Interview with Dennis De Rose of Moneysaver Editing

What made you decide to be an editor? About 10 years ago, I decided that I wanted to help writers by reviewing their books but I didn’t want to purchase them. I contacted a wonderful lady, Deborah Gaynor from Kentucky. She had a reviewing service, Readers Favorite, that she had started a few years earlier. She accepted me as a reviewer and I began by reading an adventure novel. (I edited the next book he wrote and it won a gold medal for best fiction in the category). When I sent my review to Deborah, she realized it was well written. Apparently, most of the reviews she received needed tweaking. She asked me to do that for her and I accepted the challenge. I tweaked 1000 reviews for her and she agreed to put me on her website as her editor. The first thing I edited was a children’s story about a horse. I wanted to edit the story for free but the author insisted on paying me. I accepted five dollars as payment and that is how this adventure began. 

What do you like best about being an editor? I love helping writers make their books be the best they can be.

What do you like the least? Having to tell a writer that their writing needs a lot of work (sucks) and proving it to them.

How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for editing? When I was born, my mother always told me my first word was… Why? I bet she was joking but I have asked questions for as long as I can remember. I have always been detail oriented, trying to make things better than they are. I can’t help it. Working in a prison as a counselor, I was trained to write well because reports had to be accurate and understood by everyone. My visual issues have also helped me to be a better editor because I have always read only one word at a time. It’s difficult to miss mistakes that way.  

Have you ever felt as if you were being dictated to while you wrote a book--as if the words came of their own accord? If yes, which book did that happen with? I co-authored one book, Jumpstarting Your Inner Novelist by Julius Thompson. That was a snap because I wrote about editing and the usage of proper grammar. In this case, the answer is yes.

I’ve edited over 50 novels to date, along with some nonfiction, and I am currently in between novels, waiting for writers to complete their manuscripts.  

What’s your favorite time management tip? Time management is not really an issue for me because I am currently retired and I will not edit against an unreasonable deadline. I know that the slow turtle wins the race. Nothing rushed is ever done well.

If you had one take-away piece of advice for authors, what would it be? Please don’t rush the writing process because if you do, expect to pay more in the long run. Your writing will probably be shoddy and you will end up paying your editor a fortune to edit your manuscript.

Did music help you find your muse with this book? If yes, which song did you find yourself going back to over and over again as you wrote? I love listening to music but not while I’m editing because I need my full concentration to do the job right.

Tell me more about Wish You Were Here Badfinger, a Rock Fantasy by Joyce Isaacson… Here is the back cover blurb.

WISH YOU WERE HERE Badfinger, a Rock Fantasy is a novel that crosses the love between band brothers with the pop-paranormal, set to a killer soundtrack. Badfinger’s Tommy Evans, after years of depression following the death of a beloved band mate, Pete Ham, slips into heaven by the skin of his teeth. Guided by an angel, Gabriel, he sets out on a Dantean voyage through the strata of the afterlife to reunite with his lost lead singer, Pete Ham. Along the way, Tommy encounters a repertoire of famous faces—chafing against, laughing with, and learning from each one in the fierce quest for his best friend’s soul. WISH YOU WERE HERE BADFINGER is a novel about after-death adventure, rules, and posthumous love. It features the overtly fictionalized spirits of real-world artists, performers, and thinkers to explore questions about legacy—but not always to answer them… and to say “Blimey” from time-to-time.

How about an excerpt from Wish You Were Here Badfinger, a Rock Fantasy? Here is the first segment of chapter 1….

This is remarkable but where am I going? I’m spiraling upward at a very high rate of speed, surrounded by colors that appear to be morphing one into the other. I seem to be heading toward an infinite white light. Now, I see other people stepping onto a soft substance.

Who is this gigantic person standing behind that dark wooden podium? As if by magic, I’m being jostled into line while others arrive behind me. I seem to have no control over my actions. What is going on here? Now I see a bright white gate and there’s a tall man with piercing blue eyes standing in front of it.

I watched intently as the towering man signaled with his hand; some people were directed to the left, others to the right. Without warning, he beckoned me to the right. Right or left, what does that mean?  Now I am being unceremoniously directed to sit in a yellow padded chair, several others are doing the same. I’m dressed in me blue Jeans, a corduroy jacket and gym shoes. Nervous as a cat in heat, I touch me sideburns over and over, afraid of what’s next; I just want to get this waiting over with. Suddenly I have to abandon me seat for another seat, as the line moves along slowly. Blimey! How much time has gone by? The line seems endless. I wonder what is beyond the gate. What’s up ahead?

“Come here, Tom Evans.” A man with wings gestured for me to get up and follow him to a room and take another seat; of course, I have no choice.

Sitting down in front of a medium-sized screen floating ten feet in front of me, the only bright thing in this very dark room, I rested me hands in an upright position on me legs. Where the Hell am I?

It’s so dark in here, I can’t see the chair or even me hands and I can’t tell if the person has left or is still here. Wait! A movie is beginning, but I see a little baby. I’m seeing me life story before me eyes, and suddenly I am remembering all of the details of me life!

What are those things that look like rosary beads on top of the screen? I sat in that dark room, thinking as I watched me movie. Each time I did something good in me movie I obtained a bead on the right side. Every time I did something wrong, I received a bead on the left side. The beads are moving as if by magic from place to place and I can only watch it happen. I see more beads on the left side than the right. Finally, I know what the left side means. Now there's a scale on the side of the screen. In awe, I watched the beads fall into the scales as it tipped to the left. I’m shaken to the core of me being, but I don’t know why.

I screamed, “OK, get it over with! Send me to Hell already!”

A luminous figure appeared out of nowhere. I think that happens a lot around here.

“You were a good father, Tom. You were kind to family and friends, and you suffered from depression, something not always your fault and you played a benefit concert. Charity is a big thing here. Tom Evans, are you sorry for the bad things you have done in your life?”

“Yes, I am!”

I wiped me tearful eyes with me right hand. The scale tipped to the right.

“Our time is over. Your guide will take you the rest of the way.”

Standing up from me seat, the glowing figure pointed toward a bright light.

Out of curiosity I followed that light out of the darkness.

I heard a voice calling me name, “Tom Evans?”

“Who’s there?”

Me eyes started to adjust to the bright light, seeing a man sporting two white glowing wings almost as tall as me. Walking in front of the being, I noticed he’s wearing a white gown. A light surrounded his face; he has short brown hair framing his teardrop shaped eyes and a soft smile. Blimey!

“You are calling me, right?”

“Yes, I am here to help you get settled into your new surroundings.”

“Where am I going?”

“…To Level 5 for now. Until you’re ready to advance, you will stay there. Souls don't just sit on their laurels. They are always moving.”

“…Really, what’s Level 5?”

“It’s part of Heaven, you ask a lot of questions, Tom. But that is also the part of the process.”

Yes, I have so many questions about me afterlife or is this just a dream?

“Hold my hand and I will bring you to Level 5.”

Taking the angel’s hand, I became light on me feet, flying through strobes of color, seeing another soul traveling in the opposite direction. Where is that soul going? I wondered to myself.

We landed, the flight seemed shorter than me first trip.

Where can writers find more about your editing acumen and you on the Internet?

Moneysaver Editing : https://moneysaver104158167.wordpress.com/ (still in the making)

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-de-rose-15262917/ (my most developed site to date)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Moneysaver.Editing/ (not my favorite choice)

Dennis De Rose aka Moneysaver Editing, thank you so much for being with us here today. I know my writers will enjoy your interview. Sharon, thank you. I would love to expand on anything you deem necessary.