Sorry I haven't been blogging as much lately, but the good news is I'm putting finishing touches on the book. My wonderful beta-reader, David, just finished reading and commenting on the last 2 chapters and thinks [with some tweaks] it's ready.
He has been a motivating, life-saver [book saver, actually], coming onto the scene at the perfect time. I was in a bout of doubts with my rewrite when David and I got into a reading list discussion [writers ask everyone what they're reading, like other people ask your sign...] David, it turned out, also loved literary fiction; actually he reads some how-brow stuff that I wouldn't get, but something made me ask him if he'd read mine, and he agreed.
Before giving me his first comments on Chapter 1 and 2, he apologized in advance, hoping I wouldn't take offense. His notes were painful to read, with words like "amateurish" and tons of crossed out passages and corrections. I laughed out loud when I read his comments. They were brutal...and dialed-in. He was exactly right...at one point he wrote "you're a better righter than this..." on the margin.
Overlaying David's advice onto that I'd received from my [terrific] earlier beta- readers before has been really helpful, and instead of bringing me down, I know it's making my book better.
Halfway through reading the book, he came to me and said that I write really characters well and that he couldn't wait to see where the story went, which made my day.
And what did he think when he finished it? He loved it!
I'm grateful to David and my other beta-readers for giving me the time and commitment to help me with my book. Let's see where it goes from here....Geoff
You are a truly gifted writer and in all forms of art life gets in the way..but we go back and push forward and never give up...especially with those whom inspire us to believe. I love you husband
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