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Novel vs Novella vs Novelette vs Short Story vs Flash Fiction: A Reader’s Glossary

What’s the actual difference between a novel, novella, novelette, short story, and flash fiction? How long is each one? And, perhaps more importantly, does reading a novella or novelette actually count as reading a book?

I’ll give you the definitions. You can tell me what you think.

Somewhere along the way, we decided books only come in one size. Big. Chunky. The kind that leaves a dent in your nightstand and a crick in your neck if you read them lying down.

That’s a lie, and I’m here to correct the record.

Short fiction comes in four distinct flavors, plus the novel you already know, and most readers can’t actually tell you the difference between any of them. You’ve probably heard “novella” tossed around. You’ve maybe never heard “novelette” in your life, unless you were at that party with me. So let’s fix that, because knowing the difference between a novella and a novelette isn’t just trivia. It changes what you should expect to feel by the last page, and, more importantly for people like me, it changes your year-end reading stats.

Moonfall Caravan: Choose Your Horse. Choose Your Fate.

I grew up absolutely obsessed with those old Choose Your Own Adventure books.

The fantasy ones. The sci-fi ones. The weird ones where you somehow died because you opened the wrong door on page 42. I had stacks of them scattered around my room as a kid, with folded page corners marking all the endings I hadn’t survived yet.

Honestly, they were probably my first real introduction to fantasy and sci-fi “novels,” if you can call them novels. They felt bigger than regular books to me because you got to participate in the disaster directly. You weren’t just reading about someone making terrible decisions. You were making the terrible decisions.

And somehow every choice felt incredibly serious when you were ten.

Do you climb into the alien cave?
Do you trust the wizard?
Do you touch the glowing crystal that is very obviously cursed?

Naturally: yes.

So I decided to write a small love letter (parody?) to those gloriously chaotic adventure books. This one has moon fragments, cursed horses, deeply questionable survival strategies, and at least one horse that has almost certainly committed multiple crimes.

Choose wisely.

Or at least choose entertainingly.

If There’s Only One Horse… You Know What’s Coming

You know that moment.

Two characters. One problem. And suddenly — there’s only one horse.

Not ideal. Not comfortable. Definitely not emotionally safe.

The one-horse trope is a staple of romantasy for the same reason the one-bed trope is: it forces two people into unavoidable closeness before either of them is ready for it. But unlike the one-bed situation, which at least comes with blankets and some plausible deniability, the one-horse scenario is immediate chaos. There’s no elegant way to share a horse with someone. You can’t pretend you don’t notice them. You can’t roll to your side of the mattress and stare at the ceiling.

You’re on a horse. Together. Right now. Figure it out.

It’s forced proximity with zero escape plan — and readers love it for very specific reasons.

So… You Think You’d Make a Good Villain?

Create your own supervillain origin story in seconds, take a chaotic personality quiz, and find out which member of the Ladies in Leather you are. Inspired by A Girl’s Guide to Supervillainy, where villains don’t start evil—they start done.

Let’s get something straight. Nobody plans to become a villain. That’s not how it starts.

One minute you’re minding your business, drinking wine with your friends, trying to survive life like a normal, emotionally stable adult…

And the next?

You’re sitting in a booth at your favorite wine bar with four women who absolutely should not be trusted with powers, building a revenge plan, debating leather aesthetics, and casually wondering if arson is a personality trait.

(It is. I checked. No further questions.)

So let’s find out something important:

Would you actually survive as a villain?
And more importantly… what kind would you be?

Because in my experience? (Which completely comes from writing books. I just wanted to clarify.) Villains don’t start out evil.

They start out done.

You Asked. I Answered. (I May Have Overshared.)

What do you actually get when you ask a retired pharmacist turned author — who grew up at a zoo, lived in an RV for two years, and writes from 3 AM to 11 AM — to answer reader questions? Apparently, twenty-three answers and a lot of oversharing.

My readers asked about my writing process, my real-life love story (it involved a broken-down truck and someone’s dad picking us up), where my ideas come from, and yes — the zoo. I answered all of it. Then I added a few questions nobody thought to ask, because apparently I have a lot to say.
If you’ve ever wanted to know what goes into writing romantic speculative fiction, what RV life really looks like, or why there is absolutely no such thing as a writing playlist in this household — this one’s for you.

The Angel of Death Was Offered Half a Graham Cracker

Here’s a story born inside the Angels of Sojourn universe—a clean paranormal romance and urban fantasy mystery world where angels live within a strict hierarchy of ranks, rules, and consequences.

Aron is the Angel of Death, moving through the Shadows of Sojourn where most humans never notice anything has passed. He exists within a structured angel hierarchy, bound by order and distance, watching human life without ever truly being part of it.

Until a child in a hospital waiting room looks directly at him and offers half a graham cracker.

It’s a small thing. A human thing. And in a system built on rules and separation, it changes everything.

Keep reading for a guide to the angel hierarchy, ranks, and world structure behind Sojourn.

Top 10 Things I Googled While Writing Mayhem (At least the ones I admit to)

Ever wonder what goes on in an author’s search history?

Fair warning before we get into it: I don’t google things during my first draft. That version looks something like: [Insert Elephant Weight Here]. If I stopped to research every detail mid-scene, I’d never finish the book. Which is probably why my editing takes forever.

Anyway. Here’s the list.

So the World Is Ending — Which Apocalypse Would You Actually Survive?

I’ve spent a concerning amount of time thinking about how the world ends.

Different methods. Different timelines. Different levels of drama.

Sometimes it’s a cooling sun.
Sometimes it’s a virus.
Sometimes it’s aliens.
Sometimes it’s five women with superpowers and a revenge agenda who accidentally take out a city block.

(That last one is technically not a global apocalypse, but if you live on that block, it feels personal.)

The point is: I have opinions. Professionally. (Which feels like a generous term, but we’re going with it.)