This week, I'm working on copyedits for my forthcoming novel, Fräulein M.
It is a bit thrilling. Not only has a stranger, someone I've never met, read my book, but she's paid attention to it in painstaking detail. Along with the copyedited manuscript, I received a style sheet which included a list of all proper names included in the book. It feels a bit like having someone go through your dresser drawers and catalog every single item inside, but it also inspires a sense of pride: look at all this stuff that exists in the tiny universe I created!
Here's the list for letter M:
M
Magnus Hirschfeld, Dr.
makeup [n.]
Margo Lion (cabaret singer)
Marienkirche
Marlene Dietrich
Marlo Thomas
matryoshka
Mauser C96
May Day
Mein Kampf
Medvedev, the (bar)
Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby)
midmorning
Mozart (The Magic Flute)
Museumsinsel
Mutti (n., “mom”)
Myrcia
Most of these refer to actual people or places, and a few, like the Medvedev, I made up. It's funny to see "Margo Lion" next to "Marlo Thomas"; this little list is like a microcosm of the book itself. Cabaret singers, makeup, a pistol.
I can't wait until more people I've never met have had a chance to read.