Couple of things happened today – I finished The Dreamer’s Thread, which is an amazing podcast novel by Starla Huchton and is now available on Smashwords as an ebook! The podcast (available on Podiobooks.com) is amazing – it’s got a full cast, and really came alive. I can’t wait for her next project.

I also caught up on ISBW, and have Scott Sigler’s Nocturnal up next for my podcast novel listening pleasure. Can’t wait.

I did a bit on Rites today, but I need to figure out what to do next – I’ve deviated a bit from my outline, and so I need to rework some of it. It’s not a bad thing, but I need to know what to do next, and that needs to marinate a bit.

So I was just kind of musing on the ride home – and got an idea that could salvage an older novella (Dante, for those who remember it) and more on Life Thief, which I’m going to work on in a bit. And I realized, especially since the funeral was very much in my thoughts from last night, that I can’t be afraid of changing and doing things anymore.

Mur Lafferty did a wonderful ISBW on being afraid of succeeding, and I’m coming to terms with the fact that I’m good at sabotaging myself. Very good. So I’m working on finishing things (can’t send them out to be rejected or, even worse, accepted! if they aren’t finished!) and making myself actually submit stuff.

To that end, I’ve got a novel that I’d like to have beta-read, preferably by folks that haven’t read any of it before (although I won’t turn away folks who have). I’m looking for a harsh beta – there’s something broken in this novel, and I can’t figure out what yet. It’s urban fantasy – it was supposed to be paranormal romance, but it’s really not. This is Belladonna Dreams – a story I really believe in, but can’t seem to sell.

Anyone interested? I’m offering beta for beta – and the time frame is pretty flexible – I’d like to have it back by September, because I want to fix it for my NaNo project. So comment below or shoot me an email at val at vg-ford dot com if you would like to beta. I’m looking for mostly authors, but readers would be appreciated too. Again, I’ll definitely return the favor.

Now, on to Life Thief. This story just keeps getting weirder – I like it. A lot.