Good news, everyone! I’ve scheduled with my editor to get the manuscript for The Broken to her at the start of February, and I’m very excited to see what she has to say about it! She’s been a staple for me ever since I published my first fantasy novel, and was critical to the success of my first YA novel, 22 Scars; her feedback is always spot-on, and I can’t wait to see what she thinks of the story of Malcolm, Heather and the rest of The Broken.

That being said, the work isn’t entirely off my plate yet. I finished the first draft of the manuscript back in November, and I’ve kind of just been sitting on it ever since (I read through it once to experience the full story, but that’s about it). Before I can get it over to my editor, I need to make sure that it’s as up-to-scratch as I can make it, first – after all, there’s no point having her do work I could have done myself. That means re-reading it, looking for plot holes, moments that are sub-par in the story, spelling/grammatical mistakes, etc.

I’ve been putting it off for a while, but now that I know I have a solid deadline for getting the manuscript to the editor, I know I have to start ASAP – which means today. I have 37 days to edit 32 chapters, and although I’m sure some days I’ll be able to run through more than a single chapter, it doesn’t leave me much room for error.

Once the manuscript is with my editor, however, I can sit back for a moment – just until she gets it back to me. Then it’s into enacting the edits, going through any necessary re-writes, and starting to get the book out to reviewers and beta-readers. I’d love to get a head-start on this process, naturally, since I’ve already semi-committed to a launch date of March 26th (at least, that’s what I selected for Amazon), which means about a month after getting the book back from the editor is all I have to start garnering reviews ahead of the launch itself.

I’m really looking forward to this; I think this is one of the best stories I’ve written, and I don’t say that easily – 22 Scars was a deeply personal story for me. I can’t wait to see what my readers have to say about it, and of course, my deepest hope is that they like it!

If you’re interested in beta-reading, or simply receiving an advance reader copy (ARC) of The Broken, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me – I would love to provide as many people as possible the opportunity to read my new book!

Thank you, and I can’t wait!