The Gift of the Novella

We all know what it's like when some weeks are busier than others. Hard as I try, with little time for leisure activities, the one thing I miss is time to read. Recently I rediscovered novellas.  I love reading series and longer books, but put off reading them because my time is limited. For some reason I can't seem to read a long book on my kindle.

Short Stories vs Novellas

Short stories are just that - a short story. They have less complicated plots than novellas. The word count can be as little as 1,000 words. However, opinions differ on word count for what makes a short story.
A novella is a short book over 20,000 words. The story has fewer conflicts than a novel and can be read in a day or two.
Short stories and novellas have a long history that goes way back.

Charles Dickens

I've always been a big Charles Dickens fan. His novel, Martin Chuzzlewit was originally released in monthly installments. If I had been around then, I'm sure I would have waited impatiently for the next installment. Sarah Gamp, the somewhat kind alcoholic nurse/caregiver is one of my favorite Dickens characters. Her iconic battered black umbrella was so popular with the Victorian public, Gamp became a slang word for umbrella.

O'Henry

The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry - written in 1906 is my all time favorite short story.

Contemporary Novellas

Solstice Island is the latest contemporary novella I read on a busy Sunday.  I started reading in the afternoon, put it down to run some errands, and finished that evening. There is always a certain satisfaction when you've completed a book you enjoy.

When I completed my first novella, Chocolate & Sensibility I realized it was just the length it needed to be. Adding more conflict or plot would have made it a different story.







Reading is a personal preference.  As more readers rediscover these shorter stories, I hope they'll be able to find the time in their busy schedules to read.

Travel Makes the Heart Grow Broader

Aberglasney Gardens, © Leigh Verrill-Rhys

Some of us are born with wanderlust firmly lodged in our DNA. While we might be rooted in a village or a crowded city, our instincts are hungry for other places: faraway places or simply places we have never been.

For those of us who don’t have the opportunity to travel, there are books: history, travel guides, coffee table photography collections.

And for those of us who want more from our "armchair" wanderlust, there are novels. Charles Dickens will take us to Victorian England. Gabriel Garcia Marquez brings us to the countries of South America, as does Isabel Allende and, with Miguel Asturias, we explore Central America. If we chose, we can visit Japan in the company of Kobo Abe or Africa with Chinua Achebe. Frank Waters takes his readers to the American Southwest of Native Americans and we learn about the experiences of settlers and frontiers men in the early west from Zane Grey.

Jane Austen is our authentic source of what life was like for young women of the early 19^th Century and George Eliot gave us the women of the English country and town in the middle of the same century. Edith Wharton took us to the fashionable, constricted society of New York at the end of this century.

Novels in all genres provide the same pleasurable excursions to the exotic, the sublime and the strange. A sense of place is one of the essential elements of fiction. Without that, we flounder in the ether. Despite our desire for adventure, we want to be sure of our place in this fictional world.

For those of we wanderers who write, this allows us the exceptional opportunity to satisfy our inborn curiosity about our world under the guise of research.

Where do you like to spend your time exploring the fictional world?

We can start right here with the authors contributing to Classic & Cozy. For instance, Loretta C. Rogers writes historical fiction about the American West, including some places and events we wouldn’t consider ‘western’ at all. Sandy Cody writes mysteries, one of which takes place along the Mississippi River. Sierra Donovan writes sweet, contemporary romances set in the atmosphere of ‘small town’ America. For those who like sweet historical romances, set in the Adirondack Mountain region of New York State, Tracey Lyons is your lady.

I have selected these colleagues solely at random and if you click on any of the names to the right of this post, you’ll find some of the best in the genres of classic and cozy romance, western, fantasy and mystery novels.

Pentre Ifan Cromlech, Penfro, Cymru

If you are keen on the mysterious beaches of paradise, have a peak at Marty Ambrose’s list of books. We also have Kathye Quick’s multi-genre efforts for historical romance, urban fantasy and contemporary romance. Speaking of contemporary romance, I’ve been known to contribute a few novels to this sub-genre, as well as historical romances set in medieval Wales under my pen name, Lily Dewaruile.

Happy traveling!