Thanks mom.

Picture courtesy of Nelly Smith

I opened my e-mail today and my mom has taken a picture of my first draft. As you can see she also placed it in a binder for easy reading. Don't worry, she didn't destroy it; it's only her copy. She's one of my beta readers.
Hey, I know what you're thinkin: Why on earth would you have your own mother read this? Of course she'll love it. You know how many authors have their mother read their work. Like all of them. I don't actually have proof of that. She has a great eye for detail and loves a good story. If it's not a good story she'll tell me. No, she'll probably love it anyway.
Along with my mom, I have other beta readers in mind. My sister, my aunt, my mom's friend... Seriously is your whole family gonna read it? I'm also looking outside of my immediate family. There are beta reading groups and critique groups I'm considering. The more the merrier. I need people who like paranormal romance and people who don't. People who don't read that stuff are excellent at spotting things like the pace of the story, boring dialogue, character dynamics and plot assessment. People who like that genre can tell me how they feel about my characters, it they "do it" for them. We're talking about Romance remember?

Check out this blog on the definition of paranormal romance!