The word of the year is seek, as in seek our reasons to be curious and exploratory.

Well, tomorrow is my birthday, in case you need to celebrate December 31 for some reason (I can’t think of any other reason, can you?). I’m turning 58. I’m surprisingly okay with that. Sure, I wish I’d accomplished more so far, but given my lack of focus throughout my life, I also think I’ve done pretty well.

This past year, I did quite a bit writing-wise, even if I haven’t had anythng published. I submitted thirty-three manuscripts to different markets. I received an acceptance on one, though the story won’t actually be published until sometime in 2026. The others were either all rejections or I’m still waiting to hear on them.

I also did my “2025 Commitment”, having drawn a prompt from the Story Engine deck once a week every week throughout the year! Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure I’d make it; in the past whenever I tried a “story of the week” project, I gave up around week six or so. The fact that I managed to keep going with this one, I think, is pretty cool. But in addition to that, I participated in Mur Lafferty’s “Kick in the Pants” workshop four times, and wrote original fiction for those. Thus, I’ve written a total of fifty-six short stories this past year. That’s a lot. Most of them are not even close to being ready for publication, but I think most of them are pretty decent.

This year I also revised Padma, my novella about a medical student encountering strange phenomena. I got feedback on it from my writers’ group, and am ready to make another revision pass, after which I may just try marketing this one. I think it’s pretty good as it is, but my writer friends brought up some very good points as well.

I also did some character work and worldbuilding for Witness to the Scourge. I had hoped to write a full draft of the novel in November for National Novel Writing Month, but I ended up not doing so. I think the problem is that I just don’t have a firm grip on the story. I will revisit in January.

In 2025 I also started volunteering some time to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). That’s been pretty interesting and fun. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the people involved with the committee I’m on, as well as the staff.

Other than that, 2025 was pretty dull; no travel, nothing like that (well, we did go to WorldCon in Seattle in August). We did discover that we need a new roof on our house, so that is our Christmas gift to each other this year. We also need to have a tree trimmed in front of our house in order to have to roof replaced. Yes, 2025 is expensive.

I have already set some goals for 2026. Some of them are:

• Draft Witness to the Scourge
• Revise Padma
• Choose six stories from the 2025 Commitment, revise, and submit

I also want to start dabbling in nonfiction. I have some goals for that as well, such as write at least four nonfiction essays and endeavor to have them published somewhere. Maybe next year I’ll write a book. I’ve already chosen a topic that I want to become an expert in.

And, of course, we’ll be going to WorldCon in Anaheim this year. Hopefully I won’t have some nasty headaches like I did last WorldCon.

I hope your 2025 was fun and exciting, and that your 2026 is happy and good to you!

And as always: stay kind, stay safe, stay weird, stay punk.