This post is going to be a bit shorter than the one for the first half.
As promised: house renovations. We moved out for three months, and there was a significant to-do list before and after that period, so it absolutely dominated the back half of the year. But it was a success! We had been planning to fix our kitchen since moving in 15 years ago, amazing to finally have it sorted, and as part of the flow-on effects we pretty much improved the entire house. Very happy. Walking around still feels a bit weird, like being in a dream where the geography doesn’t quite match reality, but with very nice carpet (not usually a feature of my dreams).
As promised: Morgue’s Basic D&D, an homage to the game that introduced me to the activity that would come to dominate my creative life. Three game releases that I’d planned to get out into the world at the start of 2024, for the 50th anniversary of D&D, but because of Events they sat there at 90% done for a long time. Part of getting them finished was making the cover illustrations, which was very enjoyable. As is obvious, I am an artist of wildly limited ability, but in this era of A.I. everything it was pleasing to put my amateur and imperfect efforts on display!
And that was all that got out the door. I finished the next FiveEvil release, which will come clambering out into the light next year, and made progress on a few other small projects too. Personal life wise, things have achieved a rare stability on many fronts, so that’s good. I’ve maintained my Nick Carraway engagement with social media (within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life), which feels like a sustainable way to get the neat discoveries without letting too much poison into my veins.
I have been overstretched for years and it has taken a toll, but I have successfully dealt to that. My aim in clearing the decks has been to choose mindfully what to take on, and to make time for the things I need in my life, and that I have yet to sort out. There is a really exciting unannounced TTRPG project I’m keen to dive into, and a pile of enticing family history stuff patiently waiting for me, and I have at least one more unpublished novel in me. But also I just need to keep doing the things that keep me mentally healthy, especially the things that have fallen by the wayside in the last year or two. So probably setting up some good habits there is my real priority for 2026.
And will I write the essay on Predator: Badlands and what it says about secondary worlds and intellectual property, the one that literally no-one has begged me for? We’ll see how we go!
