By awhile, I mean since February. I’d like to say that I’ve finished all the writing and have moved onto the next step, but that isn’t the case.

I’m still working on editing my SF manuscript – I have to delete around 40-50K worth of words, which has been a little bit of a nightmare. Not too horrible, but still hard. I’ve been working with McKenna and Connor (my MCs) for a long time, about eight years.

Destiny follows McKenna and Conner and their journey from Earth to a new planet:

“But how do you survive on a ship with nothing but darkness around you?”

 A Black Hole, a dying planet and an intergalactic ship.

Alone, smart and too stubborn, McKenna is faced with an ultimatum – board the intergalactic ship Destiny or remain on the dying Earth.

With only one real option she boards Destiny.

Restless, loyal and also too stubborn, Connor boards Destiny with the anticipation of going on a grand adventure.

The two of them pair up to overcome their pasts and those who want to control the future of the human race.

Yes, there have been times when I’ve just wanted to blow them all out into space and let them tumble through its vastness for eternity. This story has changed so much over the years, and when I started writing it, I didn’t set very many guidelines for myself. I just wanted to write this story that was in my head. Fast forward many years later, and those lack of guidelines are kicking me in the ass. I now have a manuscript that is over 140K long – too long, and now I have to narrow it down.

I’ve talked about my writing, and how I come up with names, and other bits of information, but I’ve always been hesitant to share the story, but today that changes. Here’s a brief look at the first two pages of Chapter One in its preliminary editing chaos.

It’s not pretty, and it’s not complete. Track changes is a wonderful tool that is allowing me to go through and “delete/mark” everything I think needs extra attention or is useless to the story. Sharing this – even though it’s only the first two pages – it’s terrifying for so many reasons. First, it’s not polished, it’s so rough. Second, only a handful of people have ever read the story in full, and third, just sharing McKenna, even though it’s a little glimpse, feels so personal. I’m taking a giant leap sharing this on my blog – just looking at this before I even schedule it to go up tomorrow has my heart rate skyrocketing.

I hope you like this little snippet of this monster of a manuscript, and hopefully one day it will grace shelves everywhere. I can dream right?

Next Writing Update, I’ll talk more about the Fantasy WIP I’m working on.