A COMPELLING PSYCHOLOGICAL LITERARY FICTION NOVEL
THE STILL POINT
WHERE ART HIDES THE TRUTH; AND THE ARTIST TRIES TO HIDES THEMSELVES
"I am no longer submerged beneath the tranquil waters of fear, afraid and alone. Yet, I cannot emerge without causing ripples that I will not be able to control; that, however, is the risk I am now willing to take!” - Chelsea Greaves. Artist.
White Plains Author Bypasses Traditional Publishing to Launch "The Still Point" via Global Subscription Model
NEW YORK, NY — Local author has announced the unconventional launch of his debut novel, The Still Point, set for 8 May 2026. Eschewing the traditional publishing path, the author will serialize the atmospheric mystery directly to readers on Substack, inviting them into a "digital studio" where the story unfolds in real time.
Set against the backdrop of a pristine house on the Hudson River, The Still Point follows Chelsea Greaves, an artist whose life begins to mirror the cracks in her own oil paintings as a long-buried secret resurfaces. The project isn’t just a book release; it’s a high-stakes fundraising mission with a $6,000 production goal to fund a professional, collector-grade physical edition.
"We return, again and again, to the places that shaped our silences," says the author. "By publishing on Substack, I'm reclaiming the intimacy of the storytelling process. My readers aren't just consumers; they are patrons. Their support directly funds the professional editing, cover design, and first-edition printing that a story of this weight deserves."
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"THE STILL POINT" DEBUTS: A SEARING NEW NOVEL RECLAIMS THE SURVIVOR NARRATIVE THROUGH THE LENS OF ARTIST CHELSEA GREAVES
WHITE PLAINS, NY – Writing under the provocative literary banner The Street Writer, announces the upcoming release of his debut novel, The Still Point. A genre-defying work of literary fiction, the book explores the brutal intersection of inherited trauma, the cutthroat New York Art world, and the alchemical power of the "palimpsest."
At the heart of the story is Chelsea Greaves, a thirty-five-year-old artist living on the Hudson River. Beneath her rising professional success lies a landscape of buried history: a childhood marked by abuse and a psyche that survives by converting agony into aesthetics. As Chelsea prepares for her career-defining solo exhibition, The Dog Whistle, she must navigate a dangerous entanglement with a powerful critic and the shocking discovery of a secret self-portrait hidden beneath her mother’s old canvases.
"I didn’t write this book to entertain; I wrote it to witness," Street Writer. "Chelsea Greaves represents the 'perfectly imperfect' survivor. Her story is about the cost of refusing to be silent in a world that prefers its victims to be quiet and uncomplicated."
The Still Point is already drawing comparisons to the works of Hanya Yanagihara and Donna Tartt for its "architecturally exact" prose and its ability to blend clinical psychological precision with raw emotional power. Moving between 2025 and shattering flashbacks to the late 90s, the novel is a masterclass in tension, exploring the mechanics of coercive control and the liberating power of creative reclamation.
The Art of the Palimpsest: Why I Had to Write The Still Point
Beyond survival and into the light—a personal invitation to join the journey of Chelsea Greaves.
Some novels entertain, and then some novels witness. I wrote The Still Point to belong firmly and unflinchingly in the second category. For me, this isn’t just a story; it is an exploration of what it costs to survive—not merely to live through something terrible, but to carry that thing forward, to transform it, and to press it into paint and canvas until it becomes something the world can no longer ignore.
At the center of this world is Chelsea Greaves. When I first envisioned her, she was a thirty-five-year-old artist living in a house on the Hudson River in White Plains. On the surface, she is a woman building a career. But beneath that surface, I’ve mapped out a landscape of buried trauma: a childhood in Brooklyn marked by abuse, a baby taken from her, and a psyche that has learned to survive by converting agony into aesthetics.
I chose to move the narrative across dual timelines—the “now” of 2025 and the “then” of 1998 and 2005. I wanted to weave Chelsea’s past and present into a single, luminous whole. As you follow her through the New York Art world, into a dangerous entanglement with the critic Charles Fletcher III, and eventually to the galleries of Paris, you aren’t just reading a plot; you are experiencing the visceral cost of her creation. I didn’t want to write a “comfortable” novel. I wanted to write a necessary one.
