Since 2019, I’ve had the pleasure of participating in Novel in a Day (NiAD)—a collaborative storytelling event hosted by the Literature and Latte forums (home of Scrivener). The concept is delightfully chaotic: on the day of the event, each writer receives a secret chapter brief from an outline they’ve never seen. There’s no collaboration, no idea how the story ends, and just 24 hours to write. Once submitted, the chapters are edited and compiled into a full-length novel—sometimes in multiple editions, depending on how many writers took part.
In recent years, the event has evolved into a themed anthology format, where each writer contributes a short story over the span of a few weeks. Past themes have included mysteries and thrillers, with each edition offering a fresh creative constraint and a shared literary playground.
For these events, I write under the pen name E. Kinna, a nod to my great-grandmother Elizabeth Kinna. When I first joined, I was a little nervous about putting my real name on a public writing experiment. But over time, the pseudonym has become a tradition—a playful alter ego I enjoy bringing back each year.
Below is a list of my past contributions:
2025 — The Lippincott Dinner
Genre: Mystery anthology
Story title: Dead Air
Read here (published as E. Kinna)
2024 — Villa Diodati (Ghost Story Collection)
Genre: Thriller Anthology
Story title: Still Waters
Read here (published as E. Kinna)
2021 — The Unit (11th Edition)
Chapter: Published in the Red Edition
Bonus: Participated in the special 10th Anniversary edition of The Dark (Green Edition)
Read The Unit (published as E. Kinna)| Read The Dark Anniversary Edition (published as E. Kinna)
2020 (Oct) — On Your Honor (10th Edition)
Chapter: Published in the Green Edition
Read here (published as E. Kinna)
2020 (April) — The District (9½ Edition)
Special pandemic edition novella
Chapter: Published in the Blue Edition
Read Here (published as E. Kinna)
2019 (Oct) — Butterfly Dawn (9th Edition)
Chapter: Published in the Red Edition
Read here (published as E. Kinna)
2019 (Jan) — Auld Lang Syne (8th Edition)
My very first NiaD!
Chapter: Published in the Green Edition
Read here (published as E. Kinna)
NiaD is a unique and thrilling way to flex creative muscles and collaborate with writers around the world. Each project is a reminder that creativity can thrive under constraints and that surprises are often the best part of storytelling.
Want to read more about my experience or the upcoming NiaD? I’ll post about the next event on Substack—subscribe here to be notified when it drops.