gglimpopo I've done this beforea lot. Most of my friends are writers, quite a few of them novelists, some wih recognizable names in the USand I've read many of their drafts. In fact, I'm expecting a collection of essays in the mail any day from another friend whose essays are getting published soon. (But I think I'd have time to read yr manuscript too.) I'm sort of brutally honest but never gratuitously critical. I also used to teach fiction writing, if that further improves my "credibility."