I am delighted to announce that my book is finished. Again. I know, I said that before. OK, I’ve said it twice, but I think it will stick this time. I am ready to shop this puppy. Again.

Mayhaps I should explain: a few months ago I finished the book and got it out to beta readers. Based on their feedback, I decided to tweak the ending.

That ended up being much harder than I was anticipating, and I ended up writing some 24,000 words for what ultimately became a 2,600 word tweak. Just imagine me at an old-fashioned typewriter hammering out page after page after page of story that went straight into the trash.

I’ve been working on that for weeks, and then I went through the manuscript again to trim it down to my goal of 120,000 words. Tonight I made the last edits I intend to make, at least until an agent or editor asks for changes

I have a couple of brand new beta readers who haven’t been exposed to the manuscript before. While they’re reading it, I’m going to work on a new query letter. I had a good query letter before, but the book has gone through a radical transformation and I’m going to need a new one.

Oh, and I have some killer plans for a follow-up book. I’ve learned a lot about writing and story telling (thanks in big part to my friend Dmitri and the many other people who have helped me), and I am looking forward to diving into a new story for Mason. I’m not sure Mason will be as excited.

Wish us both luck!

[Edit: I added to this post – Bryan]

Image made with help from Shutterstock.