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The Insomniacs by Allison Winn Scotch: When sleepless strangers become unlikely allies

In The Insomniacs by Allison Winn Scotch, releasing April 7, 2026, four strangers find themselves drawn together during the quietest hours of the night, gathering at an all-night diner in New York City to talk through the worries that keep them awake. What begins as a series of late-night conversations gradually turns into a fragile friendship—until one of them disappears, turning their insomnia-fueled support group into an amateur investigation.

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The setup is appealing right away. Sybil, a recently empty-nested mom; Zeke, a professional baseball player sidelined by injury; Julian, a reserved retiree trying to repair his relationship with his daughter; and Betty, the guarded diner waitress who serves their endless coffee, couldn’t be more different from one another. Yet insomnia—and the strange intimacy of late-night conversations—creates the space for them to open up in ways they can’t with the people already in their lives.

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How to create a sense of verisimilitude in your novel | Novel revision tips

Verisimilitude is the appearance of truth or reality in a work of fiction. It is the quality of a story that makes it seem believable, even if it is not actually true. Verisimilitude is created by the writer’s use of details, language, and characterization. There are two main types of verisimilitude: internal and external.

Even though unicorns may not exist in real life, your treatment of them in your story world must still be realistic to maintain the reader’s interest.

Internal verisimilitude is the believability of the story within its own fictional world. This means that the events and characters of the story must be consistent with the rules and logic of that world. For example, if a story is set in a medieval castle, the characters would not be driving cars or using cell phones.

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