Dear Reader,

When you scroll through lists of fiction, as you might do on any online book retailer, you will frequently find books that have a subtitle: "A Novel".

Those people must be idiots, right? Of course we know it is a novel. It is a long book with a written story, as anybody can see.

Well, actually, it isn't.

I am dipping back into Philip Stevick's anthology The Theory of the Novel. In here is an artcile by Northrop Frye where he explains The Four Forms of Fiction.

I'm not going to go theoretical here and expound on his whole argument, I'm only going to paraphrase, and explain in simple terms how I see it.

These are the four forms of fiction:

1. A novel which is a fiction that deals with contemporary reality as best an author can describe it: basically, who we are
2. A romance which is a fiction that deals with idealised reality, or fantasy if you want: in essence, who we wish to be.
3. A confession which is a fiction we cobble together from things that have happened to use: or in other words, who we regret we were.
4. And an anatomy which is a fiction that critically look at what goes wrong, and inevitably make fun of it: which has the moral of who we should not be.

An anatomy would be mostly works of comedy, satire, philosophical sci-fi, and all the parodies. Confessions are all those autobiographies, and every story where the author insert themselves for a pity party. Also True Crime, I think. Romance is all the heroic stuff with bucket loads of wish fulfilment going from Billionaire Romance to Spy Thrillers--basically everything that is labelled genre fiction and which you are told to not look down upon because it is real fiction.

And then there are novels, that tries to truthfully show us who we are.

My book When Oceans Dream is a novel (That's why I put it on the cover). The characters are not heroes. There is no dwelling on past regrets (not much) and I'm not asking the reader to sit in judgement.

I wanted to write a story about how it is. With some fantastical apocalyptic elements added.

What I'm struggling with now is what to write next now that I have dealt with reality and the end of the world as we know it.

More on that next month.

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My Novels available on Amazon/Wide

​When Oceans Dream​

​The Seventh Kill​

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This Month's Reading Promos

The Volcan Knights: Origins

Laurie Bowler

When darkness bleeds into reality, five immortal warriors stand between humanity and cosmic annihilation. A dark fantasy epic of immortal warriors, cosmic horror, and the ultimate question: what makes consciousness worth preserving when corruption promises an end to all suffering?

​Universal Book Link to Buy the The Volcan Knights: Origins (Kindle or Paperback)​

The Legend of the Sacred Knights

J. F. Richards

Journey to a World Beyond Earth itself: Four human Teenagers: Luke, Will, Jake and Alexis enter a gateway to a magical animals. In This World, they become a team of mystical knights, Each gifted with powers of their own.

​Universal Book Link to Buy the The Legend of the Sacred Knights (Kindle or Paperback)​

A Clash of Tides

Alivia Maar

Mermaids, Murder, Mystery ... Who could want more? A dark retelling of The Little Mermaid

​Download a free sample of A Clash of Tides if you sign up to Alivia Maar's newsletter​

Chase Harlem

Elise Burke Brown

Mayhem with a side of chaos is Chase's specialty: A suspenseful mystery set in the heart of New Orleans, where an ex-FBI agent confronts crime, chaos, and dark secrets.

​Download a free sample of Chase Harlem if you sign up to Elise Burke Brown's newsletter​

Heat Wave (Weather Gods Book 3)

Melissa Gunn

The North of England is heating up, in more ways than one, and if Freya can't come to terms with her supernatural status, everything she loves might go up in flames.

​Universal Book Link to Buy the Heat Wave (Weather Gods Book 3) (Kindle or Paperback)​

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Free Stories to Read

Here is a promotion for short stories, novellas, or even full novels to download when signing up to the author's mailing list.

The Way it Should Be: An All-Genre Giveaway for Stories with Kind, Noble, or Good-Hearted Characters Getting Their Rewards

More than fifty stories to read and enjoy. Get these books fast. This promotion ends 20 February 2026.

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Keep on Reading

Thank you for being part of this journey. Whether you've been with me from the beginning or just joined, your readership means everything as I keep on writing.

Best regards,

Gerhi Janse van Vuuren

Author of The Seventh Kill and When Oceans Dream