Upcoming Spring Changes
drumroll please...
Hey there, all of you lovelies.
There’s a lot in here, including updates on:
3-book battles
My Sci-Fi Comedy series updates
Collaborations
Traveling (Paris is the goal 🤞for book research)
Other upcoming posts
To go to my site index (your map on the voyage through my wild Substack) please click on the shiny purple button ⬇️
🛸My Sci-Fi Comedy Series😂
I am currently wrapping up Season 2, and I think there are 2 episodes left to finish it. (It’s plotted; still drafting.) The next episode will come sometime later this month. You can see the list of all episodes here. I started posting them in July last year.
The secret truth is that this series is actually a backstory prequel for another humor novel I’ve already plotted and written more than half of. 😁 I’d started working on this novel in January of 2020…and first it was just a short story/novella for the Ron Hubbard WOTF Sci-Fi/Fantasy contest. But then that crazy short won a silver honourable mention, and beta readers loved it, so I kept expanding it until before you know, the thing was novel-sized.
However, after this season 2 ends, I will be pausing it so that I have more time to finish the other novel I’m currently revising (with help!) … unless more of you start screaming for more of my space cats (this is your chance to scream if this matters to you by voting below: ⬇️) Please note I won’t write more or produce more of this unless I get more then 50 votes on this indefinite poll…
📚About my 3-book battle…
Normally, there would be a selection of 3 random library books presented here (the first week of the month), and I’d show you the openings, middles, and endings…after which I’d ask you to vote on which one you’d like me to read and review for this month. (For those of you who are new, click here to see what they normally look like.)
I have loved doing the 3-book battles. They’ve been running since February 2023. I was inspired to do them because I heard someone in a talk about a “novelist’s education” saying that (paraphrasing):
“If you just read widely, and then study what you like and don’t like about each book and why, ask yourself what keeps you turning pages, what made you put down that book, and really analyze them for what they do well, then you’re basically giving yourself an MFA in comparative literature/ creative writing.”
So, there you go. I’ve done it for 2 years, so I’m giving myself the degree. All my notes and “studies” on each book are contained in each review, as listed in this index, and I’ve certainly learned loads.
At this point though, the number of voters on each book battle has dwindled down significantly over time, leading me to believe that perhaps this isn’t really the sort of thing that people want to participate in.
That’s why next week, I’ll be doing a roundup of my favorite fiction picks being published as a series right here on Substack! I am noticing that writers publishing a series on Substack don’t get so much love, and I want to connect with other series writers. Plus, I’ll include and promote mentions of books I’m currently reading in each of those monthly posts too. I’ll never abandon my local libraries!
But before I turn the page completely on the 3-book battles, you all get a chance to say something about it here: (Please note I won’t bring back the 3-book battles until I get 50 votes from people who want it in this poll, which is open indefinitely.)
If you love the 3-book battles & want them back, then please share this with your friends to get more votes for it.
💬Collaborate with me
If you’d like to sponsor one of my blog posts, (which also gets emailed to all my subscribers), then please contact me if you sell any product or service related to reading books and/or maintaining a book collection. I’m happy to promote the lifestyles of writers who can never get enough notebooks and readers who never have enough bookshelves 📚📝.
If you want to pitch me any affiliate offers or get me to host an ad or backlink shout-out for something that you think my audience would love, then send a message to me at: jwellenhallnovelist@substack.com
If you’re on a tight budget, then we can discuss doing a cross-post on Substack or a cross-promotion together too.
P.S. I’m also open for doing book reviews, including those from independently published authors. You can read more about that here.
🇫🇷Please help me get to Paris to finish my research!
Everyone who upgrades to a paid subscription will also be helping to fund my Paris trip!
Why Paris?
Since Fall of 2020, (I wrote PROLIFICALLY during the COVID years, people) I’ve been writing a novel set there that includes real historical events that happened in this city that led up to the German invasion in 1940. I’m currently revising it with the help of my writing-workshop friends from the Tenacious Writers community 😁. As I’m putting the final atmospheric touches on it, I’m planning a trip to go back and revisit this city that helped inspire this incredible tale after I visited it years ago.
To thank my paid subscribers, you will get special extras (that will be otherwise paywalled to free subscribers):
Insider “Paris experience” posts when I go there, with photos (and not just close-ups of croissants & baguettes 😂. I’m not going to go all “Emily in Paris” hyper-touristy selfie girl on you.)
Before I go, you also get insane behind-the-scenes posts about the mind-blowing facts I’ve found from digging into the craziest, unbelievable things that actually happened in Paris in 1938 that I learned while researching. I even got a limited edition book that’s no longer in print, written by the brothel owner of the most exclusive club in Paris called Le Sphinx, and it’s so unhinged it makes any party scenes from “The Great Gatsby” look like a cute little toddlers’ birthday gathering.
My undying gratitude and special offers when my books get published.
Please vote here to indicate this is what you want ⬇️
And then upgrade to paid here! (Please note that I won’t start doing paywalled Paris-Insider posts until someone from March on upgrades to paid 😊and I’m excited to start this…so why not let that special someone be you? Remember, once you become a paid subscriber, you also get unlimited access to every paywalled post in my Novelist Uncensored section PLUS my whole Comedy Sci-Fi series that starts here.)
Other upcoming posts
Before the end of the month, I will also be starting a self-care for writers series as part of my Novelist Uncensored section.
I look forward to seeing how many people vote for each thing, and the general plan is to continue this blog at about 3 posts per month or so…possibly continuing at a post every week if the interest is there.
Sending my warmest wishes to all of you; thanks for reading, and hope you have a Happy Spring!
Cheers,
J.W. (Joy) Ellenhall