I feel like my revisions have been an exercise in two steps forward and one step back. Especially in the area of word count. My goal was to shave about 35,000 words off this manuscript to get it down to a more realistic publishable length.

I've also realized that I needed a few chapters inserted to improve the pacing. Some I've known were needed for a long time and some became apparent during the re-read. The good news is I'm really pleased with my new chapters/sections. The bad news is they're eating away at my word cut progress!

I’ve been living in Ecuador for over a year now. Every once in a while, I think about adding a regular feature to this blog about my observations of living overseas. I haven’t mostly because I don’t want to offend any of my in-laws by remarking on something strange from an American’s point of view that might be just fine from theirs. Keep in mind that this isn’t the first time I’ve lived in another country. I spent six months living in Northern Italy after high school and my junior year abroad in Finland. Add that to all of the other travel I’ve done and the long visits to visit my wife’s family down here, and I consider myself very well traveled.

Well, today, I saw something even my wife has never seen before, so I figured I’d share.