When I say “ready,” I don’t mean I actually think my chapters are ready.  I like to keep going over and over the same scenes, tweaking them and making them better.  But, one does finally reach a point of diminishing returns.  One does reach a point when one shows one’s baby to the world.

So, I’m ready for an avid reader or two to read the first four chapters of Sifa and Peter and tell me what he or she thinks.  Researching beta-reading and identifying readers will occupy much of my administrative overhead this month.

In writing, I’ll try to write a little every in my writing journal.  I’ll keep working on the first part of the novel, tightening up some more scenes.  It’s ridiculous when I look back and revise how many of the phrasings seem inane or not to the point or childish.  I also feel like perhaps there’s not enough emotion or spice in some of the scenes.  I may be falling into the trap of telling too much instead of showing… So much to consider!