Chasing angels

Revelation 4:7  "And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast was like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle." The Four Beasts in this vision of heaven are used by tradition in Christian iconography to represent the Four Gospel Writers, but since there is NO logical or scriptural authority for this, I've used them for something else altogether...

Writing-wise, I'm chasing down the last chapters of Cover Him With Darkness, and deep in some seriously violent conflict. There's blood everywhere, I tell you! And my secondary hero, having started out as the obvious Nice Guy, has turned into someone that I'm finding quite frightening.

Cleis, having asked me to write the novel on the strength of the short story, are taking a relatively hands-on approach to the writing process, which is fair enough. In April I sent them the first 20K, and my editor got back to me via a Skype conference with some feedback.

If you have ever written anything for public consumption, you will appreciate that I was nearly vomiting with anxiety at this point. My editor's suggestions in fact went as follows:

1. "Can we have a prologue showcasing incident X, so that readers know what they are getting themselves into?" (Answer (after some thought) - Yes, I've figured out how to fit that into the book. Good call. Hellooooo, Four Beasts.)
2. "Can you change the plot a bit to delay the two main characters having sex for the first time, and up the tension?" (Answer - Yes, yes, thank you. An erotic short story does not have the same structure as a novel. Crank up the frustration, boys!)
3. "It's very fast-paced. Are you sure you can keep this up for three books?" (Answer - Well, I've kept it up all the way for one book. I'm pretty confident...)

See? No vomiting required.
I do like an editor who knows how to bring out the best in my work!

Let's see what she thinks of the next 20,000 words. Eeek!  :-)