Every time I think I’ve finished my editing and revising of Three Empty Frames, I find more mistakes! The first chapter has undergone a major revision and other sections have been trimmed and reduced. Anytime you perform literary surgery like that, there is bound to be bleeding.

For a writer/author hoping to catch the attention of readers and literary agents, the importance of the opening chapter and especially the first few lines, cannot be stressed enough. Those lines need to introduce character and conflict to the extent that a reader is hooked and they need to find out what happens next. They also should set the time and the place of the story, at least in general terms –for example, modern America, in the early spring for Three Empty Frames. The specifics can be added in later in the narrative.

Even though it appears that querying for this book in the series is off the table, thanks to its self-published status, I am proceeding on the assumption that any agent that takes a look at the manuscript I do query with (still to be determined), the other books will come to their attention and thusly need to be the very best they can be. All the first chapters are getting major revisions while I wait on my editor to finish up the fifth book of the series –the one I will most likely pitch to an agent.

I’m having a final read through of Three Empty Frames before posting the first chapter for you to read. This is the story that introduces you to Bucks County and the cast of characters that inhabit my series. My plan is finish within the month of September.