“Hey! I have a question”
That’s how the text messages started when my friend/beta reader/critique partner reached out to me. And as I answered his question, it occurred to me that this might be a question other people have too. We all know I write short stories (lots more than I ever thought I would), but what about novels? Do I have any plans to publish longer works in the future?
The short answer: Yes.
The long answer… Here it is.
I’ve always preferred writing novels. I’ve got countless stories on my computer pushing above the 50k word mark that I wrote for fun in my teens and early twenties. Some may get reworked and published in the future, and some may never see the light of day. But I also have novels I started working on as far back as 2019 that I absolutely want to publish some day.
All this to say yes, I have been writing novels and novellas for publication.
But here’s the thing: self-publishing is expensive. Especially when you lose your job at the beginning of a global pandemic. But all of that extra free time meant that I could get back into writing regularly – something I wasn’t able to do much of when I was working 12 hour days.
One of the ways I re-built my writing habits was to focus on short fiction. Stories I could brainstorm and write up in an afternoon, that I could use to experiment and try new things. No doubt you’ve read many of those stories by now. Some were edited and published in Please Rate Your Satisfaction and They See Me. Others have been posted to this blog.
Since they were already written when I started my self publishing journey, it was faster to get them published compared to a novel written from scratch. And it was cheaper too. I guess you could say I’m publishing short stories in order to buy more time so that I can continue to work on my longer works and get those ready for publication.
Speaking of which, I’ve already had more than a few readers mention that they would love to see some of my short stories expanded into longer works. Apparently, some of you are very curious about the worlds I’ve built and want to know more. If you would like to see more from the world of one of my stories, feel free to comment or contact me through the form on my site. Which stories do you need more of?
On my website, I’ll always list my next two projects in the “Coming Soon” section. Besides Coping Mechanism, my third and final (for now) short story collection, the details of my novella Farm to Table are up for everyone to browse. But if you ever want to learn about my other longer works, or if you want to be a beta reader for them, sign up to my newsletter for early announcements about my upcoming projects.
Until then, I hope you’ve been enjoying my short stories. Thank you to all of my readers who have been patiently waiting for the longer stuff.