Manuscript Review
Beta Review 1.
"The Still Point" is an absolutely stunning and deeply emotional journey. Chelsea's story is incredibly raw and resonant, pulling you into her world of Art, trauma, and fierce resilience. A truly unforgettable read that stayed with me long after I finished!
Beta Review 2.
“I loved the unique "Palette" structure of this novel! It felt so artistic and perfectly complemented Chelsea's creative process. The way the past and present weave together is masterful, creating a truly immersive and engaging experience.”
Beta Review 3.
“Chelsea is such a compelling protagonist – her growth and vulnerability are beautifully depicted. The relationships, especially with her friends and Fletcher, felt incredibly real and added so much warmth and depth to her journey””
Beta Review 4.
“The symbolism is rich and thought-provoking, making every page a discovery. A brilliant exploration of the human spirit.”
Beta Review 5.
“The writing in ‘The Still Point’ is simply captivating! The prose is so evocative and rich, painting vivid scenes and emotions””
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A Psychological Fiction Thriller
149,307 words
360 Pages
46 chapters
Click here to support and back The Still Point - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thestillpointnovel/the-still-point-the-past-lingers-art-insists
Chapter One
Welcome to “The Still Point,” a novel that moves like a heartbeat under glass, a story where time misbehaves and memory refuses to stay bought and paid for. The Still Point is not a tidy map but a jagged shoreline, where the sea keeps secrets and the mind keeps count of them in a language that sometimes betrays you and sometimes forgives you just enough to keep you reading. If you crave certainty, you will watch it slip away; if you desire truth, you will lean in as the truth slips through your fingers and rearranges itself into another shape. This fiction thriller is not built from shocks alone but from the tremor that runs through every sentence when a person realizes what memory can do: it can protect, it can punish, it can lie, it can crack open a room you thought you knew and reveal a doorway you never expected.
So enter this world as a reader who wants to be unsettled, to be provoked, to be asked to live inside a mind that is both vulnerable and vigilant. The Still Point will not explain everything, but it will insist that you stay close to the tremor, listen for the truth that hides in the margins, and reflect on what it means to inhabit a life where the center feels momentarily absent but the urge to know remains fierce. Welcome to a book built to haunt you in the best possible way: with atmosphere that cuts, questions that linger, and a spine of suspense that will hold you through the long, waiting pull of memory toward a truth that may rescue you, or redefine what you think you were defending in the first place.
Message from the author -
OPENING THE BOOK
“The mind is a quiet room until you realize someone else has the key.”
I wanted to create an experience rather than just a book, using palette’s instead of chapters felt like a great way to maintain the core theme. Also, not being an artist myself it was a challenge to create the artworks in my mind and then set them into the narrative. Chelsea definitely has characteristics that resemble my own.
A BOOK YOU WILL NEVER WANT TO PUT DOWN; A STORY YOU WILL NEVER FORGET
© The Still Point 2025, 2026
For Chelsea Greaves, the canvas is a graveyard where she buries the things that could destroy her. Growing up in the forced intimacy of a one-room world, she was witness to truths no child should have to carry—secrets that have curdled into a "chaos and clarity" she now weaponizes through her art. She doesn’t paint to reveal herself; she paints to build a fortress.
Her journey has been a violent struggle to keep the past in the basement. When her grant application was shredded by rejection, the walls she’d built began to bleed. It took the grit of her inner circle—Madeline and later the sharp-edged alliance of Chloe—to help her patch the masonry. Her upcoming exhibition, The Dog Whistle, is her most dangerous gamble yet. It is a siren song meant for those who recognize the frequency of hidden trauma, a map of "breakthroughs" that are actually scars she’s managed to make look like jewelry. Beneath her vibrant personality and sharp humor lies a woman white-knuckling her own narrative. Chelsea Greaves is a testament to the fact that some stories aren't told to be shared—they are told so the teller can finally stop looking over their shoulder.
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