Yeah, I know. Seems too chipper, right? But hear me out.Feeling too good this week?

I’ve been chomping at the bit to query for THIRTY DECIBELS. The letter’s been through the wringer (courtesy of YAlitchat and the practice boards at WriteOnCon) and I’m raring and scraping my feet to pound the path ahead. The manuscript itself has seen about four complete drafts, of 5-7 revisions each. (Sounds weird, right? Post to come.)

But I must take deep breaths.

I know these pages need more eyes on them – starting with my SCBWI colleague/friend Trina Sotira. She co-founded Musewrite and gave me amazing feedback through a three-chapter critique I won at the Armchair Auction for Evanston libraries. She even helped shape my synopsis. Simply put, Trina rocks.

So of course I had to send her the full MS for a big-picture critique. Only one other pro has seen it so far – author Kevin MColley, the instructor for my class through the Institute of Children’s Literature.

Today, Trina told me I’ll get the critique on Friday – that she’s got some good ideas on “restructuring.”

If you’d asked me a year ago how I’d react to a word like that, I might have squinted and tried to save face with a pat answer like, “Heh. Could be… interesting…?”

But I seriously cannot wait to see what she says. She explained she’d like to take the story to “epic proportions of awesomeness.” How cool is that? She’ll help me see my path forward, so I can send the best possible pages to my epically awesome beta readers.

Let’s go. My feet are scraping the dirt again.

Speaking of epically awesome beta readers: would you like to be one?

Please leave a comment below or click my pic at the top right.
(And thanks in advance!)