There has been an unexpected benefit to my decision of having a group of “readers” review the manuscript for Chalice.
Several people I asked to read the book said “You should ask so-and-so, they read all the time. They know books and would give you really good feed back.” So I did.
And what these “strangers” have had to say has been difficult to hear and encouraging — in other words, exactly what I wanted.
“Enjoying the language but people don’t talk like that; I love the fact that it is so well-thought out; I can’t get past thinking of it as dialogue; great job presenting conflicting values; maybe there should be a more dramatic event in the first 30 pages that allows them to open up to each other more quickly; I really dislike one of the main characters by page 7… ”
Informative perspective and often page specific. Immensely valuable.
Even better, these “strangers” are interesting, funny, thoughtful, direct and engaged in what is important to them: Music. Cars. Books. Wonderful people I would not have “met” if not for this process.
