At last! Ashes and Bones has struggled through the gauntlet of my critique group's critical eyes and emerged on the other side a more concise work. The tempo is sharper, the spelling has been corrected, and the sequence of events makes more sense. I think the manuscript is done. Will Deanna and Cate think so, too? This summer they plan to read the work from page 1 to page 409 (not so frightening when one realizes the lines are double spaced) instead of twenty pages per month. At that slug's pace any reader tends to forget what happened 200 pages ago. And, if truth be told, the author does, too.
As many writers know this "being finished" idea is both a good feeling and a scary one. After all, what comes next? What will happen to my characters? Will anyone love or hate them as much as their creator? I may not have the answer to that until August when the members of the critique group give me their final lists of "These are the good things" and "These are the bad".
For people with a mutual love of words
Colorado Rockies
