(WARNING: This letter contains spoilers for Roses Manor, Weston (NCPU #9) published 4/10/25)

I’ve had a number of people tell me how much they dislike Gabriella as a character. I disagree with them, but I see where some of it is coming from. Some of it comes from things I very purposely set up in the first book. While I think she’s somewhat sympathetic in that story, she’s also very much in the wrong and has A Lot of growing to do. And the next few books include her going through a lot of growth. Obviously everyone grows and learns over the course of their lives (I mean, the first third of this book has the two oldest characters in the series fighting like children), but I’m also very interested in the idea of what comes next after the coming of age story ends. Gabriella’s the youngest on the team, but she’s an adult and Wildwood Hotel very deliberately ended with her facing down her mistakes and moving on from what happened in her first month. So Roses Manor, Weston is meant to kind of be the start of Gabriella’s next act.

The idea for Roses Manor, Weston was actually sparked by two distinct things: listening to a Digital Folklore podcast episode about two years ago about an online video game that went beyond its original framework, and watching We’re All Going to the World’s Fair last fall. Even though the end result is nothing like We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (which you should watch. I didn’t love it as much as I Saw the TV Glow, but that’s because few things in this world could compare with ISTTG. But it’s very cool), the idea of doing a book where the main case is entirely online was very appealing and a major challenge. 

Especially because I don’t play video games. I used to play Gameboy and Super Nintendo as a kid. But I distinctly remember the first time I played Nintendo 64 at my cousins’ house shortly after the system came out. When Mario moved in a direction that wasn’t left to right on my screen, something short-circuited in my little brain and I realized that my video game career was over. And when I returned to N64 to play Mario Kart with roommates after college and Luigi flew backwards over the starting line while everyone else moved forward, that only confirmed what I’d suspected as an 8-year-old. 

So part of the reason this took longer to write than usual was the amount of planning I had to do to make it seem as authentic as possible. The other reason is actually something that made parts of this volume unexpectedly personal. I have a neurological condition that has significantly impacted my life over the past five years and will continue to do so indefinitely. It’s not something fatal, but it is debilitating. And it slowed down my writing at points, but it has also impacted my life way beyond that, including my non-writing career plans. I can’t go back to my pre-parenthood career, but neither can I now go into the career I planned to retrain for before we realized the extent of my health problems. And yes, my own experience has influenced large portions of Madelyn’s storyline throughout the series, but this is the first volume where it’s becoming clear that there’s a chance she can’t continue in this field, that willpower might not be enough. And no matter what ideas James has to adapt for her future with the Foundation, it might be out of all of their hands.

Not saying that is the case, just that there’s a chance. And as someone who has twisted myself to figure out ways to make my career goals happen, I felt an obligation to be honest with her storyline, the same way I don’t want everything about her to be about her disability. Or for Madelyn to be sweet and accepting about everything, with a perfect response to every frustration. So her snippy little comments in Sterling Hill Road or the scene in Roses Manor, Weston when she lashes out at Gabriella before realizing the implications of what she just said felt important for me to include. I’m not perfect, I’m guilty of that shit too. But it’s things like these that make Madelyn her own character, not just inspiration for someone else who could make it up those stairs to Roses Manor.

On a different note, if you’ve read my series New Winslow, then you know that my writing style can fall into what my husband once playfully referred to as, “Oops! All subplots.” Roses Manor, Weston and Sterling Hill Road definitely fall more into that category than the earlier volumes in the series. This wasn’t intentional, but it makes sense for these two since they both play a role in setting up the second “season” of the series, which starts with Book 11. (That’s not official, FYI. But Book 10 kind of ends the first part of the series. Don’t ask how many parts there are, I have no clue.) Everyone has a subplot of their own alongside the main plot and maybe an additional “official” subplot. I’m not saying that there will never be NCPU books like this later in the series, but this format is not the usual approach and it’ll return to a less subplot-heavy form in Book 10.

Which is an absolute nightmare of a story, fyi. There will be content warnings linked on my site for those who want them when the time comes. But like I said, this first part of the series is coming to a close and while the next part isn’t completely different, Book 10 is definitely the scariest volume so far and brings things in a new direction.

But that’s not what this letter is about and it’s running on for too long anyway. If you’ve not only read the whole series up until now, but opened this letter and read the entire thing as well, thank you. I love writing this series, it’s something that I find so fulfilling and helps me through my own hard days. I hope to continue doing so for a long time.

Talk to you soon!

-Amanda

(PS: If you’re not already on my mailing list, that’s where you’ll find information about upcoming North County books, as well as anything else I’m working on. I’m also on Instagram, but your best bet to find out release dates is definitely my mailing list. Sign Up Here and get a free copy of The Lancaster Line. Normally that one is for sale only, but as a thank you for signing up and clicking through this letter, you’ll get it for free.)