When I first started working with an alpha reader, I was a bit nervous, because he read every chapter as it was written (and still does), and it meant he would see the rough edges and the bits and pieces of incom­pe­tence that is raw first draft. I was afraid that, because he loved these books and got them, he would become disil­lu­sioned because I was not infal­lible or genius or what­ever. I was just me. This did not happen. He approached process as an edifice that had already allowed me to produce novels that he loved, and he was aware that he did not know what that process, ulti­mately, was — but he absolutely trusted it. He was, however, still surprised. I remember this clearly: he was … Continue reading →