“Hidden Desires” was one of my first published novels. I had written a short eBook before this, called “The Parson’s Rescue”, but this was my attempt at creating a full length story. I slaved over it for a few months, worrying over the plot, the phrasing, the correct vernacular, etc. Upon finishing the first draft, I ferociously edited, replacing words that weren’t in use in the time period of my story, correcting spelling and punctuation, and everything else I thought necessary.

I designed the cover myself, and still think I did a pretty good job. The image conveyed the sense of forbidden love, which agreed with my tale of Mary Bennet falling in love with a person of ill repute.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, the story was not all that well written, as a lot of the reviews pointed out in excruciating detail. The complaints ranged from poor plot to lack of romance between Elizabeth and Darcy, but the biggest complaints referred to the stilted and wooden dialogue. It seemed I had completely failed to contrive a believable conversation between any of my characters.

The unflattering opinions hurt, but they were right. From that point on, I paid more attention to not only what people said, but how they carried on their discussions. My brother referred me to a wonderful author who graciously agreed to read and critique my work. She introduced me to Kay Springsteen, who I now use to edit my books.

I determined to improve every facet of my writing, which I have tried to do with each subsequent release. With each new publication, I read the reviews and incorporate valid criticism into my writing. The advice from readers is not always helpful, but there is enough to identify issues with each release and work to improve the next.

According to the reports I receive on each new novel before its release, I have grown as a writer. I’m far from perfect, but as long as I’m progressing and not regressing, I’m content.

To that end, I decided to rewrite “Hidden Desires” from front to back. The basic plot is unchanged, but the dialogue, descriptions, cohesion, and a lot of other details are getting an inspection.

When I made the decision to revisit the story, I foolishly thought I could breeze through it in a couple of weeks and release it in November. The further I get into the manuscript, the more I recognize that the story has bigger problems than I suspected.

My intent is to publish the new improved version before the end of the year. It will be a complete rewrite, as well as sporting an entirely new cover.

I want to thank everyone who takes the time to write and post a review of my work. Your suggestions are appreciated and many of them lead to adjustments in my writing style. Thank you and keep them coming.