And...it's done! [Edited]

Ten minutes ago, I turned in revisions for MY SOUL TO STEAL. While I was working on the manuscript, the changes/tightening didn't feel like that big a deal. But in retrospect, looking back over everything I did and what those changes meant for the story, I think this may have been the biggest (or at least, the most profound) set of revisions I've done for any novel yet, except for Prey. (Those of you who've been reading my blog for a while will know that Prey was restructured with a completely new main plot during the revisions process).

The problem as I see it was this: the new character, Sabine, took over the novel. I have to admit, I love her. [Edit: I love Kaylee too, of course. No new character would make me love Kaylee any less, and since we see everything from Kaylee's perspective, the series obviously wouldn't work--or be the series it is now--without her.] She's Kaylee's perfect foil. I don't want to say too much about her until people have had a chance to read My Soul To Keep (which Amazon tells me is already shipping), but I will say that the plot (and just about everything else) took a back seat to Sabine before these revisions.

Sabine's still a force to be reckoned with. Kaylee doesn't know what to do with her, and ultimately, no one else's advice can help her with that. She's going to have to handle Sabine on her own. And she does it beautifully. But thanks to my editor's wonderful advice and thought-provoking questions, I was able to bring the plot forward and to really dig deeply into the characters themselves.

Kaylee has changed, in large part due to what happened in MSTKeep. And she's not the only one. But I think she's better for it, even if that means that the pieces of her life don't fit so neatly around her any more. Not as neatly as they used to, anyway.

I think the thing I'm most pleased with about these revisions is one particular moment near the end, during a very important, plot-driving argument (more of a showdown) between Kaylee and Sabine. In the original, Kaylee got mad and did something I needed her to do, to propel the plot. But my editor pointed out in her notes that Kaylee's action in that spot was out of character for her.

And she was right. So my challenge was to get her back into character without losing that plot propulsion. And that was very difficult. But in the end, I did it, by digging deeper into Kaylee's character and letting her learn from experience. And by taking some advice Ally Carter gave to a room full of people last July, and probably didn't even know I was paying attention to. ;-)

The result is that Kaylee's actions are now just as meaningful as they were before, but now they fit her better, and they're smarter. And possibly even more effective.

So, I'm pleased.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a new My Soul To Keep themed wallpaper to show off and a new contest to announce. That's my goal, anyway, as I work on line/copy edits for ALPHA.

Also, I've heard that MSTKeep is now shipping from several places, but if you happen to find it on an actual shelf, I'd love to have a picture...!