A Brief Intermission in My Narratives

Retirement was supposed to be quiet, yet one scroll on Twitter sent me spiraling into a full‑blown writing fever. I’d shared a few of my fiction tales there, and a professor I met on the platform read them, reached out, and encouraged me to publish my stories on an online writing platform. Around that time, I found Novellea on Instagram, and suddenly the girl who once lived for reading books, writing stories on my old laptops from college, and scribbling notes of story ideas in my diary was reborn as a full‑time story siren.”
 
Novellea has been a soft, steady home for my stories, a place where I found rhythm, clarity, and a loyal circle of quiet readers who returned again and again. For that, I am deeply grateful. This space allowed me to experiment, to grow, and to understand my own voice in ways I didn’t expect when I first arrived.
 
I’m stepping away from Novellea for now, not because the writing has stopped, but because my life is shifting toward a different kind of purpose. My days are opening into a season of service, preparation, and quiet readiness as I move toward volunteer work in a hospital setting. It’s a calling that has been growing in me slowly, gently, and with a sense of meaning I can’t ignore.
 
I’ve been quietly studying the hospital environment, learning about patient care, privacy, mental health, and the emotional landscape of clinical settings. I’m preparing myself with the understanding needed to stand beside someone in their most vulnerable moments, to offer comfort, presence, and compassion without expecting anything in return.
 
For now, I’m completing the vaccinations and blood tests and making sure my immunizations are current for the 2026 record so I can be ready to submit it, if selected, while allowing my writing here to rest for a while. It feels like a small but important ritual of preparation, a way of honoring this new chapter by taking each step with intention and care.
 
This path feels spiritually fulfilling to me, because I have a deep need to support and uplift those who are sick. It asks for attentiveness, empathy, and a steady heart. It asks me to show up fully, not as a storyteller, but as a human being.
 
And even as I pause my own publishing on Novellea, I will still be reading your stories. My subscription here remains active, because this community has given me so much, and I want to continue supporting the voices that inspired me along the way. There is something comforting about returning as a reader, slipping into the background, taking in the creativity of others, and cheering from the sidelines.
 
I’m leaving a little piece of my heart behind in the stories I’ve shared here.
 
Thank you for reading, for supporting, and for walking with me through these chapters.
 
More stories will come when the time is right.
 
Novellea, thank you for giving my stories a home.

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(Copyright © 2026 by Mia Z. Edwards. All rights reserved.)