That new draft smell (plus an excerpt)

Mmm, it’s sogood! I finished the first draft of a yet-untitled way-too-long short for Dreamspinner’s “Heartwarming” holiday collection call, and I adore it. Charlie Porter and Hugh Campbell are my new boyfriends. Ugh, they’re stupidly cute. I love love love the friends-to-lovers trope, and the bed-sharing cliche, and the everyone-knows-but-you plot form. :D

I’ve sent the draft to my favorite beta readers, editors, and Scots, to help me clean it up for submission. I know I’m going to have to cu...