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 […]
2025 Year in Review Read More »
Ok, so I have once again adjusted my writing plans taking me through 2039. I’m thinking of this as the current cycle of my life, which really started in 2019 when I started making my writing the focus of what I was doing. This schedule is based on how long it actually takes me to work, so feel confident that I can meet these dates. But if life attacks and
A Reflection from the Middle Read More »
For many years, I struggled to be consistent with my habits. I could do something for a couple of days, or even a couple of weeks, but then I would lose steam, and I would just kind of stop, sometimes without noticing. Part of the problem was that I was under so much stress and living a life under duress that didn’t satisfy me. My needs weren’t being met, which
The Importance of Rituals Read More »
Late last year, after the worst year of my life, I decided to throw another project on the pile (and on top of the wreckage): getting into shape. I had just been dumped. I was finishing up my graphic design degree. I’d been living with my parents for several months. Everything had fallen apart, but I thought, this is something I need to do to feel better about myself. So,
Do It Until It Doesn’t Suck! Read More »
Recently, someone asked a question on social media that made me think about my answer. The exact phrasing of the question is unimportant, but it went something like this: Given that I am not making enough money at all, let alone enough to support myself, from self-publishing should I seriously think about quitting?’ And a lot of people chimed in with encouraging statements, like ‘Just keep going!’ ‘You never know
The Importance of ‘WHY?’ Read More »
Whenever you try to live a life where you are producing creative work, there is a trap you can fall into. At least I do, all the time. I look at my rate of productivity, do some math by determining the available hours I have, and make goals for myself. This is not, in itself, a bad thing. I am a planner, and nothing would get done otherwise. However, just
Personal Work/Life Balance Read More »
It would be nice sometimes if life worked according to video game rules. You could overcome the challenge, level up, and be able to use that new skill in subsequent levels. And to a certain extent, it kind of does work like that. You usually only have to learn how to ride a bike once, for example (as long as it takes you). Driving also tends to get better as
The Unbearable Beauty of Circular Progress Read More »
I’m on record talking about what a shit year this was for me. Not going to review that here. But it was also a year of incredible growth and learning, so as the year ends, I want to review the important things that I learned. I learned that I could survive and accomplish things when everything is falling apart, but only up to a certain point. Yes, I can
Well, THAT happened. That’s my response when looking back at 2024. The badness really started around last Thanksgiving, when I left my job at the library and things got messy. Literally, this was a volunteer job, and I wanted my weekends free so I could go back to school. The rest of the year didn’t get any better. My efforts to save my house came to nothing, and I had
2024 and Other Disasters Read More »
I wouldn’t be a writer if I didn’t think stories were important. Stories have, in the past, saved my life. When I was a suicidal teenager, one of the reasons I held on was because I wanted to find out what happened next in Chris Claremont’s X-Men comics. That sounds like a joke, and maybe it is, a little bit, but not entirely. The right story at the right
The Stories We Tell Ourselves Read More »