Today marks the launch of Kindle Vella, a serial fiction platform for stories delivered in “episodes” that readers unlock with tokens.
I had a partially written serial going to waste, so when Amazon announced this was on the horizon, I dusted off that story, revised what I had, and finished drafting to the end of the first arc (the equivalent of Book One in a series of novels). I’m typically far too cautious to be an early adopter, but “going to waste” makes this particular leap a low-risk venture.
© 2021 Lena Brassard
Categories: Paranormal, Mystery
Tags: ghost, amnesia, murder investigation, urban fantasy
Content Warning: Child death
Tess has no memory of her murder, but her record for helping other restless spirits in need of justice is flawless—until the homicide detective she works with delivers a ghostly boy who refuses to provide any clues that might lead to his killer. The investigation draws Tess into a web of evil that extends back half a century to her own death. With the true motivations of a gorgeous man who claims he’s an old friend and an ageless enemy who shares Tess’s face locked in the vault of her missing memories, only the dead can be trusted.
Available now here or search in the Kindle for iOS app.
This story was originally conceived as a serial. When that deal fell through, doing a gut-and-rewrite to make it structurally more like a novel didn’t appeal to me, so into the Vault of Abandoned Projects it went. I’m glad it’s getting another chance at life (oh, the irony) in its intended form.
So check it out if you’re curious. The first three episodes (approximately 8,500 words total) are free to try, and the 200 free introductory tokens Amazon offers near the top of the page will get you through episode 10. If you like what you see, hit that thumbs-up button at the bottom of each episode and consider bestowing your weekly “fave” crown upon the story. Those small, easily forgotten gestures make a huge difference in which stories are visible and which sink into the abyss like lead bricks.
I wanted to be here 10 days ago, but I’m in a high-stress situation that vacuums up most of the mental energy this job requires. Nevertheless, the first act is done (for this round of revision). Between cuts and additions, 39 pages of Old Draft is now 48 pages of New Draft.
I’m going to take a picture of a progress bar and post that when I update because I can tell you right now I will not log in every day to keep a current total in the sidebar. Rather than guess a target number of pages/words that will be impossible to hit precisely, I’m using the known quantity of 240 rough draft pages and counting progress by checking off each page as it’s “done.” A page might shrink to half a page or grow to three pages in the next draft, but I can reliably measure when everything on one rough page has been addressed.