Your new mission, should you choose to accept it…

Thank you, Dear Livejournal Friends, for the feedback on my short story. You guys are sharp-eyed and insightful, and I will look like a much better writer as a result.

Speaking of which, I’m currently in the throes of editing This Old Haunt (aka my 2007 NaNoWriMo winner), attempting to get it ready for submission by the end of this month. So far I’m 10 chapters into the second draft and itching to post it here for your approval, but I don’t want to engender a sense of obligation among my regular readers, and so I ask: do you want to read it?

If enough of you guys (“You Guys” being those who are on my friends list and can read locked entries; if you are reading this and are not currently “You Guys” and would like to be, just add me, and I’ll add you back, and then you can read everything. Pie and cake. Mmm, pie. Anyway…) express interest, I’ll start posting installments (locked, of course) and gathering feedback to incorporate into my third and final draft. Saying yes does not obligate you to comment and leave feedback on the story; it’s just nice, and helpful, when you do, even if it’s just to say that you’re present and still reading once in a while.

To help you with your decision, here’s the teaser:

Ron Wilson wakes up dead and discovers she’s in for the fight of her life. A paranormal investigator in life, Ron was setting up for a ghost hunt in the spookiest house in town when she found herself the one being hunted. Now she’s trapped in the house along with a bevy of other ghosts — including an axe-murderess and the family she killed, an old man who just wants to go be with his wife, and a handsome handyman whose past seems more haunted and mysterious than the house they’re imprisoned in — all of them victims of a malevolent, murderous spirit. Refusing to accept this as her afterlife, Ron rallies the other ghosts to gang up on their captor and fight for their freedom. But how does a ghost fight a monster who can devour souls–especially when that monster has red pigtails and freckles and is cute as a button?

It just occurred to me that this post might come across as me being coy and fishing for praise, which is not my intention at all. Understanding that every single one of you have busy, hectic lives and their own projects to focus on, and that finding time to beta-read an entire novel is a challenge for most, and an impossibility for some, I just want to make sure there is sufficient interest before I put it out there. If not, then it will keep me from wasting my time as well as yours.

So: wanna read it?