Reading my own book

In order to make sure that I'm not giving either Mischa or Tom a split personality, I'm actually reading A Russian Bear today before I begin editing the sequel. And it's really weird.

First of all, there's the familiarity; I've spent so much time on this story that I almost know it by heart. And then again; it's also weirdly unfamiliar because I haven't seen it for so long. That makes for a strange combination.

Then there's the remorse. All of the "why didn't I change that" and "why's he using that word so soon" and "God, I need to clean that up in the next edition". I am grateful that I've learned a lot since writing ARB, but it's still kind of frustrating to witness your own flaws like that.

But still, I like those guys, and I need to make them as good as possible, so I'll keep reading. Even though it makes me grind me teeth now and then...