One of the reasons I wrote my novella “Big Love,” which is now available to pre-order from Scrivenings Press through Amazon, was to play around a little with the idea of using tiny houses to address the issue of homelessness in our country.

Now, I don’t want to pretend my story is something it’s not, because it is mostly a humorous “will they fall in love?” type story. But my protagonist, Berly Charles, builds tiny houses for a living in Indianapolis, IN. One of the key scenes in the story revolves around a community-wide build, similar to a Habitat for Humanity build, where Berly and her friends come together to construct tiny houses for homeless citizens. Her interest in tiny houses and the homeless stems from a key childhood incident.

So that’s one side of the love equation. The other side is Nathan Rafferty, a prestigious journalist for the architecture industry, who thinks reporting on the tiny house craze is beneath him. He looks down his very upturned nose at the idea of tiny houses—also for reasons that stem from his childhood.

When they come together, they are undeniably drawn to each other. So, there’s plenty of conflict, misunderstanding, and humorous mayhem to go around.

Since writing the novella, I’ve remained connected to parts of the tiny house community and have been interested, particularly, in ways to use tiny houses to address the issues associated with homelessness. Not too long ago a story from HuffPost’s “Road Trip: Listen to America” series caught my attention. Watch the 7:55-minute video.

A solution to homelessness?

Here’s another interesting possibility that was featured on the Tiny House Talk website—stackable tiny houses built out of concrete water pipes that “measure just 100 sq. ft. and cost about $15,000. They can be stacked and therefore used as a temporary housing solution in places like shipyards, under highways, or even in-between buildings.” (Tiny House Talk)

Lastly, here’s a link to an idea currently being tested in my hometown of Elkhart, IN. I love this! Faith Mission has tiny house shelters that are a key part of their efforts to integrate people without homes into society.

What do you think about these ideas? Do you have other ideas for how to address the housing needs of the homeless? Share in a comment.

“Big Love,” is now available for pre-order on Amazon. If you’re intrigued by the idea of using tiny houses for the homeless, or about tiny houses at all, or you just love a good, quirky, funny romance, this would be a good one to pick up. This version of the book has a brand new epilogue that moves the characters forward. Pre-order now and have it available on March 23, 2024!

“Michael Ehret’s novella, ‘Big Love’, tackles the hard topics of homelessness, revenge, how memories change you and finally the biggest of all: forgiveness.” — From an Amazon reader review of the “Coming Home” edition (no longer available).

Michael Ehret loves to play with words and as the author of “Big Love,” he is enjoying his current playground. Previous playgrounds include being the Managing Editor of the magazine ACFW Journal and the ezine Afictionado for seven years. He also plays with words as a freelance editor and has edited several nonfiction books, proofedited for Abingdon Press, worked in corporate communications, and reported for The Indianapolis Star.