So. Daughters has gone off to the editor. Of course, I couldn’t resist glancing over it again, only to find a few typos, and a few places where I could phrase things a little differently. I hesitated for a bit, not wanting to make my MS different than the one the editor has in her hands, then turned on Track Changes and corrected the typos.

Incurable. I’m absolutely incurable. But at least with Track Changes turned on, I can quickly find the differences, all marked in red.

Meanwhile, I ponder. Daughters will need reviews when I release it, and I have noted that the number of readers who are motivated to write Amazon reviews is on the order of 1% of those who buy the book. Reviews on Amazon make a real difference, so many authors offer swag in exchange for honest reviews. I have no quarrel with that, but I also have no swag to offer. Unless my readers would consider access to inside information a fair exchange.

My novels do not contain explicit scenes. That pleases those who prefer to close the door on intimacy and causes others to scream in frustration. How would you feel if I told you that some of those scenes are actually written, but deleted and saved? Given the warning that I am by no means proficient in the art of writing that genre, would my readers who write an Amazon review still feel themselves well-served if they were rewarded with the deleted scene in Daughters? I cannot say yet who is in the scene — that would be too much of a spoiler — but once you’ve read the novel, you’ll know who I mean. Or would you prefer the deleted bonding scene from The Marann instead?

Do I hear some avid voices exclaiming, “Both!”?

Feel free to leave a comment expressing your opinion on the matter.

I’m playing hooky and occasionally tinkering with the aforementioned deleted scenes. I find them easy to imagine but difficult to write. With the Daughters MS at the editor, I should be working on The Fall — and, actually, I have been doing some tinkering with the opening chapter. The Fall is almost completely written, so that one is just a matter of editing it into readability. Hopefully — barring someone whose opinion matters to me telling me that it’s complete hooey — you won’t have to endure a 6 month wait for it. I’d like to try to get The Fall released by the end of the summer.

Unless I release Stranded first, but that manuscript is only partly written.

We shall just have to see.