I had a long conversation with TIA’s publisher last night. I was pleased to be informed that he was very happy with the book and thought it exceeded his expectations. He also felt, despite being on their side, that I had been successful in making my case against the New Atheists. Survivors of the Great West Coast Invasion Debate of 2004 may be amused to know that he expressed surprise at the amount of supporting evidence provided.
There are some revisions that need to be made, of course, as I lost one appendix and one chapter was eliminated as unnecessary, although part of it was retained and added to a different chapter. A few of my jabs that were questionably near or below the belt line were also removed. (I think that if you’re going to accuse others of abusing their children, your own parenting is fair game, but obviously some will disagree.)
It’s really nice to work with a strong editor again. I haven’t had the benefit of that since my second novel and it really does make a difference if you can stand to set aside your pride in the interest of a better book. All in all, it’s less revision than I’d anticipated and so everything remains on track, if not ahead of schedule.