What a year, eh? I’m going to fall back on my favourite strategy of ignoring real life for a while and talk about my current fixation.
On Christmas, Cammy put out marfGH: Volume 1 (yes, I’m plugging here, too!). Just before it came out, while chatting about it, he hit on something I think holds true for all large projects: it’s not until you raise your head and look at the whole thing from a distance that you realize its scope.
For the past year-and-a-half, I’ve been working on my debut novel, Desertbound. This time last year, I was working on revisions. Easy enough: reread, rewrite. A handful of months later, I was shakily looking for beta readers to have strangers read my work for the first time since the early days of posting Portal 2 fanfic on DeviantArt. Frightening, but straightforward: write blurb, post on Reddit, gather notes. Now I’ve finished a second round of edits and beta readers, and I’m due for a final revision before I hire a line editor. One more round of beta readers and self-editing after that, then the book itself is done.
Every step feels small in isolation. I’m only tweaking the prose, or soliciting feedback on my blurb, or checking for consistency and continuity. It’s not until I sit for another reread that I feel like I’ve got a 98,000-word novel. It just kind of happened.
Of course, I’m halfway up a mountain, so Desertbound doesn’t feel like a feat. I’ve been working on its meatier sequel (currently in revisions before the first beta round), and standing at the bottom of the climb even after just having done it a month before is a hell of a lot more intimidating. There’s also the sophomore slump, which I’m hoping is just a fear for me rather than a reality. Guess I’ll find out if book two’s a steamer once I get some eyes on it.
I don’t know if Desertbound being done will sink in until I’ve got the final copy in my hands. It might not even then, because I’ll be working on books two and three for the sake of keeping a quick release schedule. It might not be until I’ve written everything I wanted to, if I ever reach that point, that I can sit down and look at how long the road really was.
Because writing and self-publishing a series takes a lot of time, it’s been my favourite preoccupation when I want to avoid thinking of life—not that my personal life’s bad, but it’s just exactly what you’d expect from an office drone. If Pinède doesn’t fill the vacancy in my head, something else will.
In spite of this year being a shitshow for everyone everywhere, my personal life’s been going as well as someone my age (without rich parents) could have it go. Although my job’s laying off loads of employees and the work environment’s worsening due to tighter budgets and plummeting morale, my job’s safe for now, and it’s the best-paying job I can find in Canada for my experience. This year, I moved into the main floor of the bungalow I rented the basement apartment of, meaning I have actual windows with plenty of sun, more space, and I’m paying astonishingly low rent for the market. I paid off my car so I’m debt-free.
Like several of the Somnolians, I’ve now crested the peak of my early 20s and am sliding toward my 30s. I’m at the phase of my life where I have people asking me when I’ll get married and have a baby. It’s startling, not just because that’s an extremely personal question I wish people would quit asking, but because I was 19 a few minutes ago. I’ve never been afraid of getting older, though, so why start now? I just want something to show for it once I get there.
I’m grateful I’ve got a group of friends like this to keep pushing me to create—not out of obligation, but inspiration. Desertbound wouldn’t have existed without Somnolescent. Everyone’s moving forward. Connor just put out a new album; Cammy, as mentioned, put out marfGH: Volume 1; dcb’s graduated and caby’s nearly graduated uni. Site work, music, and art gets slung around on the regular.
Also, a shout out to everyone new I’ve met in 2025, and everyone who looks in on what Somnol does. Special shout out to Wolfie, who was an extremely supportive beta reader for Desertbound and has been turning up to Somnol streams—thank you for being a friend! I’ve got a hard time meeting new people. Despite writing a book being a lonely thing sometimes, it’s managed to drag me out of my shell.
Beyond the creative end of things, I love you guys. I hope for more chats, more streams, more peace and whimsy in 2026.
