Yes. The year end blog chronicling all of the accomplishments, the “holy smokes it’s over” realizations and the 2026 expectations. We get to this nexus point in the days following Christmas where time seems to slip away and we’re just living in a slipstream, looking back at all the things we’ve done, cheering for ourselves and our friends, regretting things, thinking about what we’ve lost and gained, those we’ve met along the way.
It is so easy to wrap yourself up in those blankets and get mired in the smallest of details without thinking about the big picture. 2025 has been a rough one all around. But I don’t want to lose my motivation, lose my spark that has flickered enough within the last few months. I’m going to choose to focus on the wins and on the good because I want 2026 to be THE year. What is THE year? A year of significant change. A year of making sure I find balance. Reach a new rung on the ladder. Make sure that ladder is stabilized and strong as I continue to climb it.
But first… Let’s look at some stats.
2025 - Things I wrote/published
Five things went out this year with my name on them.
BOREAL: An Anthology of Taiga Horror from Strange Wilds Press, edited by me. BOREAL is my first time editing an anthology. I learned so much from this experience, mostly how unprepared I was for the amount of time and effort it took to get word about the book out. More than anything though, I loved getting to read and edit the work of these 22 authors and become more familiar with them. The whole experience has opened my eyes for how I will approach the next book in this series when it comes time to focus on it. More on that later…
Vulpine Curse (a novella from Strange Wilds Press). Vulpine Curse was my first foray into splatterpunk horror. While my work has always skirted around material that feels transgressive, this was the first time that the door came off its hinges, so to speak. I wanted to convey the idea of how society expects those who are grieving to act vs. how it actually feels. The current political climate also provided a lot of rage as well as the portrayal of being queer and being subjected to invalidation within the deconstruction of society. Basically, it’s a heavy-hitter and one I am very happy to have put out there. You can grab your copy in my online shop now.
Where The Soul Goes (a novel from Truborn Press). This was my first novel from another publisher. I’ve self-published everything else (book-length) I’ve written and I was so grateful for this book to find a home with Kristina and Truborn. This is also a departure from my normal work. While it’s grief, it sits more within the speculative fiction genre and encapsulates dystopian, alternative history, sci-fi, and cli-fi works all in one. It discusses inspiration and the loss of autonomy, the love of food and togetherness, the AIDs crisis, being asexual, and discovering hope amidst hard times. I wrote this novel to inspire and reignite flames in those who were needing that kind of motivation. Something to help lift them. I hope (if you’re reading this) that you’ll give this book a try if you haven’t already.
The Deadlands Omnibus is a collection of Undead Folk, Dead Folk, and Nothingland along with two previously unpublished short stories “Creatures Before” and “Over My Dead Body”. This was the culmination of all of 2024’s work on the Deadlands together in a hardcover package that came out beautifully. I designed the new cover art and the interior. This is a limited run of only 50 copies. There are still some available for purchase in my shop.
“Unfolding” (a short story published in Hotel of Haunts from Watertower Hill Publishing). My first invite to an anthology. I loved the idea of Heather’s and Josh’s vision to write a collective history of this creepy invented hotel and that I got to do something out of the box with it while still adding to the hauntedness of it. This is the third anthology in a collection and one I hope you all check out.
Audiobook Releases
Three of my works got audiobook/audiodrama releases this year! Are you more of an audio-reader than a physical or ebook person? You should get your hands on these babies:
The Collection - I had the amazing fortune of pairing up with Fred Greenhalgh to produce an audiodrama of my novella, The Collection, through Realm’s Undertow series in the Trio of Nightmares collection. You can listen to the entire thing via your favorite audio app or catch it over on YouTube here. The narrator, Cliff Chapman, did an insanely amazing job bringing the story to life.
Nothingland - The last book in the Deadlands series got the audio treatment courtesy of the wonderful work of Lisa Roumain (who also narrated Undead Folk and Dead Folk). Lisa’s work is unparalleled. The emotion in her voice and the way she brings every character to life is such a driving force and I hope everyone has a chance to listen to her work on these three books.
