I’m happy to say that I met my self-imposed target of completing the first full read-through of The Truths We Live by this weekend with ease. I actually completed the read-through on Thursday evening.
That means that I now have a Word manuscript that’s about as clean as I think I can make it on my own, complete with fake tweets & text messages as needed. The next step is to seek some beta-readers to give me their opinion of it so I can work out if I need to make any changes to the structure of the story.
That cover above, by the way, that’s not the real cover. It’s a place-holder that I designed a few years ago and I’ve got what I think is a better one for the actual release. It’s the same basic image, but with a different font that matches the redesigned covers of other books from this year and last year. I’ve also got a redesigned cover for The Lies We Lead which I’ll release at the same time.
This was the first time I’ve read the book all the way through as a whole and I have to say I’m quite pleased with it. It’s what I’d describe as a “feel good” read. There’s no big, overriding antagonist, but that’s not to say the book without tension or drama.
There are plenty of sex scenes in this book—given its subject matter you’d be surprised if there wasn’t—but while some are ‘hot’, some are quite fun and some are very tender and sensual.
It does, however, feel a bit like the ‘middle book’ of a trilogy, which some elements being for conflict and resolution in the final book.
And this series really does need a final book—if for no other reason than I need to give Mel the happy ending that she deserves. Mel is great in this book. She’s cheeky and sexy and yet there’s a sadness there that is only hinted at because she’s not the POV character.
I have to be honest though, I think I might be a little bit in love with Mel and I think I’d like, at some point, to tell her story in the few years between Kissed by a Rose and The Lies We Lead. How did she become Melanie Moore, Mattress Actress?
But that’s for the future. my next step is to find those beta-readers. I’ve already got an old friend who’s offered to have a read for me, and I’d be more than happy to hear from anyone else who wants to have a read of this second-draft text and tell me what they think.
And, assuming all that goes well, I will need to set a date. I’d love to release this for Easter, but that may be ambitious, we’ll see.
