Alessandra Ranelli

it was confusing because it felt historical.

And that wasn't cheeky and different.

It was actually just unclear to the reader.

So that was one change I made was I signpost that in the beginning that Sterling crosses off the date on a calendar that sits between a rotary phone and a typewriter, a Ryan Middle typewriter.

And yeah, what happened was I sent it off to the editor and then

A week and a half later, I had a breakthrough and realized what I was doing wrong.

And I restructured the chapters.

By the time I got her notes back, I had a completely different structure.

And I had to look at her feedback fundamentally.

So that's my advice when taking feedback is don't focus on the small picture.

Focus on the big picture.

But the two points she made were this feels historical.

Or three points were, this feels historical.

I want more.

And I put back a lot that I had cut out based on other readers who had looked at things or being told it was too slow.

I had pretty much everything there in my drafts.

And I threw it back in.

And she said, why is Sterling, my main character, judging this couple for having an affair?

And it's because I am judging them.

So I am monogamous and I think you should ideally not cheat on your partner.