I'm seeing the great value of multiple sources of feedback. My beta exchange person is baffled by some stuff I thought I inferred pretty strongly. I need to see if other readers make the connections or not. I don't want to insult the reader by explicitly pointing out stuff, but I don't want to lose them either.

It may just be a problem with reading in parts though.

Drabble: bite

I make brownies from scratch for the company potlucks. They are quick and easy and inexpensive, one of the first recipes I learned when I was a child, and still a favorite.

It is vital each batch be tested. Don't you agree?

They are still warm from the oven, only just now cool enough to eat. Lift one carefully, admire the texture. Savor the heady aroma of cocoa, the crunch of teeth through pecans, the soft collapse of butter and sugar melting on the tongue.

Don't be greedy. Take only one. Make it last, one small bite at a time.

Oh man, now I want cookies! I deserve cookies. I've been sorting, donating, delegating, culling, and packing for frelling weeks. Those cookies sound amazing, dcp. I can almost smell and taste 'em!

I'm through chapter 31, just a bit of finalizing to do. However, I'm debating if I should have a little chapter from the Rainier POV between 29 and 30. It's just a bit of reflection on how events have not been kind to him and some self-doubt. Now that I say what's in it, I'm less inclined to add it, hmmm.... Maybe I'll skip it and see if it seems needed later.

Hopefully, 31 will go down tonight and I can get to 32 and 33 which gets me to another big plot event.

As I have passed the halfway point in terms of my desired word count, I now am getting nervous about running over in getting to the end. There is at least one major plot cut I'm going to make, but I'm not sure it will be enough. I think I'll have to look at the beginning chapters (1 - 12) to see if I can compress the plot there too. Balancing detail, plot, and word count is going to be tough.

Personally, although I'm not a very successful writer, the few times I became worried about my wc I rushed important points and etc. I would write what I needed and pare later. YMMV.

Well, my rough draft was 180k and I'm trying to hit 120k. I've done a lot of cutting in this revision so far, but I think I'll still come up long.

Just popping in to say, GO TEAM GUD!! Way to write, man! Kudos to you for sticking to it.

Thanks!

I'm done with 31 (for now) and onward to 32 where maybe I'll use a couple of snatches of dialogue from my rough draft. Maybe.