Happy New Year! I hope you’ve made your offerings to Janus, because… well, 2026 can use all the help it can get. Clearly.

News

I finished drafting Shattered Souls! And I sent it off to my agent last weekend. This means I am, of course, now in absolute knots of anxiety hoping that she likes it.

I feel good about it, though. Sometimes when I’ve finished a manuscript, I know there are still some huge glaring issues that need sorting out. With this one, there are still some bumps that could be ironed out a bit, but I feel good about the plot and character arcs. It’s a bit chonky, but (much like The Bloodstained Shade — though it is closer in length to From Unseen Fire) I think it’s tightly written. The action and emotional beats both move well, and… gods, I love these characters. I very much hope y’all will get to meet them in the not-too-distant future!

So now the question is… what next? I’m spending a little bit of time reviewing some old projects to see what I might want to pick back up — or if I might want to dive into something totally new. I want to make sure I can keep up the creative momentum I’ve had with Shattered Souls.

Also: If you’d like to be eligible to nominate for the 2026 Hugo Awards, you need to have a WSFS membership by January 31st! We at Worldbuilding for Masochists would really, really like to be in contention again this year (I mean, lbr and cards on the table, we’d really, really like to win), so I’m encouraging anyone who might be interested to do this. A non-convention-attending membership costs $50, and for that, you’ll get the entire finalist packet: all the novels, novellas, novelettes, short stories, graphic novels, etc that are up for the awards, as well as tons of audio and video, sometimes including full movies! So while it is an expense, it is also a freaking bargain considering how much content you’ll get.

Random Current Thoughts

I kicked off the new year on a bunch of organizational kicks. Not only do I have my usual bullet journal, which I’ve set up with a few new trackers, but I also acquired two other journals.

One is a “Some Lines a Day” journal, from the same people that make my usual journals. Each page has sections for the same day across five different years, and it’s only enough room to jot down a few short thoughts. With as much as I love TimeHop and other ways of looking back, I think this will be very satisfying to fill in between now and 2030!

The other is the Chani Astro Planner, which has been providing some fun prompts! Each day has a couple of small prompts tied to the day of the week, but there are others linked to larger astrological moments.

I also did bingo cards in my regular bullet journal. One of them is for total chaos in the world (and it’s 13 days in and I’ve already crossed out 2 squares) — but the other is things for me. Not all of the squares are goals, precisely; they’re more things where it’s like “it would be neat if this happened or if I did this” — like going to a Rennaissance faire, which I didn’t do last year, or tasting wine from five new-to-me regions, or seeing a new Broadway show. So when the Chani app encouraged me to put together a vision board for 2026, I decided to use that bingo card as my inspiration.

Upcoming Events

The year’s just getting started, but I’ve already got a lot of travel on the books!

First up, very soon, I’m going to be back in Orlando… and this time, I’m staying for four weeks! This is sort of an experiment to see how much I like being there longer-term. No, I currently have no plans to move out of Virginia — but regular snowbirding might be on the docket! I’m also going to be taking the opportunity to finally visit Epic Universe, so look out for my reactions to that.

April 24-26, I will again be a guest at RavenCon in Richmond, VA. This is my hometown con, and it’s always a good time. Schedule will be coming later in the spring!

Right after that, I will make my first-ever trip to California! May 1-2, I’ll be attending Encounter at Twin Suns, a Starcruiser-fan-led immersive project taking place at a purpose-built location that many Star Wars events use. I’m really looking forward to this, not least because my immersive brain wants to see how the whole thing is structured! It’s also going to be fun to inhabit my OC, Lady Annazena, again — and in a context where I have totally no responsibilities and just get to play.

Then I’ll be back in California for LA WorldCon, August 27-31 in Anaheim. I’m also planning to take a few days extra so that I can properly enjoy the place (which I won’t have a lot of time to do in May), including exploring Disneyland, California Adventure, and the Getty Villa.

What I’ve Been Reading

As always, these are affiliate links from which I will earn a small commission.

• Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher

• Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

• Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

• Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire

• Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

• Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire

• Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

• As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

• The Palace of Illusions by Rowenna Miller

• Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

Yeah, I went on a bit of a spree there. I had sort of forgotten about the Wayward Children series, so I was several books behind, but as soon as I picked it back up, I remembered why I like it so much! Hemlock and Silver and Murder by Memory are both thoroughly entertaining mystery novels wrapped inside other genres (fantasy for Hemlock, sci-fi for Memory). I particularly liked Murder by Memory’s exploration of a generation ship, and I’m looking forward to more in that series.

Of course I had to have my yearly re-read of Hogfather, and my other seasonal selection was The Palace of Illusions, a Nutcracker-inspired fantasy set amid preparations for the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris.

As You Wish was a re-read, but one I returned to in honor of Rob Reiner. If you like The Princess Bride at all, I highly recommend it. (And get it in audio, which Cary Elwes reads, with cut-in interview segments from other cast & crew). It’s a cozy little retrospective and a fascinating look at what went into creating such an iconic movie.

Wrapping It Up

So, as we barrel on into 2026, we’re all just… doing our best, yeah? Best of luck to you, dear reader, with your goals, resolutions, and hopes for the new year. Let’s do this thing.