One Is The Loneliest Number (of POVs in a Vinestead Anthology Novel)

I know, I know... House of Nepenthe isn't even out yet, and here I am talking about Book 9 of the Vinestead Anthology. Believe me, I wish I had the marketing instinct to build up excitement for my longest and most ambitious novel ever before it hits shelves, but that's just not me. ARCs have been sent, I sold dozens of pre-release copies at STAPLE!, and with the exception of a hundred individually personalized emails sent to my contacts on release day, House of Nepenthe is essentially in the bag. It's up the Amazon Ads gods now whether it takes off or not.

So... Book 9. Ever since I learned that Louis Sachar doesn't let people read his works in progress, I've been cagey about revealing too much about my own. I definitely don't talk about the scratch writing I do while I'm trying to find a new story (though I do post it sometimes), and when it came to House of Nepenthe, I tried to hold out as long as I could before revealing anything about what was to come. Looking back, that wasn't very fun.

And if you know anything about it, it's that I like a little fun now and again.

Self-Imposed Challenges

Querying House of Nepenthe was an eye-opening experience, mostly because if you don't open your eyes, the tears you're crying will get sucked back into your skull and drown your brain. (I don't know for sure; I'm not a doctor.) I came out of the process with two lessons learned:

1. 170,000 words is too long for a novel - The fact that QueryTracker wouldn't even let me submit that number to certain agents put the nail in that coffin.
2. Multiple POVs are harder to pitch - This was a gut feeling based on how many times I had to write a synopsis, one-page pitch, full outline, description, etc.

For my later books, I've tried to incorporate a few challenges into the drafting, a way to make the process more interesting and create the kind of friction that improves my writing skills. For Book 9, that came down to:

1. Limit the novel to 100,000 words
2. Use a single POV

They look simple, but these challenges are actually pretty huge considering the books I like to write. 140k - 170k feels like a sweet spot to me, enough room to really let the story bloom. And multiple POVs create a framework where the reader is constantly jumping around, wondering how everything connects, and when it finally does, their minds are blown. 🤯

To me, long stories and multiple POVs are hallmarks of a Vinestead Anthology novel. It's what my readers are comfortable with and what they expect.

I'm finding it difficult to let those go, mostly due to nostalgia and lack of technical skill.

Don't Look Away

You know what's great about multiple POVs? Cutting away at the perfect moment to make the reader want to continue. Some big reveal happens? See you in three chapters, sucker! I see it in my head like a movie; cutting away from one of the POVs is a way to build tension and make the reader wonder what is happening while we're busy with other characters.

In a single POV? Good luck with that.

I'm fifteen chapters into Book 9, and I've struggled to end every single one of them. Fifteen straight cliffhangers aren't going to fly with readers, so I found myself continuing past a natural breaking point into the realm of absurdity. A character delivers a bombshell, and instead of cutting to the next chapter, I'm walking my MC back up the stairs to his room where he grabs a bottle of water from the fridge, takes off his shoes, curls up on the couch, and oh my god I can feel my readers dying of boredom.

I just can't see the breaks right now.

I feel like the camera is on my MC all the time, and I'm writing this epic one-shot where he's doing the most mundane things because everything is happening in real-time... and I don't know how to make it stop.

The only reason I haven't abandoned all hope and chucked this story into the recycle bin is because this is only the first draft, and if I've learned anything in the last twenty years, it's that the first draft is just me figuring out the story, exploring every nook and cranny, no matter how mundane or seemingly unrelated to the plot. It's discovery more than anything else, a meandering walk through a massive warehouse with nothing but an underpowered flashlight and a niggling feeling that we better get this done before people forget I write books.

I suppose you will be the ultimate judge as to whether I succeed in rewrites. And unlike House of Nepenthe and Vise Manor, I'm not going to wait until the very end to get your opinions.

What Comes Before Alpha Readers?

I was searching through my emails for god knows what the other day and found some old messages from readers with feedback on individual chapters. Back in the day, I used to send chapters of new books to people as I wrote them. Can you imagine? Instant feedback = instant gratification! I must have been feeling good back then, but looking at it through a 2026 lens, I can see the downsides.

I write my own stories. Talking about it too early with friends, fellow writers, or god forbid, AI, allows other ideas into the mix, and now it's nothing more than a glorified group project where I'm doing most of the work. This isn't high school—I can do my own work and talk to pretty girls.

That said, I'm going to do this for Book 9.

Not right now, but after I've finished the first draft, know where the story starts and ends, and start digging into the first full rewrite, I'm going to send out the book chapter by chapter to a small group of readers who enjoy that sort of thing. There has to be a middle ground between sending out first drafts the day I write them and Sachar's decision to never share his book until it's done.

There isn't much fun to be had in the indie publishing game, in my experience anyway. I love the writing, and while it's comfortable, fulfilling, and transcendental, I wouldn't categorize it as fun. Everything else is work. With retirement just a couple of decades away, I want to start thinking about how to have more fun writing books, and I think this could be the way.

Not With a Cliffhanger, but a Whimper

Limiting myself to a single POV was supposed to be a straightforward challenge. And without three extra characters to write about, keeping the story under 100k words should be a cinch. Fifteen chapters in, I'm learning this will not be as simple as I thought. While the story is spilling out of me as easily as any book before, the chapter breaks are killing me.

But that's the point, right? To create friction? If I wanted to be comfortable, I'd write another 4-POV story that goes on for 600 pages of high-octane dystopian cyberpunk thriller mystery love story. That sounds like a lot, but at 200k words, there's plenty of room for every genre.

Actually, I probably will write that book. But later. After Book 9.

For now, I'll end this post the same way I've been ending my chapters in the first draft...

Underwhelmingly.