A novel is an extended work of prose fiction — invented characters, a plot in which events cause other events, and enough length for someone to be changed by the end of it. Below is how the form differs from a memoir or a novella, followed by worked examples from Wesley Baker's two fiction series: sun-soaked romance and Cold War espionage.
A novel is fiction. Characters and events are made rather than remembered — which is what frees a novelist to reshape the truth until it reads truer.
Roughly 70,000 words upward. A novella is shorter and usually holds one turn; a novel has room for a character to be altered by what happens.
Events cause other events. The distinguishing test is whether removing a chapter breaks the book — in a memoir it often doesn't; in a novel it should.
A romance promises an emotional resolution. A spy thriller promises escalating jeopardy and a secret worth keeping. Readers choose by that promise.
A new series of romantic, travel-based fiction inspired by summers in the Mediterranean and the people we quietly carry with us forever.
Sunshine Seasons · Book One
One summer can change everything.
Set against the sunlit backdrop of the Costa Brava, A Season in the Sun is a story of youth, freedom, friendship, first love and the moments that shape the rest of our lives.
A spy thriller series that moves between European cities and long-buried pasts, following an intelligence officer whose greatest cases begin close to home.
The James Barker Files · Book One
A past buried in the Cold War. A message that changes everything.
The opening novel in The James Barker Files. Atmospheric, cinematic and deeply human — a story of trust, betrayal and the long shadow of the past.
Early looks at new books, dispatches from the road, and reflections from the writing desk — delivered a few times a month.