Welcome!

Welcome to Novella, Michelle Richmond’s author newsletter.

Subscribe for free to receive occasional personal essays, flash fiction, reading recommendations, and audio stories.

pull up a chair…

Paid subscribers get every chapter of my current serial novella and access to the full archives. Paid subscribers also get a complimentary paid subscription to my other newsletter, The Wandering Writer.

Wait, what? Who are you?

Hi, let’s back up. I’m Michelle! (As a clerk at the Walgreens in Winston-Salem told me not so long ago, “Nobody has that name anymore.”) I’ve published eight books of fiction, including most recently THE WONDER TEST and THE MARRIAGE PACT. Back in 2007, I published a novel called The Year of Fog, which is about a child who goes missing in the fog on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. I can’t believe it has been more than fifteen years years. Time is a mystery. Pretty much the only thing that hasn’t changed in those years is that I drink a lot of coffee. A LOT. You’ll find a more complete bio on my author website.

If you enjoy traveling, wandering, and wondering, you might enjoy my other newsletter, The Wandering Writer.

*To get the best reading experience and leave comments, please read Novella on the free Substack app.

Thank you for reading!


Why are some posts paywalled?

I’m using Substack as a working notebook. I have had the good fortune of connecting with readers through my books for many years. Substack is another way to continue this conversation with dedicated readers, and to bring high quality writing to the readers who value it most.

Additionally, in the past year, the rapid advancement of AI has highlighted the importance of protecting one’s work from corporate theft. AI language learning models scrape publicly available posts with no regard for copyright. Recently, this has resulted in authors having deepfake books sold fraudulently under their names on Amazon. Most of us saw this too late and are now trying to play catchup.

I will continue to make some posts available to everyone, while rewarding paid subscribers with exclusive fiction, essays, and audio.

Michelle’s Books

Subscribe to Novella with Michelle Richmond

Serial fiction, audio stories, and essays on marriage and the middle distance from New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author Michelle Richmond

People

New York Times & Sunday Times bestselling author of The Marriage Pact, The Year of Fog. Books in 31 languages. Travel essays at The Wandering Writer; serial fiction at Novella; craft notes at Caffeinated Writer. Founder of Fiction Attic Press