Once upon a time, I posted my draft novels here on the blog in serial form, one scene or chapter per week. I stopped doing that for a myriad of reasons, even as things like Wattpad and most recently, Kindle Vella, became popular (where writers do the same basic thing). I know some authors are using Patreon for this as well, where drafts and draft chapters are available for subscribers.
The whole reason I started serializing in the first place was to give myself a good, solid deadline for getting a certain amount of writing done per week. And it worked. It’s very motivating knowing that someone (even if it’s just one or a few people) is/are looking forward to reading the next part of what you’re working on as you write. I got books and stories done, and I had fun doing it, even though I did end up with a fair amount of editing/revising to do (when you’re pantsing it, that’s a fact of life).
When I stopped, my productivity went down instead of up. Turns out, that external accountability is far more powerful than one might expect. I’ve been writing a lot more lately, but I thought it would be fun to reinstate the “Friday Fiction” feature and give myself a solid weekly deadline again.
To that end, a new serial novel will begin this Friday, September 3rd. The title is Magpie Shiny, and it’s going to be the start of a trilogy that I have been plotting and prepping for awhile now. I’ve been working on the draft, too, though I’m not as far ahead as I’d hoped to be (more motivation!). There will be no charge for reading the story, but I am going to include a “tip jar” link with each installment (if I can figure out how). If you enjoy what you read, please consider leaving a tip! All tippers will receive a nice thank-you gift when the novel is published.
As for email – if you visit the blog to read (as opposed to reading in a feed reader), you may have noticed the subscriber forms changing in the sidebar. I’ve been testing out different email platforms, and have finally settled on one I like (Aweber). So if you want to get these blog posts in your email so you don’t have to look for a link elsewhere or keep checking back on the blog, sign up in the sidebar or here, and you’ll receive an email every time a new post goes live (twice a week, unless I have a new release or important news that just can’t wait for the normal Tuesday post).
Also – I am restarting the monthly newsletter! The first issue of Wafting Pages will go out on September 5th, and you can expect a new issue on the first Monday of every month thereafter. The newsletter may include bits of trivia from my research, a general writing update and/or excerpt, links to the month’s blog posts, news about new releases or sales, and occasional recommendations for a book I enjoyed reading and think subscribers might enjoy too. Subscribers will also receive special pre-release deals, free stuff and sneak-peeks before anyone else. If that sounds like fun to you, sign up here.
If you were previously subscribed to my old/defunct Variety Pages newsletter, you should get an email before September 5th, asking if you’d like to remain a subscriber, or if you’d like to unsubscribe (and how to do that).
One last thing – both of my pen names will be restarting their newsletters as well, as well as a Friday Fiction feature in the coming weeks. If you are interested in erotic romance, then you’ll want to check out https://trinitymarlow.com and if you’re interested in thriller/horror stories, check out https://alexwesthaven.com. Trinity’s latest post will be up on Thursday of this week, and Alex’s will be up on Friday. Both of the fiction features on those blogs will tie into the new Magpie series I’m working on here, but from decidedly different perspectives and voices.
Thanks for reading, and for those of you on or joining the email lists, thanks for subscribing! Writing and sharing stories is what I like to do most in this world, and I appreciate anyone who chooses to come along for the (often wild) ride, no matter how you choose to do so.
Now, back to our regular (and new) scheduled posts. Tune in Friday for the first chapter of Magpie Shiny!
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