I'm glad I decided to do a rewrite "Takeover" all the way through. I'm finding things that are wrong--and I shouldn't expect Lara to catch all of them. This is the right thing to do. There is no substitute for doing the work--and by work, I mean rewriting.

It's a much more readable story now--I believe I establish the main characters in those first 11 chapters or so.

The problems that remain--if they are problems--are inherent in the form and premise. You know, the basic story.

The more I get into the book, the more I like it.

That's the problem with rewriting. In order for a rewrite to do any good, there has to be time between the first draft and the rewrite.

Because so much time has passed, it's extremely difficult to get into the swing of things. What usually happens is that I go to do a specific thing--and in the course of doing it, I slowly come around to understanding the story again.

Anyway, I like the book again, and that's a good feeling.