I turned the manuscript in to my agent two weeks ago, and while I haven't heard back from him yet, the feedback from my reader-reviewers continues to pour in.
This is a roundup of some of the more glowing comments. These folks are friends, but even though these blurbs are all positive, I did receive a decent helping of constructive criticism and a smattering of negative responses. That the words collected here are positive and that they are from friends does not mean I only gave the manuscript to "yes-men." More than a few of them have been brutally honest. But let's just pretend this is the back cover of the book.
(I have left remarks made through private correspondence anonymous pending either permission to attribute or the commenter's outing of themselves.)
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"[Y]ou have written a compelling story with complex and interesting characters. I’m hooked."
-- Jen

"It is a beautiful piece of work, wonderfully conceived, and a delight to read. I really had not meant to finish it until Sunday, but I could not put it down. That doesn't happen to me every day, so thank you for letting me have the chance to read it early!"
-- via e-mail

"I keep thinking of a blurb for the back cover. If you need one, how about this: 'A damn good novel! Thoughtful, exciting, real characters with interesting stories of their own. Buy this one. It's better than half the books on this shelf.'"
-- prestigious literary blogger who prefers to remain unnamed

"Wanted you to know that I have my son reading BDM. He is almost to part
three, and cannot say enough good things about it . . . He's almost done, in three days in between schoolwork, so you have made a great impression on one 15 year old. Very cool, and thanks for putting something that might inspire my son into his hands. Really."
-- via e-mail

"This was some good stuff. I read all of part two in one night. I was sitting at my computer screen, with all the lights off. The light from the monitor was causing my eyes to dry out because (I think) I had pretty much stopped blinking. As a result, I cut the brightness on the monitor down and put on a pair of sunglasses and read the rest of it . . . All in all: Great story. I've already started recommending it to my friends (without explaining the storyline.) I've just said, "When this book becomes available on the shelves, I'm going to tell you because you NEED to buy it and READ it. I'm very impressed, Jared. I don't read much fiction at all - probably 95% or more of what I read is nonfiction - but I'll read anything you publish.
-- via e-mail

"Jared has written one incredible novel. The question is what happens next? The blurb paragraph that appears on Amazon’s front page is going to be a dog to write. It’s not “incidentally� Christian. It’s in your face, and beautiful. But, it’s not “about� being Christian either. It’s about being human.
I vote that it needs a buzz-war as soon as we know where it is going to be published."
-- Kevin, at the Black Dog Man Online Forum*
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* Forum set up by one of the readers (not me!) for others to discuss the book. It's password protected. If you know me, shoot me an e-mail and I'll give you the password.