I just reviewed the copy-edit of my upcoming YA novel, Rhythm & Blues and sent it back to my editor– the last benchmark to pass before typsetting. Hard to believe after working on it so long, that it’ll be on bookstore shelves in just five months! Even harder to believe that by then it will only have been two years since Break On Through came out. Time is funny like that.
When you get your copyedit from your editor (at Doubleday Canada anyway– different publishers have different methods), it comes with a stylesheet that outlines standard spellings for common words, names, places and titles used throughout your manuscript, as well as notes about approaches to grammar and punctuation.
The list of words always (well, twice now) looks to me almost like a set of tags for the novel’s contents, so I thought I’d share it as a kind of sneak-peak for Rhythm & Blues. Don’t you want to find out where “bun-head” and “crepe” come into play? And what of those Grammy Awards, the mini dress, and all that Red Bull?
B-girls and b-boys, I give you The List:
- a
- a cappella
- b
-
- babysitter
- bandana
- bandmate
- b-girl
- blond (adj.) / blonde (n)
- breakup
- bun-head
- c
-
- change room
- chi-chi
- chit-chat
- coordinated
- crepe
- criss-cross
- d
- duffle bag
- e
- e-mail
- g
-
- gangsta
- geez
- grade one (etc.)
- Grammys (Grammy awards)
- guestbook
- h
-
- hacky sack
- half-heartedly
- headset
- high-five (verb)
- hip hop / hip-hopper
- homeroom
- l
-
- lamewad
- light-headed
- luxe
- m
-
- makeup
- mic (microphone)
- mid-air
- mini-dress
- mix-tape
- mix-up
- mp3
- r
-
- rear-view mirror
- Red Bull (drink)
- redo
- s
-
- sandpit
- set-up
- Sharpie
- skeez
- skeptical
- skillz
- sound check
- Studio 12 (etc.)
- t
- towards
- v
-
- VideYou
- voicemail
- w
-
- wannabe
- website
