2025 Year In Review

Though I didn’t quite accomplish every thing I set out to do in 2025 (who does?), it was still another successful year in the development of my burgeoning writing career. From writing to editing to publishing, and from short stories to novels, progress was made across the board. Here’s how things worked out for me in 2025:

Publications

Three of my short stories were published in one form or another, making them available to the public.

In July, my superhero sidekick comedy “D.U.P.E.S.” was included in the anthology Madam, Don’t Forget Your Sword by Dead Fish Books. It is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Madam-Dont-Forget-Your-Sword/dp/B0FF529BY8

My ghost story (actually, witch story) “Body, Blood, and Bone” was accepted by Creepy for recording and presentation on their horror podcast in August. Though only available for their Patreon subscribers, it was cool to hear my work produced into a podcast.

In September, the International Human Rights Art Movement included my short story “The Rite to Vote” in their anthology America’s Slide Toward Authoritarianism. This was the same story that was a Finalist for the 2021 Roswell Award, and I was thrilled to finally have it published. The anthology is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Slide-Towards-Authoritarianism-international/dp/B0FSRPV37F

In a related milestone, SplinterPress reached out to me to write a story for their upcoming Splinterverse anthology. Being asked was a huge compliment, and bypassing the stress and uncertainty of the submission process was one of the nicest accolades I’ve yet received. My short story, tentatively titled “Commercial Break,” will be included when their anthology is published later in 2026.

Short Story Submissions

Speaking of the submissions process, I surprisingly had a pretty good year in 2025. Though I was mainly focused on working on my novels, I still found time to write a few short stories and have them submitted for publication. Here are my stats for 2025:

• 10 stories submitted to 17 different markets

• 2 acceptances, both to paying markets, for an 11.7% acceptance rate

• 3 contest submissions, all resulting in Honorable Mentions (all to Writers of the Future)

• 4 submissions are still pending

• 1 direct invitation for inclusion in an anthology (as mentioned above)

I’ll certainly take it, and I hope I have at least as much success in 2026.

Novels

The first part of 2025 was focused on finishing the first draft of my science fiction thriller The Osect Indiscretion, which I completed last March. A couple of rounds of editing got it in good enough shape for submitting to beta readers. I received feedback from two other authors by end of the summer, and I’m working to incorporate their comments into the story.

However, in the fall of 2025, my focus shifted to my next novel, a time-travel mystery tentatively titled Airstream Dream. With my online critique group coordinating a Novel Writing Month for November—a directed focus on novel writing, i.e. getting words on the page and not editing or revising—I had much planning and preparation to do. Completing story outlines, beat sheets, and character sketches made me really think through the story, and I got nearly 30,000 words written. Though there is still much more to do in 2026, the book is well underway!

Grants

For the third year in a row, I applied for the Speculative Literature Foundation’s Older Writers Grant. In the first two years, I made it past the first round into the second, only to not make the finals. This year, I made it one step further, becoming one of four Finalists!

Other Industry Work

After several years as a Founder and the President of the Speculative Fiction Writers Association, in 2025 I stepped down from the Presidency and into a Member-at-Large on the Executive Board. This freed up a lot of time for writing while still providing involvement into the workings of the organization.

In the fall, I started as a volunteer Reader for Uncharted Magazine reading their incoming slush pile, i.e. all the stories submitted to them. I read ten short stories per week (most between 3000 and 5000 words) and either forward them on to a second reader if they were outstanding or reject them if they are not. Of the 140 stories I read, only about 20 were forwarded on, and most of those were rejected later in the process. It is fascinating to see the submission and publishing process from the other side.

Though I didn’t spend nearly enough time on it, I continue to maintain my website, trying to publish a new blog post each month and promoting my work on social media. I also spent some other creative time working on some poems and a non-speculative fiction screenplay.

Overall

2025 was a good year, and I hope to not only continue my efforts in 2026, but to grow my career with more publications in more prominent markets and the publication of my first novel. Fingers crossed.