Update

"Finished" my revisions for all but the last chapter today. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Here's what I need to do before sending it off:

• Reread the whole thing in one sitting and note anything that needs to be fixed/added/deleted/you name it.
• Read it aloud to myself to check for consistency of the characters' voices. This is great fun if you're around to listen. I'm no Hank Azaria, but I try.
  
• Find areas where the writing itself can be improved. Since a lot of my changes had to do with what happens, I've been focusing on just telling the story. Now I'll go back and see if I can tell the same thing in a more interesting way.
• Fix all the annoying stuff. (commas, mostly. Always commas.)
  
• I have a couple of secondary characters that need more distinct personalities, so I'll look for places where I can reveal their characters without disrupting the story (and if I'm lucky, actually enhancing it)
  
• Write that last chapter. Have I mentioned that I've developed a rather strong dislike for endings? Now I know why my students just slap THE END at the bottom of their papers.

It seems like a lot, but the heavy lifting is over. A few more lonely nights at the computer and she'll be all set to fire off.

__________________________________________________

In other Murphblog news, I have become an interviewer. This past week I finished The Order of Odd-Fish by James Kennedy. Being a teacher and knowing how often I hear "Nice job" (rarely, to those of you keeping score at home) I went and emailed James and told him that I really enjoyed the book. He emailed back (nice of him) and volunteered to be interviewed for the blog (ever nicer). So in the near future I will be sharing the interview and heavily promoting Mr. Kennedy and his fine work during what I will be calling THE ORDER OF ODD-FISH WEEK (or something catchier if inspiration strikes).

________________________________________________________

But then I thought that it somehow felt wrong to publish my interview with James without at least asking if Ben Esch, author of the groundbreaking book, Sophomore Undercover, wanted to do an interview. So I emailed him and he said yes too. So, I have two awesome interviews coming your way and I can promise you that you will learn things about both authors that you did not know before. (Sure, some of the things you probably don't care to know, but still.)

No clever way to end this, so...

THE END

(Yeah, you're right. That was sort of clever.)