Unmet, but unbowed

As is traditional, I like to do an accountability post or two around the new year, looking back on what I achieved as a writer, and I guess it’s time to do exactly that.

So, what did I achieve last year?

Uh…

Not a lot, really.

Okay, that’s maybe not entirely true, but it’s not far off. This time last year I released Walker, the standalone prequel to The Sunset Chronicles, and then grandly declared my intentions to wrap up The Sunset Chronicles, Darkness Rises, and Bleakwood, all by the end of the year. I even made a nice graphic for it.

Now, if you look what happened next, there’s no way to frame things as anything other than an unmitigated disaster. I released season 4 of the Chronicles, and very little else. Bleakwood lays abandoned, and there were no more Darkness Rises books.

I also can’t ignore the fact that this has been a hard year, just on a psychic, being-a-human level. The world is a darkening place, with AI coming to strip the arts of all meaning, war and desperation everywhere you turn, and a creeping, rising fascism that’s being cheered on by billionaires, all while the world grows that little bit hotter.

But let’s see if I can frame my 2025 another way, anyway. It’s clear to me now that the above graphic was never achievable. I decided I wanted to quit writing, gave myself an unrealistic timeline to do so, and made a giant spreadsheet that told me it would, somehow be possible. Perhaps if I gave up on all of those pesky things like my job, my family, and, I dunno, breathing air.

But while I had whole months in which the scale of this failure crushed what little enthusiasm remained, I did get some writing done. Quite a bit, in fact. Just before Christmas I wrote The End on the first draft of The Sunset Chronicles. I can see now just how much getting to the end of this project was weighing on me, but now I know exactly where the story is going, and, thankfully, am pretty jazzed about both the journey and the destination.

So, not entirely a disaster. There’s a little in the way of mitigation, but I’ll cling to it, and ride it into the new year.

So, what else did I say I wanted to achieve in 2025?

I want to sort out my health this year. I’m not going to go into the specifics of that, but as I hit my mid-forties, I’m increasingly aware that the disdain with which I’ve long treated this meat bag that contains me is no way to live. So, I’m getting serious this year.

Ahem. Let’s move on, shall we?

So what’s coming up in 2026, then? Well, there are plans. There’s even another big spreadsheet. There are health goals, too. But when it comes to goals, maybe the main thing I can take away from last year is a lesson:

Let’s not talk about them, eh?

You should be hearing from me a bit more than last year, starting in two weeks when I have some news on print versions of The Sunset Chronicles. After that, I’ll be moving to a fortnightly schedule with these mails, and there’ll be a release in pretty much every one. At least that’s the aim. No goals, remember?

Oh, and as per usual I have done a roundup of my favourite movies, books, music and TV of the year, but I didn’t send it out as a mailer, because I’m pretty sure most people subscribed to this list to hear about my books don’t need to hear me waxing lyrical about the new Callous Daoboys album. But you can find that here, if that’s your bag. There’s even some playlists of my favourite music from the year.

Year in Review - 2025

·

December 18, 2025

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not the man piping hot presents down your chimney, nor even the gluttonous feast of meat and potato-based-snacks. No, it’s year end list time! I have to admit, I’m an absolute sucker for reading the lists of other people’s favourite music, films, telly, books, etc. I make playlists on albums that sound inter…

That’s about that for now. If you’re someone who’s been reading along with the Chronicles, I truly am sorry about the lack of consistency. I really hope you’ll stick with me for the rest of the story, because I’m super proud of where we’re heading with it.

In the meantime, happy reading, let’s plaster on a fake smile and plough through this shit one more time, eh?

Paul