Here's to 2026!

It certainly has been a while! But it's a new year, and we're leaving negative things in the past and looking optimistically to the future! Here's a short wrap-up of my reading and writing for the last twelve months and goals for the next twelve.

 

Reading

In 2025, my reading goal was 45 books. I exceeded that and read 55, including some single-issue comics. Here are five of my favorites: 

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
Supergirl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki and Joëlle Jones 
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft 

I also embarked on a loose project of reading all the Supergirl comics I can get my hands on, starting with the current run by Sophie Campbell and working my way backwards. I finished the Rebirth (2016) run and started the New 52 (2011) run. So far, my favorite graphic novel is the standalone Being Super, pictured above. I thought it did a great job capturing Kara's emotional journey. 

Next year, I'm hoping to read 52 books. That's one a week if I can do it! I'll also be continuing my Supergirl project.

 

Writing

I didn't do so hot on the writing side of things last year! That's due to a number of factors, including mental health, focusing on trying to move back home, and concern that releasing the last book in a series will be more of a whimper than a bang.

However, I did manage to make progress on Book 3 of The Heartfriends. I can confidently say it's looking better than it was! I also did a little bit of work on my next fantasy series, set in a land called Vesarrna, by doing some worldbuilding and planning out a novella.

What's next: Finishing Book 3! I'm planning to publish it later this year, so stay tuned! My Vesarrna plans include revising Book 1 in the series and drafting a novella.

 

I hope you all met your reading goals! Drop some book recommendations if you've got 'em. Good luck on your goals for this year. Let's keep our chins up and do the hard work so we can reap the rewards at the end of the year. 🫶

 

 

NEW RELEASE: In the Arms of the Restless Sea

It's here! In the Arms of the Restless Sea is now available on Kindle e-book and in paperback. Click the cover photo above to go to Amazon. 

 

The e-book will stay exclusive to Kindle for a while, but the paperback should be available at Barnes & Noble online and other online stores.

NEWS: Upcoming Heartfriends Novella

I have news! After working starting this project a long time ago, taking a break, and finally picking it up again last fall, I've made a ton of progress on In the Arms of the Sea, a novella set in The Heartfriends universe and revolving around Aurelia's old friend Nessa. 

I've been working hard to put this out in the world soon, so you can expect it in the next month or so. I'll be releasing more information as I have it.

For now, check out below for a glimpse of what the cover will look like!

REREAD: The Dying of the Golden Day, Chapter 6-10

Writing life got busy, but I'm finally back with annotations for chapters 6-10 of The Dying of the Golden Day!

The Road to Book Three--Part 1

 

It's the first update on the Heartfriends Book 3! I started writing this book over a weekend way back in October 2019 at the Broadkill Writers Resort (thanks, Jen and John of RDSP!). Then the pandemic hit early in 2020, and it took me a long time to find my footing in terms of balancing work, job searching, and writing. But a year and a half after I first began this manuscript, I'm here to say that I have a first draft! 

That said, it's the messiest draft I've ever written, and it has more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese. However, in the words of a friend, I now have "a whole skeleton of a thing," and that's the important thing! It's much easier to fix a story when you've got words on paper. Terry Pratchett said, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” I've definitely accomplished this because there were a lot of elements I needed to figure out. Now I get to flesh those elements out.

The next step is to set the manuscript aside for a few months. I have two short stories I'm working on for anthologies, and those are due by the end of May and the end of June. I also want to dive back into a couple longer projects, including a mystery novel, and play around with those over the summer. Then I'm going to reread Books 1 and 2 and take notes so I can make sure I'm wrapping up all the loose threads into a (hopefully) satisfying ending. Stay tuned for more updates!

The Road to Book Two--Part 3

It's certainly been a while since I've talked at length about Book Two! That's partly because I've had other projects to work on, and I want to give the Sky Forest Press projects proper attention. But it's also because I get embarrassed to talk about my slow writing pace. Though it sounds so silly when I write it down, it seems like other people churn out multiple books a year while it takes me at least two years to write one epic fantasy. That sometimes makes me feel like I'm less of a writer, which I know I'm not! As Baymax said, "I am not fast." That's all there is to it.

Now for the news: Book Two is almost done! Getting close to the end means it's easier to see the end result, and I'm happy to report that I'm proud of this book. I hope readers will enjoy reading it!

Check under the cut for a look at the cover, designed by me and my friend Erica Hogan. She also created a map of the world, which is incredible and something I've been asked about often. I'm excited for you guys to see it. If you're interested in connecting with her for her map-making skillz, you can find her on Twitter.

The Road to Book Two--Part 2

I'm back with an update on Book Two, tentatively titled The Shadow of the Endless Night! If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that I posted a picture of the complete first draft. Here it is in all its glory, which isn't very much, to be honest! Right now, it stands at about 96,000 words, which is on par with what the first draft of Book One looked like. For reference, the final version of Book One is around 129,000 words.

The Road to Book Two--Part 1

I've gotten a number of questions, especially in the past week, about the release date for The Heartfriends Book Two, so I'm starting a multi-part blog series to talk about updates! This will be semi-regular and discuss how close to finishing a draft I am, what goes into finishing drafts, and my writing process in general.