I’m typing these words on the first Monday of 2026. The Christmas decorations in our house came down this past weekend, and 2025 is in the history books. As always, the new year starts off with a long to-do list:
Front and center is The Midnight Guardian: March of the Giants, the fourth book in the Midnight Guardian series. I’m feeling a little sheepish about this one, since I had originally planned to have it finished, published and available by the end of 2025. But I decided early on to change up my usual writing process and try a different approach. Intrigued by the perennial plotter-versus-pantser debate, I opted for the latter this time over the former.
In the end, not a good idea. Writing without a pre-established roadmap resulted in lots of false starts, frustrating stalls and blind alleys. By late summer I was facing the hard truth that the book would not see the light of day in 2025. So I went back to my usual method of establishing a structured – but flexible – plot before going any further with the writing, and things are moving much more smoothly now. The Guardian’s next adventure will be published in 2026 and available from Flinch Books.
In the meantime, there’s quite a bit happening on the short story front, although I have to be a little vague here until the publishers I’m working with are ready to release more information about their projects. I have deadlines in the spring for stories in two anthologies that are scheduled for release later this year. In addition to those, I will also be submitting stories to two other crime fiction publishers that will be opening for submissions in February. One of these two has already informed me that I’m on the invite list, based on their level of satisfaction with prior work I’ve done for them in the past.
I spent a portion of my time and energy in 2025 rebooting my magazine nonfiction work. I established a solid relationship with the editor of RetroFan, who published my article about the popular Nick Carter spy thriller paperbacks published from 1964 to 1990. RetroFan will be publishing two more of my articles in 2026 (one is already written and submitted, the other is currently in the works), and I’ll be pitching additional story ideas to them in the coming year that will (hopefully) take me into 2027 and beyond.
I’m currently working on my third article for The Pulpster, the annual publication of the Pulpfest convention that takes place every summer in Pittsburgh. This year’s article is a profile of Earle K. Bergey, the prolific artist/illustrator who painted cover illustrations for pulp magazines and paperback novels from the early 1930s until his death in 1952.
I’m pitching articles to other publications as well, but exactly how all that will pan out remains to be seen. I’ll be providing updates here and on the news page as things unfold.
I already have a few book- and writing-related events lined up between the spring and late summer:
- April 25: BookBash (Conneaut, OH)
- June 7: ShortCon (Alexandria, VA)
- July 30-August 2: Pulpfest (Pittsburgh, PA)
- September 20: North Coast Indie Author Book Expo (Avon, OH)
My calendar may expand as the year gets under way, and it may include a couple book signings around NE Ohio once the new Midnight Guardian book is published.
I’m also looking into the possibility of creating an email newsletter. It’s an undertaking that would include a few moving parts and administrative work – in addition to all the moving parts and administrative work involved with all the projects listed above – so I have to think about how much more I’m able to take on, the projected ROI, etc. It may or may not happen this year, but it’s on the list of options to explore.
And of course, as promised when this website went online last spring, I’ll be updating the blog every seven to ten days with new content about any number of topics: literature, film, art, music, history, pop culture, the writing craft, current projects and upcoming events, and whatever else happens to move me on any given day.
All of the above makes for an ambitious list, and it’s possible that other opportunities will present themselves as the year moves along. It feels a little overwhelming if I think about it too much, so I try not to think about it too much. Success is often just a matter of moving the needle, even if just incrementally, every single day. So in these first days of the new year, I choose to roll up my sleeves, put my head down, lean forward and go.
Thanks for joining me on the ride. Stay tuned.