rowyn

I have three finalists! You should be able to click to enlarge any of 'em. They're shown in the poll at the thumbnail size used on Amazon.

[Poll #2013914]

This poll is only about the typeface/text style used for the title & author. Please disregard the slight differences in the background (the final text is all going to be slapped on the same background.)

Thanks, everyone!

"But these are vital aspects of marriage. If one cannot discuss them, what's the use in meeting at all? This is like trying to decide what you'll have for dinner without mentioning food. "

Wisteria Vasilver does wish to marry. Truly. She just doesn't understand why society has to make arranging a match so unnecessarily difficult.

Nikola Striker, Lord of Fireholt, expects he'll wed ... someday. But not now, and never to a rich icicle-woman like Miss Vasilver. No matter how much his parents might want the match, or his house might need her dowry. Besides, he has his own problems -- most of them people who need his help as a mind-healer.

Lord Justin Comfrey, Viscount of Comfrey, would be more than happy to help Striker with his financial troubles, and not just to ensure that Miss Vasilver's dowry doesn't tempt Striker into marriage. If only he could find some way to make his proud, stubborn friend accept the money!

There must be some way they can come to A Rational Arrangement.

*

So I am ... done? Editing A Rational Arrangement. I even wrote a blurb!

I have the "I finished" feeling all over again, including the "crap, what do I do now?" sense.

There were changes that I wanted to make that I didn't do, most because I couldn't figure out how to work something in or because I ran out of energy to keep picking at it. Even now, I am thinking "I should go back and do that! IT'S NOT TOO LATE."

I am trying to resist. I have gotten to the point where I am sick of the book (this didn't happen until the last few weeks, to my utter amazement). Editing, as with painting, is not a task you finish. It is a task you abandon, because you cannot keep fiddling at the same thing forever. At some point, I have to say "Good enough. I will do better in the next book."

Good enough.

*

I'd like to have some people read the manuscript now, mostly for the following:

• Proofreading: I am sure there are grammar mistakes that I missed, not to mention editing artifacts that I created (this happens when one starts to rearrange a section during editing and fails to make ALL the necessary changes). Most of what I expect from readers at this stage is just this. If the characters/plot/etc. needs fixing, it's too late.


• Continuity errors: If you happen to notice that I changed a character's eye color halfway through the book, or if the setting for a scene mysteriously alters partway through, or inconsistencies of this sort, I'd like to know.


• Confusing text: If you find yourself confused about what's going on, or what this word the characters keep using means in the context of the story, or things of that nature, I want to know.

If you read it and have a suggestion or comment that doesn't fall into the above categories, that's fine too, but the above list is the kind of feedback I'm specifically looking for.

The book is in three parts on Google Drive. In order to read it, you'll need to have a Google login (if you don't have one, Google will be happy to give you one on request, but you'll have to get one and be willing to login. You can use a non-Gmail account to log into Google, but it's easiest if you have a Gmail account). I'll give all betareaders view-and-comment access, and you can leave comments with your observations. (You don't have to explain the necessary correction for a proofreading error -- you can just highlight the problem part and put a comment with an abbreviation for the error type, or just "err" by it.)

If you'd like to be a beta-reader, please leave a comment! If I don't already have your email/Google account login information, you can email it to my Gmail account, LadyRowyn, or message me through LJ.

I'd like to have comments on the manuscript back within the next month or so. If you want to be a beta-reader but don't think you'll be able to do it in that time frame, please leave a note with about how long you think it'd take you.

A Rational Arrangement is a polyamorous fantasy romance. It includes bisexual characters and a few sex scenes. It's about 215,000 words long; I'd guesstimate it would be 550 pages as a mass market paperback.