This past Thursday, June 30, I attended Paulita Kincer’s book launch party at the Grandview Grind. I had a good time, munching snacks and meeting members of Paulita’s family who I had previously known only through Facebook postings. I also bumped into some Columbus State colleagues I hadn’t seen in quite awhile.

The book being launched was Paulita’s fourth novel, Paris Runaway. The main character is Sadie Ford, a middle-aged divorcee and the mother of 17-year-old Scarlett who runs away to Paris in hopes of hooking up with a French exchange student she met in high school. Fearing for Scarlett’s safety, Sadie sets out to find her daughter and has her own adventures in the City of Lights.

At Paulita’s request, I gave Paris Runaway a thorough edit before its release. Having edited two of her previous three novels, I knew I would probably not have to make any major revisions, and that indeed proved to be the case. I like helping authors like Paulita who understand that writers and editors are partners – not competitors – in the literary world. Some editors do not understand this fact.

About a week before I finished editing Paris Runaway, I attended an authors’ panel at Otterbein University. One author, Kelley Grant, mentioned that she had been contacted by someone who claimed to have found 27 typos in one of her books. She responded politely to the critic, who apparently thought himself clever for having identified these alleged errors.

Even if he was right about the typos, this person would not make a good editor unless he changed his attitude. An editor’s goal should be to help the author make his or her story smoother, clearer, and easier for the reader to digest. Editing isn’t easy, but it’s not as challenging as writing, since it’s the writer who builds the story from the ground up, creating characters, developing plot, and adding details that make it interesting. Sometimes, a story is written so poorly, an editor can’t do much to improve it. When that happens, the burden of failure falls on the author – not the editor.

In the case of Paris Runaway, I edited most pages twice – once for errors and once for enjoyment. Paulita is very skilled at developing characters who are flawed but likeable, and she has a knack for catching readers off guard with unexpected twists in her plot. She and her husband Earl will be moving their residence to France in the near future, but I suspect (and hope) that she will continue to write.

Paris Runaway is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Runaway-Paulita-Kincer-ebook/dp/B01H13CCAO and on Barnes and Noble at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/paris-runaway-paulita-kincer/1124047415. Her other books — The Summer of France; I See London, I See France; Trail Mix; and the short story French Masquerade — are also available at Amazon and B&N.