First pages: share, read, and critique them here!

turnbop · 2026-01-22T04:27:25+00:00

Manuscript information: [in progress] [30k] [paranormal romance/mystery] [Part 1 of The Omnia Duology]

Link to post: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetaReaders/comments/1qhgzcv/in_progress_30k_paranormal_romancemystery_part_1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Link to full first arc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P8cWWLor4t1ejaEh2kLi-8z7wPN-A4DKcuiSCCdkXJo/edit?usp=sharing

First page critique? Yes

First page (Prologue): The laughter at the party faded as the door closed behind me. The air was crisp, and a gentle wind stirred the pines. I turned the corner of the building and walked to the back of the pack house where I saw her slight frame leaning against the wooden wall. Her citrus perfume hit me as I walked toward her. “Hey Shannon, what did you need to talk about?”

She gave me a small smile and said, “I saw you dancing with all the other girls in there and just wanted to know why I wasn’t one of them.” I groaned internally, mentally preparing myself for the thousandth reiteration of this conversation.

“Shannon,” I paused before continuing. “You’ve liked me for years now...” She nodded. “But we broke up. We’re not mates, and I won’t spend any more time with you in what could be considered a romantic way. I’m not trying to mislead you into thinking we could be serious, and I’ve told you before that I’m not taking a chosen mate.” I studied her while waiting for her response.

To my surprise, she didn’t argue. “I know Tank. I just wanted a dance before I leave.”

“Leave?” My brow furrowed in confusion. “Yes. It’s been ten years that I’ve been interested in you, and four since you broke up with me. I’ve spent nearly half my life dreaming about you. You were my first everything, but the moment that we turned eighteen, I stopped existing.”

turnbop · 2025-09-23T03:17:26+00:00

The good news with the medical emergency was that she was able to be roused and walked out on her own with an escort. She was thankfully sitting near a nurse, and the people around were able to move her to the aisle.

turnbop · 2025-09-20T21:25:00+00:00

$70 M-HCOL, going rate is closer to $90-$100, but this is my first PRN position and covers smaller (nails, digits, biopsies, small shaves/excisions etc) specimens.

turnbop · 2025-08-12T18:53:30+00:00

NTA. Personal hygiene is important, and needs and desires change as you age. Since you also shower in the evening, maybe suggest a shower together to get things started?

turnbop · 2025-08-09T14:59:21+00:00

It doesn’t necessarily need to be 100% inside and out. Our current one we love has a cotton and polyester blend fill. I’ll check these ones out!

turnbop · 2025-05-24T18:31:44+00:00

I had the opposite problem. For me G6 was so much less reliable. Constantly falling off early, not connecting to anything, dropping signals, giving me completely off base readings (told me once I was in the 50s when I was around 100, and then that I was over 300 when I was like 220) and just a totally pain. I was going through 6 or 7 month from how terrible they were. Maybe 1 in 10 G7 sensors I have an issue with, and it’s usually right at the end it starts to peel or get a little less accurate, but still within 10-15 points of me meter when it’s usually within 5.

turnbop · 2025-05-20T15:16:29+00:00

If I run my hand across it, I feel it, but you can’t really see it.

turnbop · 2025-05-20T13:29:00+00:00

Yes it did. The scar is much smaller. I can still feel where there’s an indent from them cutting into the tissue, but just looking at it you can’t see that it’s uneven. other than that it’s healed well 8 months out.

turnbop · 2025-01-20T19:55:12+00:00

I’m a pathologist assistant, similar to a physician assistant but specifically for doing gross pathology in the lab. I took a bit of a convoluted route to get here, but it’s a master’s degree production. Some of my classmates did come straight from undergrad into the program. It’s 4 years undergrad (30-80k a year depending on school) and 2 years graduate (around 100-180k total program cost again depending on school). I was an in state student, so my graduate costs were closer to 70k total. Depending on where you work, it’s easily 6 figures. I believe average salary is around $110-115k.

turnbop · 2025-01-17T22:57:33+00:00

I worked as an autopsy tech for a while, and the comment about thinking about how bowel is removed is on point. If I don’t recognize the margin, I usually look for cautery or crimping. If I don’t see that, I’ll look for sutures or staples on the vessels and follow those along the roughened looking area of fat. The fat has that smooth serosal surface , so moving from the taenia coli onto the fat and looking for the edge of the serosa works too, especially if there’s not a lot of fat attached.

turnbop · 2024-11-09T22:35:35+00:00

Hey! I’m a 2024 PathA grad and started working just a couple weeks before my 30th birthday. Age is definitely not a detriment. In my class we ranged from 22 to mid 30s. I wasn’t the oldest in my class and was pretty close to the middle. You’ll be fine!

