Started to tell  Linda about the ending of The Toad King, of which I had a hazy view. In telling it to her, it more or less came together, with a couple of crucial improvements.

I think I've got this.

I've decided I like novellas (20 or 30K words.) They require a plot, but not too much of a plot. They require characterization, but I can also play with themes and mood. A bunch of novellas put together can make a pretty good novel.

I don't usually read short stories or novellas, but I've seen them done well in books. A couple of great examples is Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin, which is a series of short stories about an intergalactic trader. Another example is The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. I liked the first book, Hyperion, but I liked this collection of novellas even better. (It may have been long short stories, I'm not sure.)

Anyway, I have in mind a whole series of these stories for my "Tales of the Thirteen Principalities," with a common book design. Not the huge commitment of a novel, but also without the difficulty of a short story. (I'm not sure I know how to write short stories.)

At least for now, novellas seems to be a length that is comfortable, now that I've gotten busy with other things.

I do love the fantasy. Always have. So I still have an ambition to write an Epic Fantasy, but I just don't want it to be another quest, or mimic Martin, Tolkien, Jordan, or any of the others. I wanted it to be something which really captures me, because I'm probably going to live with it for a long while.

I have too many ideas, I think.

An Epic fantasy consisting of Novellas may actually be the way to go.