Beta Reader 2

Well, I learned yesterday that Beta Reader the Second (Lovingly called The Mama) has finished my book, and is eagerly awaiting my current edits so she can re-edit. I really respect her abilities as a beta reader. She isn't blood related, she is extremely well read, and has an affinity for catching the things that make bad writing well, bad.

Let me put it this way - no author writes stunning shining prose on the first draft. Maybe on the second draft, but never the first. My Beta Readers are there to tell me if the story is going no where, if it's not publishable, and how my writing is. Then we get into the nitty gritty - sentence by sentence, taking it apart and putting it back together again. That is how we remove anything unwanted from the prose and turn coal into a diamond :)

So I will need to speak with The Mama about truly what she thought of it, and her opinion on its level of success. Maybe sometime this weekend I can post about that.