2025 has been a challenging year. My personal life has been relatively quiet, and for that I am grateful. For me, this autumn has been really packed and borderline overwhelming (nothing life threatening that I know of, just a lot of smallish things piling up and propagating). I’m still juggling multiple balls.

Therefore, in this newsletter I am not going to include a pithy essay about the political situation the USA (where I live) except to say that I find it both dire and hopeful; dire in the sense of the illegal and destructive actions taken by the current administration and yet hopeful because I see so much solidarity and community arising at the local level. Instead, I am going to keep this focused on my work specifically, because if I try to write about more than that, then this year’s end newsletter will never get written, and I desperately need to check it off my to-do list and get back to the writing-fiction work that is the sole reason this newsletter exists.

What have I done in 2025?

First, the Witch Roads fantasy duology (THE WITCH ROADS and THE NAMELESS LAND) was published in June and November this year, respectively; that’s my big publication for the year, and I’m pleased to see them both available because they really are one story in two volumes. They should be available just about anywhere, in print, ebook, and audiobook (the audiobook for THE NAMELESS LAND arrives in Feb. 2026). Right now the books are in hardcover (print) with trade paperback versions coming in 2026.

As well, you can read my novelette “Barnacle” at Reactor Magazine, a near/medium future story about an older medic struggling to help her community survive behind the company wall. Just click through: it’s free! There is also a tordotcom edition you can buy in ebook form, if you so choose.

That’s all very well, you may say, because you know that these works will have been written prior to 2025.

But what did you actually get done in 2025?!?

Glad you asked!

First of all, I wrote the entirety of THE FLOWER COURT, a Witch Roads universe novel. It’s a hefty novel although when I started it I was absolutely sure I could bring it in at a brisk 100,000 words. Ha ha, no, but it did squeak in as a chonky standalone, and is currently scheduled for publication in January 2027.

What is it, you may ask? I have an answer!

"A clever scribe infiltrates the imperial consort quarters to find a missing noblewoman, only to be forced to work with the Dowager Consort's loveliest & most condescending servant."

The story takes place in the imperial consort quarters, a few months after the end of THE NAMELESS LAND. It features a different pair of main characters with their own story, while also carrying onward some aspects of a larger ongoing plot. Yes, this book takes place in the palace. I thought the story was going to be delicious fantasy of manners with combative and witty banter, but actually, while it has a fair bit of that, it is also one of the grimmest things I have ever written. Enjoy.

I have also written (so far) about 50,000 words of WHEN THE WOLVES COME, another Witch Roads universe novel. This standalone features yet a different set of main characters and takes place on the eastern frontier in a story that opens a few months after the end of THE FLOWER COURT. While the TFC wrote fairly smoothly, WTWC is more of a wrestle-with-me novel as I have had to shift my expectations as I’ve been writing. The main plot element remains, as do the main characters, but a lot of plot ground, the aesthetic, and the dynamic has refused to stick with my original plan. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s to listen to what is kicking me in the head and not force but rather adapt.

On my Patreon in 2025, I wrote the first two “parts” of dragonsea, my “seat of the pants write and world build as I go” project, in which I poke at some ideas and characters in a vaguely Miyazaki-inspired world (I am not Miyazaki, to be clear, but I “see” this story in that anime style), and discover where they lead me. This is about as raw a glimpse as one can get into my weird creative process. The story follows two sisters displaced by a natural (magical) disaster and how they and their community are coping.

What are my plans for 2026?

In 2026, I’ll continue work on WHEN THE WOLVES COME and then pivot directly to finishing LADY CHAOS (which is about half done). No timelines for these, sorry. I’m working hard; that’s all I can offer.

I also hope (on my Patreon) to write two more parts of dragonsea. Each part so far is running in 12 chapters, at about 44,000 words. I have a general idea of what comes next, but things will certainly show up that I didn’t expect, as they have been doing consistently (a routine part of my weird creative process). For example, part three is going to have an unexpected and unusual POV and I’m excited to see what comes of it. It might turn out to be unworkable; but maybe it will be cool.

What publications are coming in 2026?

“Seedbank,” a science fiction novelette in an MIT Press anthology with a theme of “the ephemeral and the eternal” that I can’t find any information about online to link you to. I don’t even have a publication date, but I’m guessing in autumn 2026. My story deals with, among other things, a generation ship, and archives. FYI, it takes place in the same universe as the Sun books, although thousands of years earlier than the Sun books. It’s not a prequel, as it reflects a completely separate story idea I had that I realized I could fit into the Sun universe. The story works entirely alone, but it does shed light on one of the cultural elements and an aspect of the pre-history (as it were) in the Sun books. Readers may find that of interest.

I will again attempt to finish the non-fiction craft-of-writing “The Revisions Process” chapbook (put together from posts on Patreon) and self publish it. I meant to do this in 2025 but I stalled out due to not enough time and energy.

Also coming in 2026: the audiobook of THE NAMELESS LAND in Feb 2026 with fabulous voice actor Ella Lynch, and the trade paperback editions of both THE WITCH ROADS and THE NAMELESS LAND.

THE FLOWER COURT doesn’t arrive until January 2027, so no new novel in 2026, alas, sad weeping. But on the other hand, it’s in the pipeline and moving toward publication. That’s good news, and we need all the good news we can get these days.

I can’t thank you all enough for reading this newsletter and your support of my writing.

Finn sends happy new year’s greetings. In fact, he is galloping to greet the new year in hopes of a better world. It is possible!

As always, thank you. I could not do this without you.