#clmarks

That's to say that the third draft of my novel The Bad Ones is complete. Just last night I did my last read-through (hastily—impatiently—I might add) and handed it over to my awesome group of beta readers. I've already gotten some constructive feedback and am looking forward to the fully monty. When I finished the first draft, the word count came in at just a bit more than 86k words. After the third draft, it's down to a mere 67k. At first, the dramatic decrease was heartbreaking, but I'm confident the changes have made it a stronger story. I know the journey isn't over and I'll be doing an overhaul/rewrite/mental breakdown once all of the feedback is in, but seeing this particular hurdle behind me is immensely gratifying. It also means I can be lazy now. For a time... (What? Don't judge.) Big <3 to all of my beta readers and all of the people who've encouraged me on this journey thus far. Your support is invaluable.