Archive • Unusual Fictions • Buttondown

September 28, 2025

the star magnolia out my window Hello! Here in Wellington, spring is definitely in the air. I confess I'm actually loving the moodiness of it all right now....

Belated apologies

August 23, 2025

Dear newsletter friends, The chop! I meant to write much earlier than this, more frequently than this, but to be honest so much of 2025 has caught me by...

Happy January - Letter #14

January 25, 2025

Mt Holdsworth bush Hello newsletter friends! I was hoping I'd be able to write to you about all of the writing and creative projects I've been getting into,...

Book Launch - Saturday August 31

August 31, 2024

Hi everyone! This is just a quick email to let you know we’re having a book launch for the Incongruous Gongs’ book, Five By Five, today (August 31st) at Hive...

A July letter

July 28, 2024

UNUSUAL FICTIONS Issue #13Dear newsletter friend,I'm writing this as a letter this time, to see if perhaps that form suits us better. The old way, with...

Getting cozy, another story for readers, and a sticky chai recipe

May 10, 2024

Issue #12Hey there. This is UNUSUAL FICTIONS, a monthly newsletter from Jess Nickelsen.Hello! I hope this month's little letter finds you well. It was 4º...

Reluctantly going into autumn

March 2, 2024

Issue #11Unusual FictionsHey there. This is UNUSUAL FICTIONS, a sporadic newsletter from Jess Nickelsen.Happy March, everyone! It actually sort of sucks,...

Happy new year!

January 14, 2024

Issue #10Hey there. This is UNUSUAL FICTIONS, a sporadic newsletter from Jess Nickelsen.Happy January!We are in the middle of summer now (at last!) which...

End of year update

November 27, 2023

Issue #9Hey there. This is UNUSUAL FICTIONS, a newsletter from Jess Nickelsen.Greetings from nearly-December! Here in NZ we're getting tantalisingly close...

New year, new novella!

April 18, 2023

Issue #8Hey there friends. Long time no email! Life has been...ah, you know the story. I've been writing, but the newsletter unfortunately fell by the...

The Beauty of Ten Minutes

May 2, 2022

Hello!Tired looking woman, with glasses, and a face mask hanging over one ear.The Beauty of Ten MinutesI was struggling a bit to decide what I wanted to...

Good things, and lessons from the slush pile

March 29, 2022

Well, hello! Another month has zoomed by, disturbingly quickly! It’s been a busy time for me, what with my new job, and my daughter learning from home at the...

Tools I'm using, and a short story

February 27, 2022

Hello there! It’s been a little while since the last newsletter, but it was good to be able to go “off the air” over summer. New Zealand is in a strange...

Keep moving forward when your routine blows up on you

December 3, 2021

Hello everyone!This is a bit of a long-overdue newsletter; there have been a lot of ups and downs, and highs and lows lately. Everything seems to get busier...

Hello from Level 3!

September 7, 2021

Hi everyone. The newsletter is coming to you a little bit late, though I did do a rough mind map thinking about the sorts of things I might write about this...

New Cool Things :)

August 3, 2021

It’s August already, so apologies for getting the newsletter out a bit late! It’s been a “wild and woolly” July here in New Zealand, with some big storms and...

Education of an Indie Writer, part 2, PLUS story excerpt

June 29, 2021

Hello!I'm writing to you on a very cold and windy day here in Wellington, with the road in and out of the bays here awash with high seas and debris. I sent...

Greetings from winter!

June 1, 2021

Hey everybody, Jess here, writing to you on a frankly bloody freezing day. A great southerly is whipping up from the antarctic and reminding us that we live...

April 2021: school holiday edition

May 1, 2021

Hey everybody, Jess here. I'm writing from the middle of the second week of school holidays. It's been a good week-and-a-half so far, but anything writing-...

March update: new book!

March 27, 2021

Hi everybody, it's Jess here with a "Halooo" from New Zealand, and an email full o' news from March. New Zealand is definitely moving into autumn now. Nights...

The Education of an Indie Writer continues…

February 26, 2021

Hello, and thanks to everyone who signed up for the newsletter over the last month; it’s really nice to know I’m not just shouting out into the void (heh)!...

Egads! A newsletter!

February 4, 2021

Over the years I've toyed with the idea of setting up a newsletter, but never taken the final plunge until now. All of the writerly advice out there says you...