2025 was kind of a big year for me, even if it wasn’t in any major groundbreaking way (I did not crack the USA Today list, sorry to say). However …
I published 4 books:
Beneath the Silent Stars (Broken Stars Finale)Ghosts of Exile and Other Stories (My first short story collection)
World Enough and Time (Standalone Contemporary Sci-Fi romance)
The Lion and the Sparrow (Standalone Fantasy Romance)
I ended 2024 by finishing my Graphic Design degree. Thank you to the state of California for giving me the grant that paid for that, and I have used my skills this year in creating covers for all these books, plus additional books for friends and pieces for my portfolio. I am proud of the work I have done in this area.
I’m still writing but am on track to have written 300,000 new words this year. I completely wrote, and am now editing, Valley of Storms (Ascension Apocalypse Book 2). I also may finish a second book; a standalone sci-fi romance titled The Calculus of Hope. I’m getting close to the end and really want it done by Christmas. I’m taking Christmas-New Year off whatever happens, but I think I can sneak it in under the wire. This is the book in which I directly confronted my fundamentalist trauma through the lens of interstellar first contact. It is deeply personal, and as every book is while I’m writing it, it’s my favorite thing I’ve ever written. So far.
I had the best book launch I’ve ever had, with The Lion and the Sparrow. I did two weeks of a Facebook boosted post with the cover and the blurb and that was really successful. It’s already the second best-selling of my books (Blade of Shadows, Wings of Light is still my first but tLatS is catching up fast). I general, I made more money from publishing this year than I have any year in the past. Still not a huge amount but after a lackluster 2024 it was good to have more success in this area.
I finally figured out a productivity schedule that works for me, enabling me to write 10,000 words a week and spend five hours editing a different project. I also devised the schedule of working ten weeks and then taking two off, to give myself a break and to avoid burnout. Writing is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, but it is a heavy cognitive lift and it’s important to take breaks. This was a very productive year, but at no point did I burn out, and I’m still going in December, and I usually take that entire month off.
I gave a presentation online and at our local library about how to get in touch with your creativity, and that went well both times.
Personally, I spent a lot of time this year working out and getting in better shape, and that feels amazing. Still not all the way where I want to be, but I’m pivoting to maintenance and more gradual strength training strategies now. I lost twenty pounds over the course of 2025 merely by being more mindful of my diet and getting exercise. I seem to have wrangled my finances into a better state as well, getting out of the underwater status I’d been in for several years.
So, I’m ending 2025 in a stronger, more confident position than I was in at the start. A lot of life stuff happened, including a catastrophic health crisis for my daughter and newborn grandson, but I was able to be there for the people I loved and not completely collapse (everything and everyone is fine now don’t worry). I feel like my audience is finally finding me, which is all I’ve ever wanted from publishing.
I also developed a publishing plan for the next 14 years of my life, of books and series I want to work on and put out and a manageable schedule for getting there. 28 more books written and published by 20, making a total of 41 in 19 years. That will end what I’m thinking of this current cycle of my life. I have a feeling I won’t be done, but I’m purposefully waiting until I get there to decide what to do next. I might launch into another cycle of books. I might want to do something completely different. I don’t know who I’m going to be when I get there, and I’m not making decisions for him just yet.
So, what’s in the immediate future? In 2026 I plan to publish Valley of Storms (you can already pre-order this and it will be out April 2) and The Calculus of Hope. I will be completely drafting The Radiant Tomb (The Circle and The Shadow Book 2) and I will get a huge chunk drafted on The Paradox Matrix, Book 1 of Guardians of Forever, a new far future super-hero space opera series I am really excited about. I kind of think of this as ‘My Stars Wars (though that’s where the similarity ends).
I’ll be giving an Author talk in January at our local library. Also, in January I’m launching Rocket Sword Creative Services, in which I will be taking commissions for cover design work and line/copy editing. Hoping this side hustle will make me even more financially solvent (and I have actual college degrees for both things).
I’m really looking forward to 2026. I feel like I really locked in this year and want to continue that process, even while I explore other opportunities. Thank you for coming on this journey with me so far.