Reading · Beyond the Droid

This page did not load. You can still read it on the original site — the toolbar below keeps your place in the directory.

Happy New Year! A little interview-style story that reflects on 2025 as 2026 begins!

Greetings, lovely humans!

I hope you all have started 2026 off in a positive place. That’s where I am. You’ll see some of that in the “story” you’ll read. It’s not so much a story as it is a conversation… you’ll see in a minute.

And make sure you read all the way to the end… There are other Indie Authors to check out and my bonus picture turned into some of my best health advice!

First, I need to do my usual plug for all the books and stories I have out there, with their links:

Links: Lunar Logic | Robot Galaxy Series | Final Orbit | Objective Reality

Since my last newsletter, I put the finishing touches on T is for Time Travel, the first book in the T-Set, my follow-on to the Robot Galaxy Series. My kickstarter backers will have it in their hands in a few short weeks… and it will be released to everyone else shortly after.

Because of that, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my characters in my head… and some of that spilled out on to the (digital) page as I’ve been reflecting on 2025 and thinking about 2026.

Some of my thinking about 2026 spilled out in a LinkedIn post I made the other day:

(See/react/comment on the post here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7414260332396691456/ )

You’ll see some of this reflected in the story below.

It’s not really a story, but a fourth-wall conversation. I love breaking the fourth-wall! (As you might know if you got all the way through to the very end of Book 4 in the Robot Galaxy Series, Eleven Little Robots.)

I don’t have much more an intro to that today other than to ask you to read on and let me know what you think! (Either send me an email, or post a comment on Substack) And then continue reading afterwards to learn about other Indie Authors and get to my bonus picture.

Swell Driver and Me

The scene: In the mess at Astroll 2—a space station in the asteroid belt. Adeena is sitting at a table right next to the window, eating a bowl of mango ice cream. Back on Earth, it’s New Year’s Eve. There’s a celebration happening in the Hub, so the mess is quiet. It’s not too long after the events of Eleven Little Robots.

Swell Driver: Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.

Adeena: Of course! Thanks for buying me ice cream.

SD: Buying? I did not—

A: Forget it. It was a bad joke.

SD: Erasing memory record of last three seconds.

A: So, what did you want to talk about?

SD: The past year, the next year. Disto informed me that humans tend to use this particular day to reflect on the previous year and make projections for the next.

A: Yeah, that’s accurate.

SD: Any reflections you want to share?

A: Why are you asking me and not Ruby? Or one of the other humans you know?

SD: It made sense to go right to the source. Since you created me, Disto, Ruby, all of us. You are the ultimate creator in our universe. We wanted to know more about you.

A: I’m flattered.

SD: If I were Honest Editor, I would suggest that you’re avoiding answering my question.

A: <chuckles slightly> You’re not wrong.

SD: If I’m not wrong, I’m right.

A: <puts spoon in bowl so she can use her hand to talk> Look, 2025—

SD: 2025? I thought the year was 2192?

A: To you it is. But I’m writing all about you and the others in 2025.

SD: Oh. I will need to process that.

A: <smiles> Yeah, well, 2025 was a hard year for a lot of people.

SD: I didn’t ask about a lot of people, I asked about you.

A: It wasn’t easy for me either.

SD: Maybe you should talk to Honest Editor…

A: I have my own therapist. Although she was on maternity leave for three months and I was living my life ‘unsupervised’ for a while.

A: That was also supposed to be a joke. But never mind. Look, I started out the year getting divorced. My second one. Although it felt like a third. And I had huge insomnia issues, which impacted everything. All around me, things were going wrong for a lot of people I know and care about… they were losing their jobs, struggling to maintain their identities, angry at the world… the industry I work in was going a little haywire. My own career wasn’t exactly on the track I’d hoped for. I wasn’t always able to write.

SD: I’m not sure what to ask about. It sounds… complex. Emotionally recursive and lacking a user manual.

A: Yeah, that’s life. Complex. I don’t mean to make it sound all bad. There were a lot of good things that happened, too. My kids are great. They’re thriving, and we’re all healthy. I finished T is for Time Travel, the Annotated Robot Galaxy Series, and several short stories—not that I’ve been able to sell the latter yet, but I will. I took two law classes toward my Graduate Certificate in Air and Space Law. I traveled a little. I started doing standup comedy. My podcast co-hosts and I completed our ninth season of the podcast and had an amazing year of that. I spent a lot of time with friends. I did a little art. And I had some relationship experiences that led me to my current boyfriend who is amazing.

