This one feels like déjà vu—at least to me.
​In 2024 around this time, I had just returned from the LitUp retreat in Nashville. My children were in summer camp, and I was ferociously editing with my mentor, Crystal Smith Paul.
​In 2025 around this time, I’ve just come back from a lovely short family vacation in Savannah, GA. My children are in summer camp, and I’m once again ferociously editing—this time with my agent and editor, Barbara Poelle and Sydnie Thornton.
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​See what I mean about déjà vu? Laughs.
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To be fair, I’m still working on the same book (it’s the same in all the ways that matter to the story I need to tell)—but it’s also sharper and better than I ever dreamed it could be. Man, I do love editing. Though let’s be honest, sometimes editing really 'be trying me'.
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Still, that’s what encourages me: despite what feels like a thousand rounds of edits (and no, my mind is not tricking me—it really is a thousand), I don’t regret a single one. Not even close. It feels like purifying gold—rock steeped in fire, over and over, until the golden glow is revealed. That’s what it’s felt like, watching this story come alive in ways I never expected.
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The phrase running through my mind lately is: Hire a passionate professional. Sydnie, my editor, is a magic maker. She’s asked me seemingly benign questions—Hey, what about this? Have you thought of that? What if you got rid of this character? What if you made more of that one? And while I haven’t always immediately welcomed her suggestions (sometimes I need a very long breath—more like a few days—to get past the emotional “stop messing with my baby” phase), I always come around to: Oh wow, you’re a genius. I never thought of that.
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So yes, I’m deeply grateful for the team I work with. I truly believe we’re closer than ever to the pure gold needed to go on submission—hopefully soon, this year.
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I don’t have much more to say because I need to get back to editing before school reopens in mid-August.
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Oh, and by the way—did I mention I’m currently working on reducing my word count?
This manuscript started at a VERY bloated, I-don’t-outline-my-stories 240,000 words.
Then it dropped to a reasonable I-love-my-writing-club-so-much 120,000 words.
Then Crystal said, “Ok, I'm gonna stop reading so you can trim it down,” and I landed at 111,000 words. I was pretty proud of myself.
Then I told Barbara, “Look! I doubled the historical timeline like you suggested, AND the word count barely changed—113,000 words!”
And now? Now it has to be 90,000 words.
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Yes. That’s exactly how I felt when I received an email saying, “What you've done with the story is great, but we need to get the word count down.”
Sighs. Young Adult genre word count conventions—the business (and still creative) side of writing.
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So when I say that the day I finish editing we’re throwing the biggest party in South Florida and you are invited… you understand, right? Lol.
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I was planning to do my usual Reading Corner feature, but between needing to dive back into edits and not wanting to delay this update any longer, I’ll be skipping it this time.

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Thanks for hanging with me. Until next time—
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Ntebogeng
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