So it's time to send out "Starconvoy EH-76" to an editor for a good substantive edit.
The story is done, but as any good writer will tell you that's really only a fraction of what needs to happen to turn a good story into a great book. Substantive editing is tough work, and while I've done a few passes on the story (obviously) to clean it up a bit and tighten it as much as I can... it's time to get better, wiser eyeballs onto it and see what we can do.
Editors are expensive (I mean, in an absolute sense... relative to what a good editor can do for your work, they're cheap as heck!), but I've saved up enough that I should be able to afford it without too much of a hit in my lifestyle for a few weeks.
Anyway! I've sent out some polite inquiries to some Canadian editors, and we'll see what happens! With any luck, by the end of September to mid-October, they should have their feedback back and I should be ready to polish this one off to agents and publishers!
Glee!