Have actually survived the meeting with the betas. Here's a shout-out to Michelle and Lara for taking time out of NaNoWriMo and all the other crazy stuff going on to give me the feedback I sorely needed on Suds.

And when two betas totally agree on things, it usually means that they could be right. Crap. ;)

Good news: they like my voice and most of the characters. Bad news: the puppy needs major surgery and the vet has limited time to make it happen. In other words, a rewrite is in order, and it's gotta be done rather quickly so that I can meet the deadline for RWA's Golden Heart competition. All I can do is try my best at this point, and I'm cool with that.

Once that version gets out the door, it'll be time to take on the major honkin' rewrite where a few characters disappear and things change around quite a bit.

The hero with the comb-over may have to go.