Vulpine Curse - At the time of this blog post, the audiobook is in the final stages of being approved by ACX for release. Here’s hoping it drops before the new year… I chose a new narrator to work with for Vulpine Curse and up-and-comer Teddy Sterry was my pick to narrate Hugh and his journey through Mal Verdugo. Teddy is awesome to work with and really connected with all of the characters in the story. I can’t wait for readers to discover this one through his narration when this audiobook comes out.
Appearances
I think I did more in 2025 than I did in 2024 which wasn’t quite what I’d planned on. My hope had been to try and scale back a tiny bit in order to focus on more writing and trying to sell more stories but once again, when you have the opportunity to be a part of such wonderful events, it’s hard to say no.
BOREAL Author Panel - March 1st at Gray Public Library with E.M. Roy, Marisca Pichette, and Nicole Lynn
Author-Con IV - March 28th - March 30th - spoke on two panels (Indie Publishing In A World Gone To Hell and Grief Horror) and read alongside Amanda Headlee
BOREAL Author Panel - April 12th at B&N South Portland with Daphne Fauber, E.M. Roy, and Nicole Lynn with Matt from Matt’s Books and Drams moderating
Vulpine Curse Release Party (Online) with Cat Delani - April 30th
Stoker-Con - June 13th - June 15th - virtual panel (There’s No Such Thing As Self-Publishing), spoke on panel (Combatting Loneliness In The Writing Profession), moderated panel (80’s/90’s Kindertrauma), sold books in the mass signing
NECon - July 18th
Where The Soul Goes Release Party - September 9th with Amanda Headlee and Todd Keisling
Spooktastic Book Fair - September 13th
Vortex Books & Comics - September 27th, signing with Amanda Headlee
Where The Soul Goes Signing - October 5th at B&N South Portland
Halloween Grown-Up Storytime - October 9th at Quiet City Books
Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival - October 18th
Where The Soul Goes Signing - October 25th at Gray Public Library
Living The Scream II (online) - December 13th
Books I Blurbed in 2025
Unclaimed Property by Cat Delani
The Off-Season by Jodie Robins (Wild Hunt Books)
This Is How A Villain Is Made by Amanda Headlee (Uncomfortably Dark)
The Violet Glow of the Daytens by Radar DeBoard (Truborn Press)
The Haunting of Wounded Birds by Beverly Lee
Podcasts
WINTERVIEWS - Series 4 - Featuring guests: Clay McLeod Chapman, Scott J. Moses, Corey Farrenkopf, Wendy Wagner, Rebecca Cuthbert, Todd Keisling, Tom Rimer, Sam Richard, Jacy Morris, Rowan Hill, Radar DeBoard
Books on Sub
Sorrow Eater has technically been on sub for almost two years now. It officially entered the realm of agented subs in September after a rewrite this summer. So far the stats are as follows:
Small Press Full Requests: 4
Small Press Rejections: 8
Agent Rejections: 15
Agent Non-Responses: 4
Agent Full Subs: 0
Still On Sub with Agents: 20
These numbers feel like small potatoes but when you combine the fact that some of these responses have taken months (sometimes a year) for a response (or no response), the more you start to grasp just how subjective and difficult this business is. I wish I had started searching for an agent a bit earlier but now that I’m in it, I know that I could be searching for quite a while longer. I have faith that Sorrow Eater will find the right person to sell it in due time. Until then, I’ll keep writing and putting out more work to keep the catalog growing.
Books I Edited/Designed
For the first half of 2025, I provided interior layout work for Third Estate Books in their two releases: Black Out The Stars by Christopher Bond and SuicideMusic by Paul Jessup. Both were amazing books to work on and the latter one I also had the pleasure of editing. If you want to support small press books, you should check out both of these titles and give them a read.
Firsts
These deserve recognition. I want to make sure I note them here.
