I cannot believe it's already 2026, and February no less. I've been busy trying to get the backlog of unfinished content on my hard drives pulled together, edited, and released. No more pen names, no more hidden projects for me, I'm finally ready to just accept the fact that I AM A STORYTELLER. (Honestly, storytelling has always been part of my world as a jazz musician and a composer, was definitely a core of my teaching in higher ed, and even with a startup where I worked recently, story was a critical part of authentic and connective part of my job.)

2026 will also be the year for collaboration, as I plan to work with other writers and creatives in my network. Why? Well, it's not to claim "network effects," but more because I finally have learned that my creative engines do well in combination with others. (Much more on this later!)

CRAFT, CRAFT, CRAFT

Of course I still read for fun... I always will. But I also read to have a tangible sense of how various styles, genres, and sub-genres unfold, and how individual writers develop and display their craft (stories, pacing, setting, theme, arcs).

Lately, I've been reading mostly horror, horror-adjacent, post-apocalyptic, and sci-fi books, but also some non-fiction. I read both traditionally published and indie titles and consume these books in ebook format, in paperbacks bought either at local bookstores or direct from authors (!), and/or from my local public library. [Libraries are awesome!] 

Here are some of my recent reads that I very much enjoyed. Each one of these books is a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED read for many reasons:

• KYLIE LEE BAKER: Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
• CORMAC McCARTHY: The Road
• CLAY McLEOD CHAPMAN: Acquired Taste
• CHRISTA CARMEN: Beneath the Poet's House
• PAUL TREMBLAY: A Head Full of Ghosts
• THOMAS OLDE HEUVELT: Hex
• JEREMY RENNER: My Next Breath - A Memoir
• BRENNAN LaFARO: Noose
• RACHEL HARRISON: Black Sheep
• LEIGH KENNY: Hush My Darling
• JONATHAN JANZ: Veil

Until next time, be kind to each other...