Because 2011 will be the Year of the Query, I've been doing the usual lather, rinse, repeat polishing and editing of the first of the two manuscripts I want to submit. The first being Ulterior Motive. I've not touched it since my rewrite of earlier in the year, looking at it with fresh eyes has helped my discerning editorial and growing writing skills continue to chop it into a flowing, tightly written story. 

I've also come to realize that reading it in paper form, rather than at the computer has allowed me to catch simple spelling errors and atrocious issues. After I finish this edit, it will be of to a hard edit--to a friend who is an English guru to catch all the problems above and beyond my meager level of expertise. 

Along some of the decisions I've had to make were cutting the prologue altogether, nixing the overwritten interactions between Paul and Caitlyn--subtlety in their relationship is much better than making sure the audience sees, I mean, REALLY sees, what Paul and Caitlyn have yet to realize. 

In our trials and laborious works in progress, writers tend to beat themselves up on worrying whether or not their manuscript is anything of worthy. We often forget to remember how far we've come. For Ulterior Motive, the entire ending is different--the suspect a completely different person, the twist absolutely unforeseen and there's an introduction of new characters that will be built upon in another book. I've also hacked over 40K words from the manuscript but sacrificed nothing important. UM is now a completely different story--but stronger, tighter, more suspenseful and now a fast read.

And I'm not even done yet. And to me? That's exciting. It's so close to being done--well, as done as it can be before it gets third-party edited. But still...