Rewrites ...

I probably shouldn't be surprised that I'm on my third re-write of the sequel to A Time Apart when that book went through no fewer than six different iterations. Since I wrote the majority of the first draft of part two - what I've been calling Blood of My Blood - at the same time as I finished up ATA, it very much felt like a continuation of William and Olivia's story, but as I read through it, there was something missing. It lacked direction. It felt like it could just as easily been cut down significantly and then included in ATA. Not good. So I brainstormed and came up with an idea and moved forward from there. I liked the direction. I was excited by the story arc and the evolution of the characters. And then I read it and realized that I had major plot holes to work through. Oops. So I did another re-write and thought I had something good. I sent it off to my beta readers and they both liked it, but when I went through the exiting process to fine tune it, I felt like something was missing. Drama. Danger. Excitement. Good story, yes, but it needed oomph. The romance was still there but it didn't feel quite so fraught. So I amped it up and wow. The additions really blew the lid off the story. The problem? It completely overshadowed my intended ending. So, I've been working on that for the last couple of weeks, going through and tightening up plot holes that I inadvertently introduced with these kapow! moments, and making sure that everything - new additions and subtractions - weaved a tight story. I'm kind of blown away by where it's ended up. I just sent it off to an author friend who writes paranormal and suspense romance novels to get her take on the direction I've gone with it and I'm hoping she'll love it as much as I do. 

Oh, and I might be changing title too. Go big or go home, right?