Progress on Novel Number Three

The Rebuilding of Freya Michaels

I missed the November 30, 2025, deadline to send the final draft of Freya’s story to one of my wonderful Beta Readers before my trip to Australia. There were too many loose ends to tie up, and despite taking my Mac with me, our whirlwind trip didn’t allow any time for serious writing.

One big reason for the delay was an unexpected personality shift of one of my supporting characters. They were coming across as too squeaky clean, so I decided to deepen and darken them a little, which meant going back through the manuscript to tweak scenes and reactions.

Letting a manuscript rest is almost always a good thing. Coming back with fresh eyes, I’ve been working on the story most days: filling plot holes, strengthening arcs, and smoothing out clunky transitions. However, the final third of Freya’s story still needs tightening before I send the MS to my fantastic team of beta readers.

Then, I’ll do one last pass—read it aloud and read it on different devices (laptop, iPad, and iPhone)—to catch anything I’ve missed and make sure I’m genuinely happy with it.

Something that has given me heart happened while I was down under. I was thrilled to discover that The Rebuilding of Freya Michaels made the 2025 Flash 500 First Chapter and Synopsis longlist. Since submitting, I’ve worked hard to sharpen that opening and build towards a stronger, more satisfying ending to the all-important first chapter.