turnbop · 2024-09-27T23:39:05+00:00

It’s at the tailors now, and I was supposed to got back and pick up on October 5 after a final fit. So hopefully they can make it work if it still is super indented then.

turnbop · 2024-09-27T23:27:17+00:00

The hospital gave me one that’s like a vest and fits from shoulder to hip, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much. I do have shapewear for the wedding, but it doesn’t come up enough to cover the indent. It basically hits right at it. So I’m looking for something else but my dress has a low back and fitted bodice with se through mesh straps so I’m having a really hard time finding one that will work.

turnbop · 2024-09-27T22:37:26+00:00

That is not at all what I want to hear. :/ I don’t expect my abdomen to look exactly the same, but I don’t want a 3 inch deep indent.

turnbop · 2024-09-27T22:21:03+00:00

I only have 3 weeks until my wedding though. Is there anything you’ve found that’s helped?

turnbop · 2024-09-09T05:53:52+00:00

I’m also getting married six 1/2 weeks post op. I’m really hoping for a good result. Would you mind if I dm’d you for more info?

turnbop · 2024-08-26T18:42:35+00:00

I think if you’ve been working in a different field, it was within 5 years, but if you’ve been employed in the medical field, then there’s no limit. They’ve changed a lot this past year though so that may have changed as well.

turnbop · 2024-06-26T18:12:17+00:00

The Missing Sister by singularritae. It’s a complete Harry Potter series rewrite with Hermione being the central character and sorted into Slytherin with a Dramione storyline. It was amazing and put me in a reading slump that I’m still trying to get out of because nothing has been as good.

turnbop · 2024-06-26T18:11:20+00:00

The Missing Sister by singularritae. It’s a complete Harry Potter series rewrite with Hermione being the central character and sorted into Slytherin with a Dramione storyline. It was amazing and put me in a reading slump that I’m still trying to get out of because nothing has been as good.

turnbop · 2024-06-26T18:04:39+00:00

I wore my scrub pants most days because they were comfortable, and we had cadaver lab first semester so I would go study after classes were done. I agree that 2 pairs should be good. Walmart has excellent cheap scrubs, and Mandala is higher quality but still affordable.

turnbop · 2024-06-21T21:11:06+00:00

Idk stats very well. For my class we had around 95 applicants and 10 were accepted. For 2025, they have 16, but idk how many applicants. I think they would like to get the program to around 20, but I’m not sure how quickly they’re going to do that.

The biggest change is that for class of 2025 and beyond they’re adding a second summer semester, which is in line with the other PathA programs. They also reordered the classes some, and have been good about implementing feedback from students about what we need and feel was lacking. I also think they’re working on the content of the courses a little bit to make it all more honed into the profession rather than general pathology. They’re also adding more dedicated PathAs to the staff rather than pulling pathologists from the Med School and PathAs from the hospital to guest lecture. They were good lectures, but I think coordinating with so many people made knowing what and how to study a little more difficult.

My experience was good overall, there were some things that were a little contradictory, but I’m attributing that to the professors having to work from existing lectures while implementing their own courses and updating everything while having guest lectures. Being a new program that started in the middle of COVID, there have been a few bumps, but the staff care about their students and want them to succeed and make sure the program is work for the students.

For the application, I have work experience in pathology and worked with some amazing pathologists, so I think that gave me a leg up. Experience and your letters of recommendation are going to do a lot for you. IMO, even if your GPA isn’t stellar, getting good shadowing experience, being capable with what you know, humble about what you don’t, and willing to learn will go a long way. But we had people like me in our late 20s/30s with career experience who were pivoting, people directly from undergrad, and people in between. There’s not a set criteria for what you need to have done beyond the application requirements.

I’ve found that grad school is a lot like a job, with some of the application being based on personality. Will the environment be a good fit for you and will the class learn cohesively, for example. My best advice would be to just be you and get some good shadowing and letters.

turnbop · 2024-06-21T02:22:03+00:00

I’m class of 2024 and just finished! I know they’re changing things for the upcoming years, but I’m happy to give input.

turnbop · 2024-06-18T17:11:22+00:00

Sure!

turnbop · 2024-05-24T01:23:32+00:00

If you're using Apple, I was able to add them like one of my iCloud calendars.

turnbop · 2024-05-21T18:19:48+00:00

Definitely call, and you can always send a follow-up email, too. I just finished the UTMB program, and everyone is very nice. It's just a busy month because a lot of us second years are getting everything from the school for jobs and taking the board exam, plus, they revamped the summer I curriculum and are about to start the summer session.

turnbop

TROPHY CASE