I can’t believe I’ve already been writing with intent to publish for a whole year. It’s been a long, challenging, but immensely rewarding journey, and I’ve only just begun. This year, I embedded myself in the writing community on Bluesky, learned how to pitch my stories, joined a writing group, made author friends and acquaintances, and honed my skill. I know that the book I’ve written is not the best book or the perfect book, but it is my book, and I’ll only get better from here.
What’s in store for me in 2026? I genuinely have no idea. I’ve learned by now that trying to predict or anticipate the future is a pointless endeavor; all we can do is live each day to the fullest, pursuing joy. But in terms of writing goals, I’d like to:
- Publish The Devouring, of course.
- Finish the first draft of The Crucible of the Broken Moon, which shouldn’t take all year since Act I is already drafted.
That’s it. I’m giving myself the time to enjoy other hobbies alongside my writing and the space to work on different WIPs as the muse strikes. I can’t wait to look back on these goals in 2026 and surprise myself with what I actually manage to achieve.
Writing update
I started off December with three days of vacation at home, so I planned to get started on reviewing beta reader feedback and revising The Devouring based on their comments. What I expected was to spend all of December on revisions, format the book in January, and figure out how to publish it in February. Instead, I finished all of the revisions in only two days. Astonished and a little bewildered, I left the manuscript alone for a few days afterward, then reread all the changes I made and edited them one last time.
At this point, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment, enough to bring me to tears. When I finished The Devouring‘s first draft in January, I only felt the sense that I had taken the first step on a long journey. Now, that journey is over, and it’s an incredibly surreal feeling.
To make sure I understood everything I needed to do for publishing, I watched a Udemy course I’d purchased on sale last January, Publish Your Novel: Self-Publishing & Marketing Masterclass. It went over a lot of stuff I’d already learned through osmosis but also provided a lot of resources and information I didn’t know, so overall, I thought it was beneficial. Armed with a rundown of all the next steps in the publishing journey, I set about to formatting my manuscript.
Fortunately, Atticus made that really easy. Once I found the right combination of font, font size, and line spacing, I exported a PDF for paperback and an .epub file for the eBook to test them both. Suffice to say, loading the .epub file onto my Kindle and flipping through it was simply amazing.
Next came the cover design. Back in November, I browsed published horror books, found covers I like, and made a collage of them in Milanote. Like them, I wanted the cover of my book to have a strong central image, large title text, and contrasting colors. My intention was to hire a professional book cover designer for this step, but when I showed the collage to my writing group, one of them had a brilliant idea that I knew I could draw myself. I spent an evening on it, and it turned out so much cooler than I ever expected. I even mocked it up on some fake 3D books, which was a super emotional moment. I definitely freaked out. I’ll reveal the cover on social media very soon, so keep an eye out!
Everything after that happened at startling speed: obtaining the proof copy of the paperback, proofreading and falling in love with my story all over again, setting up various author profiles on Amazon and Goodreads. I already began the cover reveal countdown over on Bluesky, so follow me there and on Instagram for official preorder announcements and other news!
Recent delights
- My husband and I watched the new Rian Johnson film, Wake Up Dead Man, and absolutely loved it. Not only was it uproariously witty, but I thought it was more of a proper murder mystery than the second movie, Glass Onion. It was also a longer movie than I expected it to be, but I was so hooked, I didn’t care.
- The newest season of Culinary Class Wars has begun, which means my husband and I are glued to the TV every week, binging the episodes as they’re released. Having watched Chef & My Fridge and being familiar with a few of the White Spoon chefs makes this season of Culinary Class Wars all the more exciting. We’re rooting for our boys Son Jong-won, Jung Ho-young, and Sam Kim! But so many of the Black Spoons are so wholesome, too, that we can’t help rooting for them as well.
- I had the opportunity this month to play Draw Steel, the new tabletop RPG by MCDM Productions. While I don’t normally enjoy tactical RPGs that require a grid for combat, I had so much fun with this one. Without misses and failed rolls, every move felt like it mattered. I can absolutely see myself playing a full campaign of this.
A. M. Shilling 
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