The past 30 days have been especially busy, a combination of a sprint and a marathon.

Cape Breton University Press has a slot on its Fall 2015 launch schedule set aside for my third Thomas Pichon Novel, tentatively called “Crossings.” Wanting to meet that timeline I sent off the completed manuscript in late February or early March, to see what Mike Hunter and CBUP thought of the story this third time out. I knew there would need to be adjustments because that is how books unfold. In late March I received the first feedback from my fiction editor, Kate Kennedy. I have the greatest respect for Kate’s opinions so when she thinks the story should have less of this and more of that, I take that seriously.

And so I began to go through the story from start to finish, addressing the observations and suggestions Kate put forth. As I said at the start, it was a month-long marathon, but because of the timeline I am aiming to respect, I had to maintain a pace more like a sprint. Every day started the same way, with me at a keyboard, and there I’d be again several times through each day.

Yesterday, a greatly revised — and much improved I think, thanks to Kate’s feedback — went back Mike and Kate. “Crossings” is still on track. If all goes well, there should be a third cover in a few months to join the two below.