Storms That Don’t Stay, Stories That Do

The sky over Homer Glen can’t make up its mind today. Thunder threatens at noon, clouds roll heavy and gray, then—just when you think you should give up and stay inside—the sun slices through like nothing happened.

It’s been that kind of week creatively, too.

There was a time when I was laser-focused on writing things that might guarantee a steady income. But unless you have deep marketing resources—or the energy to chase down agents and traditional publishing—it’s never as straightforward as people make it sound.

So I’m writing anyway.

Like The Resistance Chronicles, you think you’re creating a beast you fully understand… and it morphs into something else entirely. And that’s okay.

I went into In The Devil’s Wake thinking it would be dark erotica—just unapologetically so. And maybe it still will be. Or maybe it’ll become something more layered… still dark, still charged, but undeniably mine. For now, I’m letting it grow quietly before I share more.

And speaking of things I didn’t plan on, I got an email this week from Beehiiv about their new Recommendations Engine. Supposedly, newsletters that recommend others grow 2.75× faster—like magic.

So I turned it on two days ago. And guess what? Zero referrals so far. Which feels about right. But hey, maybe this is where it starts.

Here are the four I picked—they’re worth a read on a stormy afternoon, and if you click through, it might just help more readers find me, too.\

📚 Meanwhile, the books that are finished are holding steady out there:

• The Inextinguishable Marie Kelly
  👉 Grab it on Amazon
  👉 Wide Stores (Apple, Kobo, B&N, Libraries)
  👉 Smashwords (50% off through July 31)

• The Awakening of Clara Hayes
  👉 Grab it on Amazon
  👉 Wide Stores (Apple, Kobo, B&N, Libraries)
  👉 Smashwords (50% off through July 31)

And off I go, to write…

—
A.L. Bellettiere

P.S. For sharper satire—and a little mischief aimed at everything from the current administration to Substack itself—find me on daily Notes: annalouisebellettierekuyper.substack.com