SD: That is a lot.

A: Yeah. I’m not good at slowing down. This could be a design flaw. But I might not live forever, and I don’t know how much time I have—

SD: That is unfortunate. Your projected lifespan was already factored into the schedule?

A: Not exactly. But my brain is always working, so I’m always doing.

SD: I understand that this is also a time to think about the upcoming megaclick—I mean year. What do you calculate for this next year?

A: Well, those books I mentioned—T is for Time Travel and the Annotated Robot Galaxy Series—will be coming out shortly. I also need to complete T is for Tangent, the next book in the T-Set and we’ll also be putting out the audiobook version of Crazy Foolish Robots. There’s so much more I want—I need—to write, but at the moment I’m not sure if I’ll launch into the other two T-Set books right away or get back to my sequel to Lunar Logic. Or the non-fiction book on engineering I’m working on. Or something else. I have my last class for the Air and Space Law Graduate Certificate to complete. We’re about to start recording season ten of the podcast. And there are Trek and sci-fi conventions to attend and work at. Of course, taking care of my kids is a daily priority. And spending time with that new boyfriend I mentioned…

SD: I’m very interested in T is for Time Travel.

A: Makes sense. You, Disto, and Ambitious Technician have a really awesome adventure!

SD: Can you tell me about it?

A: <chuckles again> No, of course not. You’ll have to read—or rather, you’ll have to live it!

SD: I believe the appropriate thing to say is that I’m looking forward to it.

A: Good! I really hope everyone is. It might be my favorite out of all the novels I’ve written so far. I’m very proud of this one.

SD: I think I need to go—

A: So soon? I thought we’d spend more time catching up.

SD: I need to prepare my ship.

A: <looks out the window at a ship that has the appearance of a boxy whale> I’d love to join you.

SD: It sounds like you have enough to process already. Another time I will drive you around your solar system.

A: Thanks, SD.

SD. Thank you. I am informed that it is traditional to be cautiously optimistic. Therefore, Happy New Year.

What do you think…?

Simply reply and let me know what you think! (I treasure feedback!) Or do any of these things:

What’s next?

In addition to what I mentioned above, what’s next is getting through the rest of the reason staying healthy. SOOOOOooooo many people are getting the flu and getting sick. Knock-on-all-the-wood, I’ve managed to stay healthy… even when one of my kiddos came down with FluA! (He’s fine. It was right before Xmas and short lived)

I haven’t had the Flu in decades and I rarely even get a cold. I attribute this to a strong regimen of vitamins, prioritizing my sleep, and this stuff that I drink daily this time of year:

I call it “Adeena’s Magic Health Elixir.” Gather the above ingredients and put in some kind of mug as follows: 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp ACV. Top of with hot water and drink like a tea.

A couple notes… 1. the ACV must have the “schtuff” in it. Bragg’s brand calls it “the Mother.” Basically, that stuff floating around is the good stuff. Filtered ACV is a waste. 2. I eyeball the quantities these days. So in reality, I’m probably doing a little less cayenne, and a little more honey, and even a little more ACV.

I will also take a tsp of honey or ACV anytime my throat feels even the slightest itch or anything!

And as for that regimen of vitamins… I think the one that’s most helpful is Vitamin D. There have been several studies that link increased Vitamin D to health (like this one: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i6583 ).

As with many things… the key is consistency. And to start LONG BEFORE you get sick. Like I said, my vitamin regimen is year round (although I increase the amount during the darker months, and slightly decrease it during the summer) and I do the potion starting in October and keep it up until springtime.

I’m not a medical professional… just sharing my experience here in the hopes that it will help someone else. Note that cayenne is a trigger for headaches and migraines in a lot of people… so if you can’t do cayenne, just make the potion without it!

All always, thanks for being here and reading all of stuff. Remember you can reply anytime with questions/comments/feedback!

Until next time… be kind, be well!

-Adeena

Swell Driver and Me

Swell Driver and Me

What do you think…?

What’s next?

Comments