Book extras

Another reader joined the pack last week. My longtime friend Dale read Xmas Carol and I'm happy to say he gave it an enthusiastic review. So far, that's what I'm hearing from readers. Xmas Carol is a hit. I can't tell you how this gladdens my heart.

But my readers do more than read: they get a say. Dale agreed with Annie that the longest scene in the book should be a lot shorter -- or axed entirely. Now, I think it's a fun scene but I can understand that people want the story to move along.

I think I'll reduce the long scene to a few short pages -- and move the longer version to this blog (or a special Xmas Carol blog; not sure which way I'll go with that). As a reader, I know that it's painful to finish a good book. So wouldn't it be great if there were additional scenes waiting for the reader online? I like the idea and I've got tons of cut scenes from all three of my books. Why not recycle them?

So here's the plan. Tomorrow I begin the final, final, final edit. I'm going to put my Barbara Stanwyck boots on for this one. I will axe whatever needs axing. And really, this is the last time I'll edit the book. I promise (I think).