Adverse Possession is out of my hands again, for the next little while. I finished Draft Five yesterday and passed it along to this round’s draft readers. Now comes the excited/nervous/impatient waiting for feedback. Then acting on that feedback, as I see fit. Then back it goes to my agent. Then more excited/nervous/impatient waiting. I hate the waiting bits. I truly do.

I’m so lucky, though. I’ve got this small army of tough, smart draft readers behind me. I’ve been exchanging work with some of them for years. Others are newer. A few this time are brand new. I try not to have the same person read more than two drafts, because the more you read something, the less flexible of a reader you become, and the less objective your view and your feedback. (With the exception of Gail, who patiently reads umpteen drafts of my stuff. But that’s part of her job. And even so, she will be the first to say when she’s read something so many times it isn’t clear to her anymore.)

For this round, I’ve got one second-time reader in Adam (and possibly Anina, too), and then three first-time readers. Those first-time readers are truly new in that they didn’t read the previous novel, either, or any of my stories. Two of those readers are neighbors, drafted on Gail’s recommendation to get the view of general non-writer readers. The third is the wonderful Caroline Leavitt, also represented by Gail. I’m so honored to have Caroline as a draft reader. I’m reading her novel Girls in Trouble right now and LOVING it. She’s particularly strong in areas where I sometimes struggle, so to have her feedback on this book is invaluable.

So now I’m on vacation for a bit. I’ll hang out with my guys. Garden. Read. Hell, I might even start blogging with some regularity again. Or do something drastic, and actually knit. Who knows…anything’s possible. At least until I start to get that itchy twitchy feeling again and need to get back to writing. I usually make it at least a week, sometimes even two, before I need to get back to work.

Things are coming up in the garden and there’s asparagus ready for harvesting, so look for a gardening update soon. Homegrown asparagus! Can’t wait to taste it.