This is one of those days. I just finished editing my 500 page manuscript and sending it into the ether to my mentor, Sam Hiyate. The terms of engagement do not include a guarantee that I’ll get representation down the road, but ever since I met Sam a few years ago and did a pitch session with him at the Ontario Writers’ Conference last year, I’ve been impressed by his forthright assessments.That’s what I need at this stage of developing my craft. Of course it was a shock when he suggested that I cut the first 20,000 words from my novel. Once I did that though (I only consigned them to the ‘for later’ file), the novel came to life again. I’d been stalled…

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