Sharing my writing makes it real

This morning at breakfast, I was unreasonably pleased to see a thin stack of stapled paper across the table from me. The top sheet was titled "Vaetra Untrained, Part 1." My wife's thin scribbles decorated the margin down the page with her reactions and comments. You see, my wife is my "alpha" reader. Not even my beta readers get to see my work until after she has gone over it.

My flush of pleasure came from the fact that seeing my wife's notes on printed copy meant Vaetra Untrained was finall...