Michelle's corner

I'm hearing back from some of the readers, and also some of the alpha readers.

Came home tonight to a message on Skype from someone in Belgium who read Check Mate - "Great book, just finished it! The last 5 chapters were really fun to read, excitement everywhere :)"

Also talked this afternoon with one of the alpha readers who was a bit behind. She caught up with SH book 3 (Cradle) and Check Mate - she reads SH 4 (Grave) alpha this weekend. She loved the humour in Check Mate. It's her favourite so far.

One of the alpha readers who didn't take to Check Mate but was biting at my ankles for SH 4 came back as well ... "2 words.....finished & brilliant!!!!! I didnt spot anything else hun x"

I'll hear back from three more alphas on Monday. A fourth has been ill this week so she's been out of touch. I just want to cry, and I'm actually an hour past my bed time anyway, so I'm going to crash before I flake out at the keys.

How do I define the difference between alpha and beta readers? Alpha is where I'm prepared to cut and create whole chapters; (the first alpha feedback a few days ago means I'm looking at inserting one more chapter to expand on something they felt they wanted to experience more of) and also rip things up if the pacing is wrong. Beta is when I consider the work finished and just ready to do minor tweaks. That's just my own definitions.