2026 wrap-up, word, intentions, and faves

Morning darklings,

This is going to be one hell of a year. It’s going to be filled with stories and readings and smiles and selling and being tired and forgetting to drink water then taking a long break to get back to basics and play.

But before that happens, a breath needs to be taken. I want to reflect on a 2025 that still seems unreal.

I am pretty sure I floated through months of it in a fugue state, but things still miraculously got done.

January brought my love of clay back, as I started working on a mini house collection. I moved to a lovely rental in February and felt safe walking in my neighborhood for the first time in a long time. February also brought an upheaval in my life that has taken a toll of unquantifiable proportions. In March, I celebrated my eleventh wedding anniversary. The Claw Machine Kickstarter also funded almost 200%, so the authors got paid more than planned. I finished Joyce’s third draft in April and sent it to readers. The final proof of So Simple Soft Foods arrived in the middle of May, and I almost cried with relief. I also did multiple readings. June was so busy, I lost days. Claw Machine was published, and I officially became a small press, publishing the work of eighteen authors. I also got a year older, but I often forget that and quote whichever age comes to mind—sometimes correct, sometimes older, sometimes younger. In July, I started on a book that’s since been put on hold. August was a month of art and saw me starting and completing my first whole collection, It’s Not Me, It’s My Body. I finished the re-edit and re-format of Story Rich Art in September. I also had my annual interview with A Bookish Moment. October brought the publication of Story Rich Art, marking the second anthology under Little Key Press. I also read for TellTale at one of my favorite event spaces and low-key started a huge project without realizing it. In November, I worked almost exclusively on said project, called “The Little Periodical”. The last few days lead me into editing, though. And December was the busiest month of them all, seeing me edit Animal Noir, Clocks, and go over Experimental Files (an amazing anthology I both contributed to and edited, curated by Sarah Walker—coming out early January) and Joyce one more time before they go live. That’s not to mention the prep work I did so 2026 could be a little more fun and a little less stressful.

I wrote 118k words on stories, essays, newsletters, and other creative things over the course of 149 days of the year. Both of those are my lowest numbers since 2020, but I also didn’t publish an anthology in those years. And that took time away from my own writing. I also didn’t spend a month embracing my artist side in a way I haven’t since I was a teenager (which I plan on doing again many times over). So, no regrets.

I read 137 books. The breakdown: 22 creativity-related, 12 fiction, 1 graphic novel, 5 health-related, 1 kid-lit, 26 memoir, 54 non-fiction, and 16 psychology-related. Beyond that, I read the submission pieces and edited for Clocks, as well all of the stories for my other anthologies.

My health was, has been, and still is a bit of a mess. I still get saline infusions twice a week (and will indefinitely) because my body doesn’t really retain water like a healthy body does. I can drink 90 ounces of water a day for a month and be dehydrated. But the infusions have made it so I can enjoy sweet potatoes on occasion. Cookies are still in rotation, as are rice and cauliflower noodles. But eating is still not regularly on the table. Pain is still very much a 24/7 thing for me, as are dislocations and dissociations. If I pace correctly, things are manageable, though. Thus why 2026 will be A Lot, and thus why I pushed so hard over the last two months, just trying to make it so I could truly enjoy the coming months, rather than live in near-relapse mode.

All of that is to say, I was crazy busy, dealing with a lot, and still got So Much Accomplished. I’m so pleased. I am lucky that the hubs has helped me so much, or I wouldn’t have gotten ¼ of that done.

2026 word

After such a busy year, moving into another one feels as daunting as it does exciting. 

I wanted my 2026 word to encapsulate what I want my year/days/weeks/hours to look like, what I expect and how I want to handle it, what I need to stay healthy—the whole kit and kaboodle. Kind of impossible, really. Or so I thought.

2026 year’s word is grounded.

I’m learning to ways to connect with myself and my body. I’m sorting through latent traumas I swore I’d dealt with. I’m managing a lot and trying to stay creative and present. The only way to do that is to stay grounded. I need it, I want it, I have to be it.

What’s your word?

intentions

I could go on forever about what I want my 2026 to look like, but 2020 taught us that we know nothing. With a dictator in charge, I’m not even sure I can go through with the Clocks kickstarter because tariffs may make shipping an impossibility. So all I can do it say I’m that I know things will be wonderful and hard and easy and bad and everything in between, and through it all, I just want to be able to spend time with people I love, rest, enjoy the world around me, intake content and not just create it, and end the year being a person who doesn’t get a compliment about being prolific. Instead, I want people to be surprised at how balanced I am, how healthy and creative (in the same breath). Mostly, I just want to smile more than I have in a while.

faves

I often make this its own newsletter, but there is just so much to share over the next few weeks that I thought it better to put it here. I want to make sure I share some essays and Little joys soon too! :)

Let’s dive in to my favorite stuff of the year. First up, books.

Non-fiction

As mentioned, I read 137 books this year, most of them non-fiction in some way. I’m lumping all non-fiction together this year because many blur the edges between one aspect of non-fiction (i.e. not just a memoir, not just a focused study).

fiction

I read few fiction books this year, so the pool was fairly small. Still, I chose one standout. It was a fun romp.

games

Should come as no surprise I chose my go-to game. Also, there was a cozy game that stole my heart. The hubs and I played it all the way through on Saturday, and It was a delight.

shows

I watched many TV shows this year—so many I’ve forgotten them. That doesn’t speak highly of many of them, I think. They were fun but not remarkable. There were some that stood out. One I’m still actively watching, even. I have to add it, though, because honestly, it’s so adorable.

leaving behind / more of

leaving behind

not being valued

explaining my decisions

smiles, going to Portland, or pretending to be more okay than I am as a default

accepting things that make me uncomfortable

my s++ game

irrational and/or hypocritical expectations

giving time away for free

having so much on my plate I can’t pace

negative self-talk

being so worn out from doing for others I don’t have rest time

more of

somatic exercises & grounding techniques

spontaneously trying new things without a reason

old tv shows that feel cozy

miniature tokens to mark achievements

my a– game <3

people who respect me and my time

using my calendar app with everyone

accepting any/all help—human or otherwise—to streamline my life

afternoon neighborhood walks

puns and sarcasm, with the end goal of being an old British woman

Whether 2026 goes according to plan, blows up in my face, or any iteration in between, I hope you’ll be here through it all. I have much already in store for you, much to learn that I look forward to sharing, and so many unexpected things we can both enjoy as they happen. So stick around for another year of creativity and the microdosing a possible future memoir!

What do you want your year to look like?

Until next time, harness the Little darknesses and embrace the Little things.