Operation Backlog Completion 2026

2026 Writing Goals

 Writing  2 Responses »
Jan 052026
 

Last year I switched how I was handling my yearly writing goals, and it went pretty well.

My goals for 2025 were to finish my current in-progress short story, write and submit at least two more pulp fiction stories, and continue working on short stories.

I failed that first goal but succeeded at the other two. That’s left me even more motivated heading into 2026, so here we go!

By 2027, I will:

  • Resume querying agents about my completed novels.
  • Continue writing short stories.
  • Resume submitting short stories for publication.

Yes, after taking some time to focus on short stories, I found that I’d like to resume sending queries for my novels. On top of that, my renewed short story energy means I should start submitting those again as well, something I hadn’t done since 2021. In fact, I already submitted one short story this year… and got my first rejection letter of the year.

But hey, you can’t get a story accepted if you don’t try.

For my fellow writers out there, what are your 2026 writing plans and goals?

It’s Time for Personal WriMo 2025!

 Writing  2 Responses »  Tagged with:
Nov 032025
 

October is finished, this year’s Celebrating All Things Spooky contest winners have been contacted, and… there’s no NaNoWriMo this November.

Last year, I had already decided not to use the official site and did my own Personal WriMo instead, and this year the official NaNoWriMo isn’t even there as an option.

But that’s okay. I’ll just do a Personal WriMo and track it right here once again!

I also have it displayed in the header again, although… I’ll try to see if there’s a way to make the font more readable. At least the progress bar is there.

Personal WriMo 2025
Phase:November
100%

I’m off to a good start, with just over 6,000 words written at the time of posting this.

Last year I wrote short stories, but this year it’s time for another novel! I have an idea for a romantic mystery novel that I’ve begun work on, something a bit different from my usual stories. Will it hold up for a full 50,000 words? I certainly hope so!

Are you doing any sort of NaNoWriMo-esque challenge this November?

Celebrating All Things Spooky 2025 is Here!

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, My Games, My Stories, Video games  7 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Oct 012025
 

October is here, and I’ll be honest, I was tempted not to do Celebrating All Things Spooky this year, considering how backed up my backlog has become even by my standards!

But with some good horror games looming over me, I decided to go ahead with it anyway. Just be aware that I might not be able to stick to my usual pace of reviews (although I’ll still try). So let’s get started with Celebrating All Things Spooky 2025!

Contest

As usual, there will be a contest! Be sure to pay attention to the rules, as some details have changed.

Prizes:

  • Alan Wake (gift sent through Steam)
  • Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (gift sent through Steam)
  • Not It: Spookiest Edition (gift sent through Steam)
  • Silent Hill 4: The Room (gift sent through GOG)
  • Dead Age (Steam code)
  • Lakeview Cabin Collection (Steam code)
  • Tormented Souls (gift sent through Steam)
  • eBook copy of The Book at Dernier
  • eBook copy of It Came Back
  • $15 sent through PayPal
  • You pick a game for me to review!

If you choose the review option, your chosen game must be something I either own or is easily obtainable, which you can discuss with me beforehand. It must be a single game, not a collection (although the chosen game can be part of a collection). I will start playing it in November.

Rules:

  • No purchase is necessary.
  • Only comments made between October 1, 2025 at 12:00 PM EDT and October 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT will be counted.
  • 1 non-spam, non-anonymous comment on any Celebrating All Things Spooky blog post, including replies to other comments or posts from previous years = 1 point.
  • You must use an email address or website URL (or include another way of contacting you) in your comment so I can contact you if you win.
  • You must earn at least 5 points to qualify for a prize.
  • The top 3 qualifying point earners will win prizes.
  • The person with the most points will get their first pick of the prizes. The person with the second most points will pick second, and the person with the third most points will pick third.
  • In the event of a tie, tied winners will be contacted at the same time. A tie for third place will allow for more than 3 winners. If tied winners choose the same prize, duplicate prizes will be possible.
  • The winner will be contacted by November 2, 2025.

Sale

Meanwhile, you’ve got some sales to watch out for again! For the rest of this week and up through the weekend, my zombie comedy novella The Zombie Mishap is available on Amazon for just $0.99!

Looking for something a bit scarier? As we get closer to Halloween, watch for similar sales on my horror novellas The Book at Dernier and It Came Back!

When it comes to the visual novels I’ve worked on, the lighthearted supernatural otome game The Last Act is currently on sale on Steam! Meanwhile, I don’t know if the horror visual novel Not It will get a sale closer to Halloween or not, but I’ll keep an eye out.

Conclusion

For the rest of the month, I’ll highlight horror games and other spooky games (and sometimes other media) as often as possible, giving this blog a spooky feel in honor of Halloween. I’ll try to cover a variety of game types and styles, so stay tuned.

The scariest thing facing me is my backlog, but don’t worry about that. Let’s get Celebrating All Things Spooky 2025 started!

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