🌤 The One-Subscriber Comedy Hour (and the Quiet Farewell)

🌤 Today’s Weather in Illinois

Sunlight’s back in full force today — starting near 76°F (24°C) and peaking around 87°F (30°C) before cooling into the mid-60s. Clear skies, calm air, and that early-autumn sense that something’s ending but something bigger’s beginning.

Pretty much the same forecast inside my head.

🎤 So, I Have One Subscriber

Just one.
And they’re not even reading.

Tough crowd tonight.

But that’s okay. Every comedian starts somewhere. Seinfeld had open mics. I have… Beehiiv.

At this rate, I’m the world’s most consistent act with no audience — still showing up every week with a mic, a metaphor, and no one to heckle me but myself.

Still beats silence.

✍️ Word Count Update

Starting point (Sept 20): 59,280 words
Today’s final count (Sept 27): 64,660 words
Progress this week: +5,380 words

I didn’t just hit 60,000 — I blew past it. Somewhere between unpublishing two books and making bad jokes to an invisible crowd, the words just… kept showing up.

Apparently, my muse doesn’t check subscriber counts.

I thought about writing more, but you know when you hit that daily ceiling — that “my brain has left the chat” feeling? Yeah. That.

Still, at this pace, 80,000 words is only about three weeks away. Somewhere around mid-October, I’ll be staring down a full-length novel. That’s not the kind of math you brag about — that’s the kind you whisper to yourself just to see if it’s real.

🕯️ Farewell Window Closed

This week I officially unpublished The Inextinguishable Marie Kelly and The Awakening of Clara Hayes from both Draft2Digital and KDP.

It didn’t feel clean or triumphant. It felt human — a mix of pride, sadness, and peace. Like closing the door of a cabin after a long winter. You can still see the smoke in the air, but the fire’s out.

Marie Kelly taught me endurance.
Clara Hayes taught me rebellion.
Both taught me that finishing something imperfect is the only way to start something extraordinary.

There’s sadness, sure. But mostly gratitude — for the versions of me who dared to begin.

💭 The Imposter Who Calls It Padding

That inner voice still whispers that maybe I’m overwriting — maybe I’m padding. But I know better now.

I’m not padding. I’m building.
Not just a story, but an experience.

Readers don’t fall in love with speed. They fall in love with how it feels to live inside the world you’ve made.
And that’s what I’m writing toward — the kind of story people don’t just read but remember breathing in.

🧭 Next Week

Keep the mic warm.
Keep climbing.
And if my one subscriber ever opens this email — well, congrats. You’ve got front-row seats to something that’s only getting better.

— A.L. Bellettiere