In my first post at Marshall Arts for 2026, I promised more than just a slew of ambitious articles for this year. I promised that 2026 as a whole would be a much better year for me and many others. 2025, while still featuring some special highlights, was overall about as pleasant as being bitten by a Brazilian wandering spider while binge-watching the last season of Game of Thrones and season 3 of One Punch Man back-to-back.
Luckily, my promise of better fortunes in ‘26 was swiftly vindicated. On January 29, the same day I reached one year of sobriety from alcohol no less, I landed a new legal writing job with the Santa Monica-based firm WR Immigration! With that stability finally secured, thing have turned around marvelously. Among the highlights of the year so far:
I will be featured in two upcoming collaborative books. The first is a compilation of concert stories by Eric C. Gray (author of the phenomenal Bases to Bleachers anthology), for which I regaled my experience of seeing Sloan in 2019. The other is SABR’s upcoming book about the 2002 Anaheim Angels, wherein I will be profiling announcer Steve Physioc. I interviewed Physioc by phone a few weeks ago, and it was an absolute delight. I’m honored to be telling his story for all to read in 2027, when the book will be published for the 2002 Angels’ 25th anniversary.
The return of baseball season means it’s time to rev up the promotional circuit for my 1985 World Series book, Interstate ‘85, once again. I even have some in-person author events coming this year, including one in Kansas City. Stay tuned for the official announcements! And if you haven’t already, buy your hardcover copy from your preferred bookseller to get the book to paperback.
After making significant progress in improving my reading habits in 2025, I’m proud to announce they’ve only gotten better to start this year! I’ve already knocked off three A-list baseball books: David Ostrowsky’s biography about Roberto Alomar, A Baseball Gaijin by Aaron Fischman, and Stars and Strikes by Dan Epstein. I mentioned all three in my recent baseball book post, and I recommend you buy them right this instant.
That said, I am still savoring my hiatus from book authoring. In its place, I’m ramping up my efforts on developing a detective video game with my close friend Alex Aguilar. My goal is to finish writing its first two cases this year, in addition to other development milestones. Bringing the game to life will be a long journey, but I’m excited to expand my creativity in an entirely new capacity.
While I’m not writing any books for awhile, I have been hard at work editing them for others! I recently completed edits for two forthcoming books at McFarland: Brian Johnston’s biography about Vada Pinson and Bob Wells’s tome about 1890s pennant winners. I’m passionate about helping out my fellow baseball authors every way I can, and I’m honored I’ve been trusted with such a crucial duty for them.
As evidenced by this post’s feature image, I am in full One Piece fanatic mode (or, more appropriately, Gear 5). The arrival of season 2 of the live action remake from Netflix did the trick, turning my fascination with Eiichiro Oda’s flagship anime that had simmered since 2008 into a full-blown obsession. The odyssey of the Straw Hat Pirates has turned out to be the perfect guide for this period in my life, one that encapsulates friendship, the promise of adventure, political liberation, and optimism. Naturally, expect some One Piece-oriented articles in the near future.
With my affairs blissfully set in order, and Sacramento’s dreary early-year weather mercifully warming up much sooner than expected, it’s also the perfect time for some in-house spring cleaning - both literally in my condo, and figuratively here at Marshall Arts.
First on the menu is, well, the menu. Especially with a diverse archive that will only grow in scope going forward, I realized it’s high time I started organizing everything I’ve written into a clearly labeled menu layout so people don’t have to click “back” on my archive over and over to find something.
As you may have noticed, the menu near the top has indeed expanded, with new categories labeled “Music” and “Baseball”. However, I’m still stuck on figuring out exactly how to organize it. Much like Roronoa Zoro of the Straw Hat Pirates when he tries to explore any area, I feel completely lost trying to navigate Substack’s rather unintuitive menu creation system. I still have to figure out how to put every post under a specific menu page, which should be much simpler IMO.
Thankfully, with some help from the righteous Dan Epstein, I think I’m getting a handle on how to pull it all together. I will do my best to ensure that every single piece is accounted for in the most appropriate category, hopefully with drop-down menus as well.
In addition to finishing a fully navigable menu list, I will also look into commissioning an artist to design an official logo for Marshall Arts. I’ve been planning on this for a couple of years, and now that I have the spare income to swing it, I want to finally make it happen.
I’m still not sure exactly what the logo will look like. A baseball motif would be ideal, perhaps one that references the Royals and Cardinals. Maybe a musical theme that touches on a favorite artist (Rush is a leading candidate, especially with the reunion tour this year). Or go whole hog with some esoteric nerd and internet culture reference that most of my audience probably won’t get. Whatever it is, it will capture the spirit of Marshall Arts perfectly, I can assure you of that much!
Lastly: this isn’t a concrete promise, as I only want to enable it if/when I’m 100% in the position to do so, but I am considering launching paid content. If circumstances allow me to produce paid articles regularly enough to justify your money, I will make sure to line up some prime content that doesn’t break the bank. Even then, the overwhelming majority of Marshall Arts will always be free. While I do take pride in making a full-time living as a writer, my craft will never be defined by money, period.
I will update you all accordingly when these changes are set in stone. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in three years of Marshall Arts, and especially with a rapidly growing subscriber base, it’s time for this year - and every one after that - to deliver the best experience possible for all of my readers.
Life is grand, and it’s only getting better each day. We are on the cruise, indeed. Let’s have fun sailing into the Grand Line of a fulfilling, healing 2026.
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