“Just get it down on paper and then we’ll see what to do with it.”

–Maxwell Perkins

Behind every successful writer is a very tired editor. I say this with great respect and admiration for writers and editors, having served as both for more than twenty-five years. In the writing of my Mercy Carr mysteries, I am lucky enough to call the bold and brilliant Peter J. Wolverton—“Pitbull Pete” to me—my editor.

Pete is Vice President and Executive Editor at The St. Martin’s Publishing Group, including Minotaur, the imprint that publishes my books. His genius is born of great editorial wisdom and emotional intelligence, a deep love and appreciation for storytelling and storytellers, a finely tuned BS detector, and a patient doggedness that defies any writer’s temptation to phone it in. His incomparable expertise and dedication is being honored this year by the Mystery Writers of America; at the Edgar Awards ceremony on May 1, he’ll receive the prestigious Ellery Queen Award, which “recognizes and celebrates individuals and teams that have made significant contributions to the mystery genre through their work in publishing.”

To celebrate this well-deserved milestone, I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned from this modern-day Maxwell Perkins. As Pete would say:

1. “They come for the mystery, they stay for the characters.”

This is the first rule of mystery writing that Pete shared with me. Arguably the most important adage for crime writers, it’s certainly the one rule you break at your peril—and Pete’s never allowed me to forget it. He’s especially vigilant about the arcs of my characters from book to book, making sure they reflect how far the characters have come as individuals and in their relationships with one another. He keeps them—and me—honest.

2. “In my personal life, I’m a yellow lab. But in my professional life, I’m a pitbull. I won’t let go of a manuscript until I am convinced it’s ready.”

Pete told me this when we were working on the first book in the series together, A Borrowing of Bones. We’d bonded early over dogs, since we both love them. And we talk a lot about them. (There are dogs in my books, but we’d talk about dogs even if there weren’t.) Pete, as you might have guessed, is particularly fond of yellow labs. And why not—Labrador retrievers are always ranked among the very sweetest of breeds. Yet I don’t call him Sweet Pete, although I could. I call him Pitbull Pete. Because Pitbull Pete doesn’t let my books go “to production” until he believes they’re ready. Which is why my two favorite words in the English language are now “to production.”

3. “Weave in quieter moments.”

I was so worried about pacing in my first novel that the story moved so quickly my readers were in danger of suffering whiplash. Pete had me weave in quieter moments that gave readers some much-needed breathing room between the roller coaster highs and lows.

4. “Readers love the obvious.”

I write mysteries, and I’m always worried about giving away too much. Pete says that readers love the obvious, and if the twists and turns keep coming, I won’t give away too much. Seven books in, I still worry, but less now than before. Because I’ve got Pete.

5. “Show the pieces of the puzzle falling into place.”

This is the corollary to #4. My heroine Mercy Carr always figures everything out—sometimes long before even I do—but I often fail to reveal enough of her thought processes as she does that figuring everything out. Pete pushes me to do that.

6. “I’ll tell you if you’re over the top.”

The longer you write a series, the more risks you have to take to keep it interesting. I try to go for broke in every book, and sometimes I feel like I’m going too far in terms of the plot (too far-fetched) or the characters (too much of a stretch arc-wise) or even the weather (just too much). But Pete says to go for it, and he’ll let me know if I go too far over the top. Which I invariably do….

7. “No more snow.”

Around Book #4 Pete told me I went too far over the top…with snow. Therefore, I set Book #4, The Wedding Plot,  during June, wedding season in Vermont. No snow. Lots of wild orchids. And dead bodies.

8. “You aren’t leaving Vermont for five books.”

Writing a series means creating not only a series heroine and a supporting cast of characters that endear themselves to readers, but also creating a setting that endears itself to readers. For the Mercy Carr books, that setting is Vermont. To paraphrase Eudora Welty, “If you could set your story anywhere else, you haven’t given your story a strong enough sense of place.” As Pete has advised me, that’s even more true of a series. That’s why the stories stayed in Vermont for the first five books, venturing only next door to New Hampshire for a little bit in THE NIGHT WOODS. And we’re back to Vermont only for THE SNOW LIES DEEP, coming in December.

9. “No SAT words.”

Voussoir. Graupel. Mise en scène. These are just a few of the “SAT words” that Pete has made me swap out for more accessible terms. To his credit, and to the improved readability of my prose. Still, I can never resist throwing in one or two per book to see if he catches them. He catches them.

10. “Give it a slow read.”

Pete says I’m “the most over-caffeinated writer” he’s ever met. Funny, I thought Lee Child was the most over-caffeinated writer; Lee says he drinks 30 cups of coffee a day to fuel his writing process, which is way more than I drink, and look how successful he is. Still, I always do what Pete says to do: Calm down, switch to herbal tea, and give the manuscript a slow read. This is usually the last time I read the book before it goes “to production” and this is where it inevitably all comes together. Pete—as always—is right.

ALL HAIL PITBULL PETE!

Pitbull Pete, I salute you. Having an editor extraordinaire like you in my corner has made all the difference. The books are better because of you, I’m a better writer because of you, and my writing life is better because of you.

Here’s hoping all you writers out there are lucky enough to work with a great editor like Pete. They will save your butt—and your book—every time.

This post originally appeared at Career Authors.