Embarrassing Grammar

While Amends is being read through by an editor, I've pulled out an old novel that I wrote over a decade ago. It's a romantic novel that takes place in Scotland under the reign of Queen Anne and involves a British Duke and a headstrong Scottish woman. It's meant to be an easy read with a heartwarming storyline.

I had no idea how much my writing has improved in the years since I wrote this rough draft. The grammar is embarrassing; and I'm the only one reading it. I'm about a third of the way through it and I almost can't take the mixing on tenses, most of the book is written in past tense, or the jumping from character perspective to character perspective. Oh, and the internal monologues are repetitive and overly focused on, "I love her but I can't tell her."

I guess the best way to see how much I've grown as a writer is to look at something from so long ago.

The book itself has great bones. I still love the story, but it's going to take a lot of work to get it to the place that I'd feel good about putting it out there on the shelf. And then? What would my readers think? There are no vampires, no witches, and nothing supernatural. Just two people trying very hard not to fall in love. Would you read it?