I just finished principle revisions on the third draft of Severed Dreams. Ten authors contributed to the rewrite, averaging one page of comments for every twenty pages of manuscript. In all, the combined comments added up to just over two hundred pages of emails and transcribed notes.

As you can imagine, it takes a good deal of time to review so many opinions…and even more time to make the agreed upon changes. I missed my February deadline by a few weeks, but hopefully that added effort will show up in the manuscript. I’ll be fine tuning the third draft over the next couple weeks and submitting it to my writing group mid-April.

Yes, rewriting a novel is a bit like rolling a large bolder uphill, but I’ve managed to make steady progress. Hopefully, I’ll get to the top before I look like this guy!

The first act of the third draft is now complete. I’ve tested some of the new material out, and the response has been very positive. The polished opening will now go to my writing group while I work on streamlining the middle of the book. I’m a little behind schedule, but there’s still a good chance I will finish by the end of February.

There are a handful of authors still in the process of reviewing the second draft of Severed Dreams, but the early reviews have come in. Overall, the critiques have been insightful and very positive. Here’s a book blurb-ish sample of early response to the novel…

“Smart and complex.”

“Highly imaginative and visual.”

“Addictive.”

“Very Satisfying.”

“Exciting, touching, and inspirational.”

“Brilliant!”

I have 2-3 month’s worth of work ahead of me as I shape the second draft into final form, but Severed Dreams is close to being a finished project.