First Stoker-Con
First time moderating a panel - Stoker-Con - Kindertrauma
First agent rejection -Sorrow Eater
First book not self-published - Where The Soul Goes
First audio drama - The Collection
First time Winterviews is nominated for something! - Sacred Crypt Awards
First time featured by Ingram Spark for Pride Month Feature!
Favorites
Because these are fun.
Favorite Books:
This Is How A Villain Is Made by Amanda Headlee
The Sundowner’s Dance by Todd Keisling
We Like It Cherry by Jacy Morris
Unpublished Novel by Chris Panatier
Unpublished Novel by Nicole Lynn
Favorite Films:
Sinners (2025)
Oddity (2024)
Keeper (2025)
The Gentlemen (2019)
Frankenstein (2025)
Cuckoo (2024)
Favorite TV Shows:
Haunted Hotel (Netflix - 2025)
Alien Earth (2025 - Hulu)
Physical 100: Asia (Netflix - 2025)
Favorite Music:
Enter the 37th Chamber - El Michels Affair
The Year of Madness - Father of Peace
Born to Die - Lana Del Rey
Bird of Paradise - Cat Empire
Everybody Scream - Florence & The Machine
2026
What’s in the pipeline
If you’ve been a fan of Janet and her story, you’ll enjoy her return in a new series of books called The Dustlands in 2026. While the story will build upon the lore we’ve established in the first series, the Dustlands will be tonally different and will shift focus from Janet’s struggle to overcome her grief towards accepting the person she has become. This will examine her transformation from Ella to Janet as well as her discovery of family she didn’t know she had when she uncovers a journal belonging to her father, Amos.
Expect to see a cover reveal and pre-order information towards the end of January along with a more detailed synopsis for book one: Into the Darkening Dust.
WINTERVIEWS returns at the end of January with series 5! Hard to believe I’ve been running this show for five years now. Our guest list this season is so much fun and I can’t wait to jump into horror-subgenres with each of these amazing people. A little sneak peek at the schedule so far…
Amanda Headlee - January 22nd
Chris Panatier - January 29th
Renee DeCamillis - February 5th
Cat Delani - February 12th
Kyle Winkler - February 19th
The rest to be announced soon!
Appearances in the pipeline so far…
Five Ferocious Women of New England Horror - B&N Enfield, CT - Sunday February 8th at 1-4 PM (with Rebecca Rowland, Bert Piedmont, Jennifer Anne Gordon, and Victoria Dalpe)
Author-Con VI February 27th - March 1st in Williamsburg, VA
Dark Summer Book Fest - August 8th, Framingham Public Library, MA
Spooktastic Bookfair - September 26th, Roundhead Brewing Co. Hyde Park, MA
WIPs I’d Like To Finish
My Pan’s Labyrinth/Jaws Ride at Universal Studios mash-up WIP is only about 20,000 words at the moment but I’m hoping to finish it, spend some time editing and then put it out on submission. This one digs into more magical realism, folklore, and my Azorian ancestry which I’m really enjoying so far. And of course, it’ll be ace/queer.
Other goals for 2026
I’d love to make some/if not all of these things happen:
Find an agent for Sorrow Eater
Win a book award (I’ve been a finalist three times for one award, never a winner of any…) If not win, at least be a finalist.
Land another book deal (either small press or big 5 would be lovely)
Connect with more authors/readers
Put out the audiobook for WHERE THE SOUL GOES (a narrator has been contracted! More about that in the future!)
Start the process for the next anthology in the Biome series (Will probably start taking subs during the summer. More info on this will be coming in the spring.)
Find the ultimate work/self-care balance. It’s been a stressful year. I would like to find a balance that gives me mental and emotional self-care along with staying on track with projects.
Sub more short stories. I tend to self-reject more than anyone I know. If I can get my schedule together and attempt to get more stories out there, the better it will be for my self-esteem and ultimately, my career.
And… I think we’ve covered everything. To all of you, thank you for supporting me and my small press through 2025. Here’s hoping that 2026 brings balance, good fortune, and good health to all of us. Bring it on, 2026.
-Kat
