Sending my revised baby off

            The revised manuscript for Coming Attractions is winging its way back to Harlequin Special Edition after some extensive edits. I need a beer … and I hate beer.

            This was especially difficult for me, and I think I’ve figured out why. In the last few years it’s been with other editors, and with my one-time agent, and in contests. I polished it up and made it as perfect as I could get it, and my subconscious mind said, “That’s it. It’s done. A finished story.”

            Then I was asked to tear it apart and put it back together again. Oh, don’t get me wrong: The Harlequin editor knows what she’s doing, and my book is better for it. But it’s hard to go back into a “finished” manuscript after all that time. And, if she likes the “finished” product … she may ask for more edits! That’s the writer’s life, and I embrace it.