No Elle

In 2018, I wrote a novella! Because apparently being an amateur artist wasn't enough, so I decided to also be an amateur author. It's an odd little story...but I'm proud of it. I have no formal training when it comes to writing fiction, so I just kind of...winged it? I hope you'll give it a shot.

You can download it for FREE right here. Or, if you don't want to download the PDF, you can read it for FREE via Tapas here, where it'll be uploading biweekly. It's completely written and all the updates are scheduled, so you don't have to worry about me forgetting to post.

Since this is my personal blog, I'm going to take the time to talk a little about the story.

My official description:

Noel is an ordinary young waitress who may or may not have a crush on one of her regulars. She's long overdue for things to go her way. Does life have a big surprise in store for her? 

I don't want to give any spoilers away, but boy, does it ever.  

I started working on No Elle during a period of unemployment last winter. I wanted to see if I could tackle a writing project, so I challenged myself to improve upon an idea for a comic that I'd had while I was in middle school. The final story ended up being very different than my original vision. Which is a good thing. Middle schoolers rarely come up with the best of ideas. The main character, Noel, ended up being vastly different than how I'd originally imagined her.

Once I'd committed to the project, a lot of thoughts and details fell in line with the new plot. I made a lot of progress early on...until my computer died. I tried to keep writing on an old, slow netbook, but it was problematic to say the least. I eventually got a new computer, but also started a full time job. And then my horse moved barns. And then my best friend got married. And then my mom needed surgery and radiation. Well...you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.

When November rolled around, I decided to finish the story in the spirit of NaNoWriMo. And while I'd been working on the story on/off for most of 2018, more than two thirds of it was written in November of 2018.

I'd originally planned for the story to be a full-on novel, and not a novella, but again, this was my first writing project. I wasn't prepared for the kind of pacing and content it takes to reach actual novel-status. I probably could have padded the story out to hit a higher word count, but I was satisfied with the way things played out. And most importantly, the story was complete.

I'd like to thank Maria, Kelly, Deanna, and my mom Marie for their help and encouragement. And last-but-not-least I need to thank RACHEL who has always been my friend and confidant, but stepped up as my primary editor. She helped me as I agonized over plot details--whether she wanted to or not. I surprised the hell out of BOTH of us by finishing this thing.

Thank you!