The time has come for the end of year wrap-up. So, here goes – My 2025 summed up:
What I Had Published:
- Paragon of Faith and Other Stories – my 2nd release for Warhammer, but my first novella. The highlight here was that this was the first time I’ve had my name on the cover of an anthology I’ve been in. So, that was cool. Plus, it also became my first hardback release. Great to have this in audiobook format, too.
- This wasn’t my release, but I was interviewed in Tim Waggoner‘s book “Just Add Writer: A Complete Guide to Writing Tie-Ins and IP“
What Conventions I Attended:
Western Australia and Queensland saw a bit of me this year (Apologies to the other states. I’ll try hard to visit you next year):
- Supanova – Perth, WA
- Supanova – Brisbane, QLD
- CapriCon – Rockhampton, QLD
- Oz Comic Con – Perth, WA
- SwanCon – Perth, WA
Other Events I Presented At:
- Masterclass – I ran a Masterclass on Writing Speculative Fiction for Writing WA
- Guest Speaker: I was invited to give the keynote speech at the ‘Where Tides Take Us’ anthology launch for the Writefree Women’s Writers Group
What I Wrote – Prose:
- I completed the third novel in the Salvation series, which will soon go through the publication journey. I’ll announce the title in due course, but for now I’m simply calling it Salvation #3.
- I adapted my ‘Hostage Survival Thriller‘ screenplay into the first draft of a novel (well, essentially it has become a 30K outline). This will be my first original thriller novel offering (i.e. not speculative fiction). Again, I’m not announcing the title just yet.
- I reviewed and reformatted all 8 of my existing Aurora novels, which was a mammoth task.
- I also undertook some pre-planning for the final books and have now commenced writing Aurora #9. Yes, Aurora fans, you read that correctly. It also has a title but I’m not sharing that yet.
- I worked on some short stories.
What I Wrote – Screenwriting:
- I completed the first draft of ‘Contained Thriller’ feature film
- I undertook reviews and edits on other feature and TV pilot screenplays
And here’s where the year got interesting in both the best and worst ways – I had AN ORIGINAL TV SERIES OPTIONED which resulted in quite a bit of time reviewing and negotiating contracts, as well as undertaking some exciting meetings. YAY!
However, despite things moving nicely all year, unfortunately business changes behind the scenes resulted in the production company reducing their slate. You know how it goes – last on, first off. The change happened quite suddenly and left me a little bummed, I’ll be honest. But, I’ve been around the screen industry long enough to know this happens ALL the time. In fact, it’s happened to a bunch of people I personally know, so – – Welcome to the screen industry! It also happens a lot in the publishing industry, too, to be fair. Regardless, it was still a great experience, and I learnt a lot.
Outside of writing, my day job, and family commitments, I managed to see a few concerts (Boom Crash Opera, Billy Ocean, Metallica, Sebastian Bach, AC/DC), and had a couple of weekends away, which were nice.
So, for me, it was a mixed bag. Some really cool stuff happened and some not so cool stuff. Did I mention that I finally caught COVID for the first time this year, too?
Alas, onward to 2026! My plans at this stage are to focus on Aurora #9, my thriller novel, and getting Salvation #3 into the publishing pipeline. In between that, I’ll finish up some of those short stories and get back on the screenwriting horse.
But these plans are loose. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over time, it’s that new opportunities always pop up. And if the opportunity is worth taking, then I have to drop things and ride that wave while it’s gliding by. Some opportunities don’t knock twice.
I hope you all had a decent year in 2025. Either way, let’s try to make 2026 everything that 2025 wasn’t, huh?
