goodbye, 2025....
We are headed out to J's usual NYE dj gig downtown along the river, where there is sure to be lots of fireworks and champagne (not t mention apparently they are dropping the famous Times Square ball here in the city instead of the usual locale, which may bring more crowds than even a usual New Year's. It's cold, so I am much more likely to spend the evening tucked safely inside the bar instead of the Riverwalk, but I still have a good perch for the action usually through the giant windows across the street.
This afternoon, I've responding to the final few submissions in my queue, finishing up some edits, and planning out the next week or so. But I did have a little time to sit down and think about the year that we are leaving behind, the good and the bad of it. From a political/social/historical stance, things are pretty bad. Perhaps the worst year in my lifetime (and that includes the mess that was 2020.) Ordinary life, not without its losses, was actually pretty great most of the year, beginning with wedding planning. This took up a significant portion of finances and energy in the beginning, wrapped up with the main event in June, which while not in our original idyllic park venue due to the heat, still turned out pretty well despite the chaos and venue change. In between, there have been lots of horror movies, many live theater outings, occasional D&D matches. There have been fancy croissants and French toasts for breakfast, drive-in movies, midnight diners, and weekend Wisconsin jaunts. Plus, three new tattoos over the course of the year and an almost-finished sleeve (I have an appt. in Feb. to plot the final touches and will be getting a little something else on the opposite arm that will be stand-a-lone. )
It's also a year in which I learned and tried new things, including how to format books for Amazon (which I put to work on some of my newer self-published titles and, finally, a print version of LITTLE APOCALYPSE. Mostly it was so I could put together some anthology projects I have been dreaming of for the past few years. This is the very first one of what I hope will be many, and whose deadline ends in a couple weeks. I also, for the first time, drafted the initial draft of a play script. It needs lots of work after the new year, but holds at least a little promise. I also made more of a dent in the thrifting memoir and started another non-fiction project devoted to horror poetry. Many of the smaller series of poems I worked on this year will be part of another manuscript I hope to finalize in 2026. CLOVEN, which I wrote mostly over the summer, will be out very soon.
I managed to place poems in some fun journals like Collidescope, Fantastic Other, The Solitude Diaries, Burning House Press, Dominique, and Dread Literary Review. Managed to issue four zine projects and release one full-length collection in the spring. Also, a print hardcover and super luxe version of EXOTICA for my Patreon, which relaunched this summer. Other fun projects included the Poe oracle cards, new postcards and mini-prints. as well as some journal designs that I intend to bring to fruit in the New Year. I am exited about the new books taken on for the chapbook series, as well as some new printing capabilities that I will be trying out on books that have visual art or unusual formats in the coming year (and if that works out, perhaps other books down the line.)
That pretty much sums up a pretty strange year...tomorrow, I'll be looking forward to the coming year in earnest,,,so stay tuned...
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