My seven-year-old daughter had been waiting and waiting and WAITING to read the draft of my second MARTY MCGUIRE chapter book, so a few weeks ago, I printed it out for her. She settled in next to the fireplace with the big folder of papers, and I started making dinner. Pretty soon, she appeared in the kitchen.
"Do you have a pen I can use?"
"For what?" I asked her.
"I just want to make some notes on here for you, okay?"
I gave her the pen…and the next day got back a manuscript that looked like this.
And the best part? When I asked her what the E was for, she said, "You know, so you know those corrections are from me and not the person at Scholastic."
I don’t save all the printed drafts of my books. But this is one I’ll be holding onto for a long, long time.