Finished entering the edits on "Deadfall Ridge." This is by far the most polished writing I've ever done.

It's a solid book, fully vetted.

But...

It just seemed to be missing an extra spark. Up to now, I've always been able to put in a bit of the fantastical in my books. Even my previous two thrillers, which didn't have any supernatural elements, did have some big ideas.

I tried to write "Deadfall Ridge" in a much more realistic vein. It works, but it seems to me that it needs just a little more.

My friend Jim Cornelius mentioned that the "outdoor scenes work fine, if a little Hollywood. Nothing wrong with that."

Well, I took his words to heart and decided to go all in. I wrote three "crazy-ex wife" chapters that are almost all Hollywoody action, and two "bad guy" chapters that are also kind of melodramatic.

 The other problem was, I sort of buried the lede.

The McGuffin was always about a certain New York real estate tycoon who runs for high office and is in debt to the Russians. The box that Hart Davis has is proof of those dirty dealings. So I've decided to bring that a little more forward, from the first chapter.

Go big or go home, I figure.

I'll be done in the next couple of days. I need a corker of a synopsis and that is one of the hardest things to do of all.

And I'm not sure my editor will respond to my email. He's been non-responsive to me for a couple of months, which he's done before, and well...I guess I'll just have to wait for him to come around. I've come to realize, it's not me. It's how busy he is.

But if I want a major publisher, I just have to patient.