Why I’m Creating Story Insiders (And What It Really Means)

If you’ve fallen in love with the women of the canyon, if you don’t want to miss a single moment with them. If you want to sit at the table, not just read from outside the window…

Story Insiders is waiting.

For months, I’ve offered everything free. The fiction. The reflections. The community. And I’ve loved it. Watching you discover Echo Canyon, seeing you find yourselves in these characters, in the quiet courage of women who refuse to fade.

But something happened that changed how I see this work.

A reader told me: “I don’t care how the stories come; short stories, a book, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the characters. I’ve fallen in love with them and I don’t want to miss out on anything.”

I read that and thought: “That’s it. That’s what this is really about.”

Not plot. Not productivity. Not even the books themselves.

It’s about not wanting to miss a single moment with people I.e. fictional, you’ve come to care about.

The Two Things I’m Creating

I realized I’m building two different experiences here:

The first is the story itself. Raven and the women of Echo Canyon. Their journey from invisibility to belonging. The novels, the daily doses, the weekly collections reflected back to our lives.

That will always be free, on Substack. I want anyone to be able to walk into the canyon, no barriers, no gates. The fiction is a gift.

The second is something different. It’s the private side of these women’s lives. The journal entries they write at 3 am. The unsent letters. The thoughts they can’t say out loud yet. The tender, unfinished parts that don’t make it into the books.

That second thing? That’s Story Insiders.

What Story Insiders Is (And Isn’t)

When I was a business coach, my restaurant clients used to invite me into the kitchen before service. The bread baking, the prep work, the low hum of people building something together before the doors opened.

I loved being on the inside. Not because I was important, but because I was trusted with the becoming.

That’s what Story Insiders is.

It’s not deeper. It’s not more work. It’s just inside.

You’re not just reading the published stories. You’re reading what didn’t make it to the page. The private journals. The letters the characters write directly to you. The confession-file deep dives into who they really are.

❌ Here’s what Story Insiders is not:

• It’s not a course with modules.

• It’s not an e-book with action steps.

• It’s not me telling you how to change your life.

✅ And here’s what Story Insiders is :

📝 A monthly Secret Journal from one of the women - Riley, Quinn, Raven, Val, Skylar. Written in their voice. Their fears, their longings, their unfinished thoughts. The parts they keep private.

💌 Letters From the Canyon - where a character writes directly to you. Not as fiction, but as if you’re the friend she needs to talk to.

🚪 And most of all: the experience of being inside with these women. Not just reading about them, but sitting with them. Not missing anything.

Why am I doing this?

I’m 70+. I play golf. I’m writing Book 2. I’m building this so it serves you without consuming me.

And here’s what I know: Women in later life deserve stories where they’re not invisible. And they deserve space to explore their own next chapters without pressure, deadlines, or another thing to complete.

Sometimes transformation doesn’t need a framework. It needs a story that cracks something open, and space to breathe into what that reveals.

One of you wrote: “You’re writing about my life.”

Another said: “I saw myself in that story.”

That’s not entertainment. That’s recognition. That’s permission. That’s companionship.

And Story Insiders is where that recognition goes deeper. Where you don’t just see yourself in the published story, but in the private moments. The 3 am journal entries. The letters no one else reads.

Because the real story is never just on the page. It’s in the echo it leaves inside you.

What’s Changing

What stays free (always):

- All online fiction (Whispers chapters, Micro-Fiction Doses, weekly stories)

- Most Life’s Threads reflections

- Book news and updates

What’s in Story Insiders:

- The Secret Journals of the Women of the Canyon

- Letters From the Canyon

- Riley’s Secret Journal (immediate access when you join)

- The Experience of being Inside, not outside

And soon: Story Insider Guardians (limited to 50 people — more on that when pre-orders open).

This Isn’t About Paywalls

It’s about creating something sustainable, for me as a writer across five books, and for you as you walk across your own threshold.

The fiction will always be free. Echo Canyon is yours.

But if you’ve fallen in love with these women, if you don’t want to miss a single moment with them. If you want to sit at the table, not just read from outside the window…

Story Insiders is waiting.

Not because you need it. But because sometimes, the people we meet in stories become the companions we didn’t know we were looking for.

And you don’t want to miss what they’re about to tell you.

Questions? Thoughts? Hit reply. I read everything. And a special thank you to those who are already inside

With warmth,

Marylee