It might come as no surprise that when I reflect on 2025, it’s largely shiny because it was full of firsts. I held *both* of my first two books in my hands for the first time. I received *all* of my first blurbs for them. I signed oodles of book plates. I moved out of my home state of Texas to Minnesota. I had my first launch party. I saw my books in-stores for the first time, with a shelf talker, a signed sticker, a local author sticker. I had my first in-person book signing. I was reviewed in some amazing publications, including The Wall Street Journal to high praise. Any way I slice it, it’s been an incredibly fulfilling year writing-wise, with so many firsts that were long held dreams come true.
It wasn’t just sitting back and enjoying the ride, though. This year was also packed with work. I published The Extra with Shortwave Publishing, a novella and my debut book. This included my first audibook, read by the talented Sean Patrick Hopkins. I also published two original short stories: “A Song of Being Left Behind” in F(r)iction Issue #25: Fairytales and “The Grief Machines” in Swing Magazine, Vol. 2, Issue 1. One original poem came out: “The Bundles” in the Horror Writers Association’s Poetry Showcase XII. And I had a foreign language translation with “So Sings the Siren” being translated into Spanish: “Así Canta la Sirena” in Déjate Caer, La Tuerca Andante.
I also sold my first sequels! Shortwave loved my pitches for The Other and The Spare, which together with The Extra we’re calling The Outsiders Sequence. I had one story accepted in an incredibly competative anthology called Silent Nightmares: Haunting Stories to Be Told on the Longest Night of the Year, edited by Michael Bailey and Chuck Palahniuk, with Saga (Simon & Schuster). And I was invited to write a story for another anthology, announcement forthcoming. Of those sold, I wrote all but “We Have Always Been Red” this same year that I sold them, for somewhere around 55,000 words of fresh fiction.
Not bad for a world on fire, selling a house, moving across the country, starting a part-time volunteer job, and moving into a new home.
Next year, I’d love for the non-writing stuff to calm down, but the writing stuff looks just as full if not more so. My collection You Have to Let Them Bleed comes out soon, in February, with an in-person launch event planned for 2/17. The Extra’s second edition/re-release with Simon & Schuster distribution is in March. And The Other comes out in June. Not to mention the stories I sold, and whatever other bookish mischief I can get up to. It’s a cool job, and I’m grateful to do it every day. No matter what is happening around me, being able to turn (and return) to writing is one of my most steadfast gifts.
I hope that your year has had beautiful things in it, and that you face the coming one with hope and something to look forward to.
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