Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. I can’t wait to share my new novelette with you all soon 😊

Even after decades as a wordsmith, I’ve always been on the finishing side of storytelling. Now that I’m telling my own stories, the romantic idea I had about writing has been turned upside down. I’m seeing it all so differently from this side of the creative process 💡

Sometimes it’s not even a scene, but a feeling that frames a part of your story―not necessarily the very beginning, but maybe the very middle or right at the ending 🤯

Instead, scenes pop up out of nowhere. They ambush you while you’re listening to music, watching a movie, reading a book, talking with friends… 💭

Here it is: You don’t get to write an entire story in order! Not really. Not the way I once imagined—starting with “Chapter 1” and sailing straight through to “The End.” 🫣

a man wearing a jacket and a grey shirt looks at the camera ALT: a man wearing a jacket and a grey shirt looks at the camera

Call me naïve, but… As I’m writing my second novelette, I’ve realized something that, now that I see it, feels so commonplace It’s almost embarrassing to admit 🤔

The Agonies and Ecstasies of a Slow Book Project Slow books. Long-haulers. Glacial-pacers. Forever-endeavors. Determine the quickest, most efficient way of writing a book, and then do the opposite: That’s me. Besides sleeping, there is no activit…

“We are not merely researching and writing the matter of our books here. We are researching and writing the matter of our lives.”

👇🏼

lithub.com/the-agonies-...

Against AI: An Open Letter From Writers to Publishers To Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, and all other publishers of America: We are standing on a precipice. At its simplest level, our job as …

“We want our publishers to stand with us. To make a pledge that they will never release books that were created by machines.”

lithub.com/against-ai-a...

Here's the soundtrack to
I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO

Each track was handpicked to translate the mood of all 18 chapters into music and you can listen to the playlist now on YouTube Music."

🔗 buff.ly/Ka73jBJ

All 18 chapters are available now on #substack 📙

A ChatGPT review of
I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO

How would you review Part 1 of the sociopolitical thriller series "This is Who We Were All Along"?

🔗 authoroliverella.substack.com/p/review-i-w...

All 18 chapters are available now on #substack 📙

The Debrief: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at
I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO

Learn more about Part 1 of the sociopolitical thriller series "This is Who We Were All Along."

🔗 buff.ly/OzhFhKc

All 18 chapters are available now on #substack 📙

CHAPTER 18
==========

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 18: Out on The Other Side

Gloria comes clean to Daniel and gets a big surprise

Read it here: buff.ly/okrBWG4

Or check out the highlights ☝🏼

#Substack #ThrillerSky #AmWriting #InstaStories

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 17: Out With a Bang

Gloria's actions have consequences when she calls F.I.R.E. to a neighbor's house.

Read it here: buff.ly/Ou2TAlQ

#Substack #ThrillerSky #AmWriting #InstaStories

#booksky

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 16: Not Like Them

Gloria talks to Debra's landscapers and makes a drastic decision.

Read it here: buff.ly/o6gR13A

#Substack #thrillersky

a man in white underwear is standing on one leg in a living room . ALT: a man in white underwear is standing on one leg in a living room .

The opposite of toxic masculinity is seeing father & son—whom I call husband and child—cleaning the house on a Saturday morning, so we could get it all done in about an hour. Notice how I didn't say "helping clean the house." They live here too and there are no gender-assigned roles for cleaning 😏

a woman is wearing a white hat and a red sweater . ALT: a woman is wearing a white hat and a red sweater .

In the meantime, feel free to read chapters 1-15 available on my Substack. I guess I'll go back to S1E1 of "The Handmaid's Tale" to occupy my mind... I can justify feeling anxious and tearing up about those fictional women. If I think about us, real women in the real world, I'll have a breakdown 😢

#Authors, how do you stay motivated while the world is burning down? I've been trying to finish up the last two chapters of my novelette, but I just can't sit down and #write anything it right now. No headspace for it at all! Please share #tips on how to motivate myself down the finish line 😞

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 15: Town Hall Meeting

Gloria attends Representative Ira's first town hall meeting and constituents are restless.

Read it here: buff.ly/MiHfOmo

#Substack #thrillersky

His father would have *loved* this picture... Wasn't that his brother's dream, to be a pilot? 🧐

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 14: Half Awoken

Kenneth is approached by Gabriel, Gloria's son, who is curious about why his GAMA flag was taken down.

Read it here: buff.ly/xKC8WRo

#Substack #thrillersky

A Five-Alarm Fire for Free Speech - PEN America No federal administration has moved as swiftly to exert broad new controls over what people can say, read, learn, research, and think.

pen.org/report/trump...

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 13: Taking Names and Keeping a List

GLer, Gloria's online persona, continues to share information online through the Glory Land Substack newsletter.

Read it here: buff.ly/7IYTmJZ

#Substack #thrillersky

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 12: Make Them Uncomfortable

Gloria has an eventful day as she faces GAMA supporters while spending time with her family.

Read it here: buff.ly/QP3YbJg

#Substack #thrillersky

A Ticking Clock on American Freedom It’s later than you think, but it’s not too late.

"Over the past five months, in many hours of many conversations with multiple people who have lived under dictators and autocrats, one message came through loud and clear: America, you are running out of time."

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Are Em Dashes Really a Sign of AI Writing? Viral posts and clips on social media suggest the em dash is the product of AI chatbots, with some calling the punctuation mark a 'ChatGPT hyphen.'

Geez, I ❤️ em dashes! I’ve been working with words for almost 3 decades―and I find them to be the perfect pause for some much-needed introspection. Will everyone think I’m AI just because they don’t read enough good writing to know how good punctuation is used?

www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

Everything they do is just for show because they're little, insecure, and petty.

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 11: Glory Land

Energized by what she heard from GAMA supporters, Gloria designs a plan to try to win them over.

Read it here: buff.ly/6T6jRTH

#Substack #thrillersky

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 10: Lack of Representation

Gloria eavesdrops on GAMA supporters who feel forsaken after rushing to their Representative's office while looking for answers.

Read it here: buff.ly/htWFzTk

#Substack #thrillersky

I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO
Chapter 9: In The Spotlight

Recipients of Gloria's letters call the police, alarmed by the mysterious powder. They are featured on the local news alongside their Representative.

Read it here: buff.ly/414xNxD

#Substack #thrillersky