Coffee Rings and Book Dreams

Hey there! You might know me as The Novel Nest editor and publisher from Substack, but my first love is fiction.

Reading fiction, coaching writers wrangling their fiction, discussing the meaning and philosophy behind a work of good fiction, editing fiction, and now publishing short fiction and novels make my world go 'round to the point where I've built my life - as much as possible - around fiction. Got a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature with a minor in philosophy in 2009. Took on my first freelance novel-editing assignment in 2010. Went all in on freelance editing in 2022. Established my indie-hybrid publishing label in 2026 to help even more writers. All roads lead to Rome, after all.

In this monthly zine, you'll get notes on fiction editing, coaching, and publishing in the 21st century renaissance. You'll also get a glimpse into what I'm reading and what I'm thinking or feeling about it, and you'll receive a never-before-published work of short fiction from me - an excerpt from my novel-in-progress, a short story, whatever rushes forth from the muse to my fingertips and demands to be shared.

In my writing, I love big questions, the ones that ask you to think, to consider, to weigh and balance ideas. I love people and their flaws and they ways they fight even themselves to win in the end. I like translating my ideas - the inspiring, the aggravating, and everything in between - into stories that leave open possibility.

If you're a lover of stories and how they make you think - about life, about the past, about the future - and can't get enough fiction and fiction shop-talk, consider this your invitation.

One zine packed with bookish information and musings delivered every month.

<3 Fal