I say all the time that I have the best clients. And I do. (Like attracts like, after all!)

Case in point: over the weekend, a newish client wanted me to alter my Word Document Only policy. It didn’t seem to be the sort of issue we’ve had in the past with people asking us to edit .pdfs or PowerPoints, so I was willing to consider it. I know a bunch of my clients use this format, so … I was curious to address this client’s concerns about my Word Only policy.

I sent an e-mail to a bunch of clients. Well, I sent a lot of e-mails; there was no group e-mailing involved.

And here’s the proof of how amazing my clients are. Every single one I sent the inquiry to got back to me, if not that night then the next morning.

I appreciate the speed, especially since I am not always that fast on the uptake (I wish I could be. Lately, I feel like I’m swimming through molasses). And what my clients had to say was enlightening. I learned a heck of a lot from them and once again, I am in awe of the folks who choose to hire me to edit their manuscripts.

So in the end, I turned down the request to edit in something other than Word. I probably lost a client, which means I’ve got room in August for anyone who is amazing, personally, and wants to work with me so their fiction can be every bit as awesome as they are.

And yes, all these superlatives are making me smile. Jett sent me a review over the weekend in which she complained that every single detail was perfect, incredible, amazing, beautiful, and more. I kinda get where that author was coming from, with all that praise. Doesn’t sound like it made for good fiction, but it sure makes for a happy editor over here. And happy editors work better and harder for their awesome clients.

So I’ve got a client, right? And she’s got a new book in the works. You with me so far?

We’ll call her Stevie ’cause I’m on a Fleetwood Mac kick (as Lacuna Coil blares from my speakers). And Stevie’s written a good twenty or thirty books, most before we teamed up. She insists she’s a better writer since she found me, and I have certainly seen her grow in the 10 or so books we’ve worked on together.

Like ambitious writers everywhere, Stevie doesn’t want to rest on her laurels. She wanted to push herself, stretch, see how far she can grow as a writer. So she wrote something new. Something that for her, is a definite stretch.

Still with me? See where this is going? It did require more from her than either of us were prepared for. And so even though I finished the edit, we’re still talking, still brainstorming. How to make it better, more authentic. And can she do what she wants with her characters while still succeeding in the genre she’s chosen for the book? (That sounds wrong, but to say  much more will reveal too  much, so trust me when I say it’s not like she’s way off base. She’s not.)

This led me to do what all good editors do: I put a call out on Twitter to see if anyone had book recommendations for me. Yes, I’ll read and study how others have done it so that Stevie (and I, to a lesser degree) can get it right.

It’s a tricky thing I’m looking for. Romances where the loss of the first spouse is still new, still raw. How appropriate is it, Stevie wonders, for the female lead to fall in love with another man so soon after the loss of a husband she loved? Even if he’s a man she’s known forever and yes, there’s a romantic — albeit unresolved or explored — past between the two.

I picked up one of the books last night at my library, but I’m hardly done yet. If you’ve got what you think is a great example of a romance where a seriously grieving widow is able to move on and find love again, leave ’em in my comments. I’ll read as many of them as I can while Stevie and I work. And then, who knows? Maybe I’ll keep reading. I love to read, after all…

Oh, the things I do for my clients… and the worst part of it all is that it’s delightful fun, every step of the way.