Postcard From The Dunes—October 2026

by Christopher Mirabile | Oct 4, 2026 | Writing Craft & Technique, Writing Process & Behind the Scenes

Protecting the quiet I’m scaring myself a little bit. I set out to become a novelist, and now I feel like a product manager. A few months ago, . . . [newsletter readers pick up here]. . . The Washashore existed in four forms. In a few weeks, when The Holdfast...

Mystery, Procedural, Literary… Pick a Box

by Christopher Mirabile | Sep 24, 2026 | Writing Craft & Technique, Writing Process & Behind the Scenes

It can seem a little pointless at times, but putting books into boxes is an inescapable part of finding the right readers.Genre is just the beginning. With so many books out there, and reader tastes so incredibly specific, the number of subcategories seems almost...

The Question I Get More Than Any Other

by Christopher Mirabile | Sep 18, 2026 | Writing Craft & Technique, Writing Process & Behind the Scenes

Strangers ask all sorts of questions about the book, but the question I get more than any other from people who’ve known me for a while is “Novels? Have you always been a writer? Where did this come from?”I have always sensed there could be some...

A Man, His Dog, and a Few Other Questions

by Christopher Mirabile | Sep 4, 2026 | Author Life, Writing Process & Behind the Scenes

I recently worked on some answers for an upcoming profile and realized, somewhere between talking about Silas Lopez, my towering TBR pile, and why I apparently can’t write a thousand words and then politely stop, that the questions were pretty good. So I thought I’d...

Postcard From The Dunes—September 2026

by Christopher Mirabile | Sep 1, 2026 | Writing Craft & Technique, Writing Process & Behind the Scenes

Three Words Silas Won’t Make A Habit Out OfThe last few days have been spent proofing the first edited cut of the audiobook. Hearing a narrator say lines you wrote is a strange experience; every word that isn’t quite the character’s comes through the...

Authors and the 1,000 True Fans Thesis

by Christopher Mirabile | Aug 21, 2026 | Writing Craft & Technique, Writing Process & Behind the Scenes

Eighteen years ago, Kevin Kelly wrote an essay that became gospel for creators of all types. Lots of indie authors have heard of it and wondered whether it really applies to them. The answer is yes, but not the way he meant.Boiled down, Kelly’s point was that a...