The Writings on the Wall #51
Looking back at 2025 and contemplating the future...
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Greetings from the Xen’in Universe—and a Happy New Year to all!
I hope the festivities weren’t too rough.
They weren’t exactly easy over here, as my father sadly passed away on December 22nd. He was 91, mind you, and had Alzheimer’s, so it’s not like it came as a big surprise, but the timing was terrible (the funeral was on the 30th and there were only like 6 people attending) and it’s sad to think that this man, who was in my life for 55 years, is now gone.
But it is what it is. We’ll all have to go at some point, no way around it. Unless someone knows the secret to immortality… If that’s you, please email me, thanks.
Soooo… In other news, I pulled off 40,915 words in December, covering 3 short stories, 1 novella, and 5 chapters for my ongoing space opera serial.
The novella and 2 of those stories were written for the collection I mentioned in my previous email. Getting it out before the end of the year proved challenging with all that went on, but I still managed to pull it off at the last minute, since the book came out on the 31st.
I didn’t announce it earlier because I realized there were a few issues I needed to fix with some of the stories, which is done now, and so here it is…
Shadows in the Light includes 8 stories that were previously published on this Substack, along with 4 brand new titles:
Deathbringer (a Reikk adventure)
What Once Was Said Must Now Be Done (where we first meet Jean-Jack Laroch)
What Paths Men Take [novella]
A Sprinkle of Moondust and a Pinch of Mint *
Salamandra Sun (Thimmin & Kelle’s first heist)
Dark as a Blackened Heart **
For Life We Crave ***
The Delicate Art of Stealing Shadows (a Count Varushka tale)
On Fields of Sorrow [novella] ****
* New story about an apprentice mage who fumbles a spell to disastrous (and comedic) effect.
** New story about Amella Dark (remember her?) investigating two mysterious deaths.
*** New story about a soldier’s return home and the horrific revelation that follows.
**** New story about an orphan seeking for her father during a war between Romans and fays.
I haven’t had time to put this out as a print book yet, but I expect to do so in the coming days.
And speaking of “On Fields of Sorrow” it is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written and so if you happen to vote for an award later this year (ie Hugos, Nebulas, etc) I would love if you would consider nominating this piece.
I made an eligibility post on bluesky that includes this and The Bank of Bones, so I would really appreciate it if you could spread the word, thank you!
2025 Wrap-Up
This being my first post of the year, it means it’s time to look back and assess the work done in 2025. And hey, it’s actually pretty good!
So, here are some numbers:
Total words written: 452,435—which includes
Short stories: 18
Novelettes: 3
Novellas: 1
Novels: 2
I also wrote 40 song lyrics and poems that are not included in the word count above. Those tend to be short enough that I always forget to add them in!
So that’s more than twice what I did the previous year. One factor that helped is that I only had 165 days where I didn’t write, as opposed to 232 in 2024!
My average words per day was also higher—2,262 vs 1,646.
I have done better in the past though and will strive to do better this year.
In 2025, I also got back into the submitting game—it’d been a while. I don’t have exact stats for this, though. And while I collected only rejections, quite a few of those were close calls that came back with personal messages…
2026 Take-Off
But wait! It’s a new year and it started with a bang!
On January 5, I got my first response of the year for a poem I’d submitted in October, and… it was an acceptance!
“A Monster Lives Here” will be published on January 19 by The Hillsather Press—a new quarterly journal dedicated to ‘gothic and dark literature’—in its inaugural issue.
How cool is that?
I’m not sure yet if it will be available online, but you can expect an update about this in next month’s “Writings on the Wall.”
Coming up this month
Back in November, when I wrote Silencing the Storm, it was with the intent from the start to spinoff Amella Dark in her own series of adventures. The first of these was published in the aforementioned collection Shadows in the Light—though I consider that one more as a prequel since the follow-up installments will use a different structure.
In any case, the first full Amella Dark ‘episode’ is coming right up and should land in your mailbox (or on your app) on January 21st.
I don’t have a title for it yet, so that’ll be a surprise!
And that’s all for this month! Enjoy the rest of your day—and, hopefully, year.
If you like my writing, please consider buying a copy of my novel, upgrading to a paid subscription, or making a Paypal or Ko-fi donation. As an independent author, any of these would help a lot!
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Copyright (c) 2026 by Alex S. Garcia.