Hello, friends!

I know it’s not just me who felt that winter went on about two years too long, but now that it’s March, we can freakin’ celebrate that the end of the snow is on its way. (Seriously, it had better be on its way…)

When last we spoke, I was elbow deep in getting nowhere on Betwixt. I wish I could tell you that the novel is on its way, but I have to be honest with something, right here and now…

Betwixt, as it was, is dead in the water.

I’m going to level with you guys, because you’re the truest of the true fans, what with giving me your email address and all, trusting that I won’t spam you with MLM nonsense. And that leveling is this: I hate writing novels.

This isn’t exactly news, though. I think I’ve been quite vocal about my preference of writing short stories to longer forms. I just don’t have the longevity (or attention span) to write full novels. It’s—dare I say—boring. To me, anyway.

But when it comes to being a writer, that’s what matters, isn’t it? How the writer, herself, feels about her craft? It’s not exactly the kind of job where one can say “I hate this, but I’m going to do it anyway.”

If the writer isn’t feeling it, the whole process ends up in gridlock, and that’s essentially where I’ve been the last six months. I don’t like writing novels. I much prefer writing short stories. And that leads us to the most important part of this whole post:

I’m not forcing myself to write novels anymore.

But Nicole, I hear you say, what about the remaining three books in the series?!

Well, dear ones, that’s where this gets a little weird. Because I’m still going to write those three stories. Not only that, but I’ll also be sharing lots of short stories that fit within the world of Spellbound! The plan is to begin writing serialized short story collections.

Ta Da!

Oh, you’re confused, huh? That makes sense. It’s not exactly something that happens often (if ever) in many English-speaking countries. Sure, we have things like Archive of Our Own (AO3) and Wattpad, but in general, publishing serialized fiction is not something that is catching on in America or similar places.

Here’s something you might not have known about me…I love reading manga. I even love reading graphic novels. It’s no secret, though, that I can’t draw to save my life. I’m terrible at it. Writing a graphic novel and then hiring someone to draw it is well outside of my purview at this moment, and for the foreseeable future. But I can, however, take my love of manga, marry it with my love of short stories, and create a serialized short story collection!

So, that’s the new plan.

Yeah, Spellbound will be the one and only novel in the series. I’m okay with that. Think of it like a starter kit, maybe? Just a little somethin’ to get the reader introduced to the world. From there out, it’s just as simple as reading through the short story collections (in order, as “serialized” would have it) and revisiting the characters from Boston Falls, regardless of what timeline they’re on.

To be clear, Betwixt would be released chronologically, as would any of the subsequent following no-longer-novels. The rest of the short stories, though, will skip across time, giving readers a glimpse into the world of Spellbound that happened outside of the novel.

Want to know what happened to Gretchen’s step-dad?

Wonder who the dude in the yellow plaid suit was?

Care to see what Pepper was doing while she was under the sleep spell?

This is my opportunity to share those stories with you! By making this shift, my own creative spark has turned into a full-on bonfire, which is how I know I’m making the right choice for my writing. To be traditionally published, I would have lost the ability to do this entirely. I chose to publish independently because the power to tell my stories my way stays with me. By bringing you these tales in a way that feels right to me, you can be sure you’ll get the best of my ability as a storyteller. My passion will be behind everything that I write, and that’s essential to feeding any writer.

So, we shift. We pivot. We adjust the bunny ears to get better reception. This will feel weird at first because, well, it’s not normal. But as far as I’m concerned, “normal” is a four-letter word that should not be spoken. Because it’s boring. No one needs more normal. We’re all stocked up on normal! How about some weird and outrageous attempts to do something awesome? That’s what I’m talking about.

To give a timeline, I can assure you that the first issue of Betwixt, serialized, will be available for purchase some time in early fall, with subsequent volumes likely to drop quarterly thereafter. So instead of one novel a year, you’ll be getting four short story collections that carry on the torch that Spellbound lit.

That’s all I’ve got to say about it right now, honestly. There are so many more kinks I have to iron out and all sorts of hurdles I’ll have to jump, so it’s best that I get on with it.

Got questions, concerns, or comments? You can always reply to this email and it’ll come directly to me! Nifty, huh? I’ll get right back to you as soon as I can!

Thanks for coming on this ride with me!

From the mess to the masses,

NFT

P.S. How could I forget to tell you this?! Two of Crones is exploding in growth right now, but the most important thing to share is that our next anthology, 7 Sins, will be available for purchase THIS FRIDAY! Get your copy here! If you want more updates specific to Two of Crones, be sure to follow our newsletter!