The editing process begins for my next YA novel. Bitingduck Press Editor-in-chief, Jay Nadeau, just sent me her comments after a first read through of my next book, scheduled to be released in Spring 2015. The story is tentatively titled “Coup de Grace.”

I’ve aimed my sights higher. My sincere hope is that I’m a better story teller in this novel than in “Duck Boy.” Of course, there’s no objective way of knowing whether that’s the case. Linda, my first critic, read the story before I sent it to Bitingduck, and she felt it was much stronger as a first draft. I must rely on her judgement.

I’ve been working through Jay’s fixes and comments as I go. I’m also spending quite a bit of time renovating in general. I’ve been working and reworking a few sentences, and adding precise details. improving verb choice, all that sort of thing. I’m also reading it aloud to myself which reveals problems easily.

I tend to repeat myself, which means my writing sometimes uses too many words, so I’m working hard at making things as lean as possible. Not one more word than I need, not one word less.

So, if you follow the twitter feed, I’ll be posting my editing process. Most days I aim at straightening out 10 pages or so. The manuscript is 300 pages at the moment, so that means I’ve got a month or so before it’ll be done.

I’ll be doing 10 pages today, for example, between cutting the grass, doing a bunch of administration, and keeping up with social media. I’ll keep you posted as I go through the process. Wish me luck.