Happy New Year! It's Goals Season
"Starting 2026 with new goals, long-form writing projects, and exciting reading plans!"
January 2026
Hey Friend!
Can you believe it’s a new year already? 2026 has arrived and the years feel like they just keep going faster. Last month I attended my twenty-year high school reunion, and it was wild because I wasn’t just graduating two minutes ago?
If you’ve been here a while, you know I love the turning of the year. It’s the beginning of a new goal cycle and is full of possibilities. I talked about magic in our last letter, and I think of the new year as magic. Not because it's wiping the slate clean, but because it's the point of greatest potential in the year. When the clock strikes 12, you have all this promise ahead, and that’s its own kind of magic.
And with that thought, you’ll see that most of this newsletter is focused on sharing my 2026 Goals with you so that you can see my potential. I would LOVE for you to share your goals with me, for the accountability, sure, but also to hold that little magic moment of your own potential.
The first goal I’ll share is about growing my audience. I’m hoping to grow my Instagram followers to 500, my Bluesky followers to 1,500, and this newsletter to 70 subscribers. If you’re following me in any of those places, you’re going to see more of me! I really want to be more intentional about being in community and sharing more about my writing life so this isn’t so lonely and hopefully I get to chat more with new readers.
I didn’t write any fiction this month, but I have been working on preparing to query and starting a new long-form project. I’m calling said project Utter Destruction (UD) because that’s the focus of our main characters. That’s all I’m saying at the moment, though I have some thoughts about what that looks like. We’ll see how it goes.
My plan is to start querying on the 5th and to push myself to submit to 100 agents (not all in the month of January, but I do want to try for a big chunk). I’m terrified to do this and fighting the voice that’s telling me this book, like my last book, isn’t good enough, and I need to go back and make it better. There’s likely something to that. I’ll probably get 100 nos. BUT what I do know is that I need to just get it out there. 100 nos is information. Without it, I live in what if. And I’m really tired of living in the land of what if. So I’m writing more long-form projects because how will I be a traditionally published novelist if I’m not writing long-form? I’m trying not to be discouraged by the idea that people will forget about me in the interim (See goal above!)
2026 Goals
Write 3 Long Form Projects (Novella or Novels)
Query 100 Agents with WSMS
Submit 1 non-fiction piece to a mag
For 2026, I hope to accept at least five panels, author events, readings, or other events. I’m also planning to attend 5 author events cause I’d like to build my community a bit more.
Reading
Ok, rather than sharing my reading from the last month, I’m going to share my reading goals! I try to give myself a few categories to read, like my own personal reading challenge. This year's list isn’t as obviously diverse in its structure as other years, but I work on balancing the BIPOC, queer, etc, authors and characters as best I can. Enough disclaiming:
5 Books Published in 2025
10 Books Published in 2026
2 Books in Translation
2 Craft Books
1 Anthology
2 Literary Magazine
1 Classic SFFH
5 Books I own
In addition, I’ll probably try to read at least 22 books beyond these categories
Are you on StoryGraph? That’s where I’m doing all my tracking. Come find me.
Looking for a new audiobook platform that’s not going to support B*zos? Check out Libro.fm (this is a referral link).
Watching
 | I loved Knives Out and the “sequels” have been great as well. I think this one had the most obvious mystery but some of the facts are definitely interesting and the message about forgiveness and focusing on people rather than the game I think is cool. |
 | I’ve never read The Long Walk and honestly the brutality of it makes me not want to read it. Honestly, it was the hunger games but somehow…worse? What got me through was believing in the homoeroticism of the main boys we’re following. |
 | This one is a classic! I see clips from it on TikTok all the time and this time we decided to watch it. There are some questionable wigs in this movie but lets be clear, the message is a good one: Don’t wait until the last minute to live the life you dream about. Now don’t go blowing every dollar you have but there are ways you can live your life fully. Take a few risks. Honestly a perfect movie for the Pre-New Year period. |
Listening
The Winter Playlist has arrived!!!! Still lots to add but this is the playlist so far. I’ve moved to Youtube cause…ya know.
Writing Links
Life Links
