€™t let those thorny run-ons get the best of you! Happy editing, and may your emotional rollercoaster lead you to literary greatness!

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Mary Ann A Bio

Mary Ann Poll, America’s Lady of Supernatural Thrillers, is the award-winning author of the Ravens Cove series. Born in Texas and shaped by its wide skies and stubborn spirit, Mary Ann called Alaska home for over forty years โ€” and though her boots are back on Texas soil, her heart never left the Last Frontier. That love for both lands breathes through every page โ€” from the sun-baked spirit of Texas to the eerie perpetual light of the Alaskan solstice and the rich traditions of Alaska’s Indigenous peoples.

Her love for a spine-tingling story and her love for Christ come together in her writing. Mary Ann’s own spiritual journey โ€” from a lifelong fascination with the supernatural to a deep and abiding faith โ€” gives her novels their distinctive voice: suspenseful, grounded in real spiritual stakes, and rooted in hope.

When she’s not writing, Mary Ann enjoys gardening, swimming, and time with her beloved family and pets โ€” who have a habit of finding their way into her stories.