March 16, 2023

Daily Diary, Day 926: I’m done! I put up an old picture of Leeza doing the happy dance she does 3 times a day when it is time to feed her. Her exuberance reflects my own since I just finished the first main edit of Tides of Acerba, with time to spare before my dinner.

I started this editing round February 25, and it took only 2 1/2 weeks, which was my goal. Even more exciting, I got the manuscript down to 106,854 pages, which means I cut over 36,000 words (over 20%). In the words of advice given by Steven King to authors, I killed a lot of my darlings.

Next up, I plan on spending the next 3 days doing one more quick read through as I hand chunks of the manuscript to my husband, who is always my first reader. Then I will send it on to my beta readers.

But tonight I am going to celebrate by fixing a lovely salad, and maybe watching the newest remake of Emma on TV.