Writing Progress Report – First Quarter 2026

Progress Report – First Quarter 2026

How was first quarter 2026 for writing? So, I spent first quarter 2026 mainly working on completing the November 2025 novel, The Invisible Gang. I did a ton of writing while juggling, well, the rest of my life.

And then in mid-February, my father passed away. This colored a lot of what I was writing, and naturally took up a ton of my time. Which of course I do not mind in the slightest.

First Quarter 2026 Posted Works

First of all, I worked on The Invisible Gang, to finish up the plot and tie up loose ends.

Then on Wattpad I posted nowhere, although I did take note of stats. In particular, there was a rather kind review of Side by Side.

Milestones

Also, I have written over 4.05 million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined, with about 2.26 million words in original writing!). So right now, my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:

† Dinosaurs – 46 reads, 11 comments
• How to NaNoWriMo – ended up with 26,183 reads, 340 comments (pulled from Wattpad due to their severing their association with NaNoWriMo)
† My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 1,006 reads, 133 comments
• Revved Up – 59,567 reads, 531 comments
† Side By Side – 29 reads, 2 comments
• Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 17,194 reads, 592 comments
† The Canadian Caper – 542 reads, 37 comments
• The Dish – 260 reads, 24 comments
† There is a Road – 197 reads, 28 comments

Published Works as of First Quarter 2026

Also, I am amassing quite the collection of published works! So, here is everything that has found a home so far.

Untrustworthy, which is my first published novel. So, yay!

A True Believer in Skepticism, published in Mythic Magazine.

Almost Shipwrecked, a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome, a site which unfortunately is no more. In addition, this story is now a section within a longer story completed in 2025.

Canaries, a short story in the March 29, 2019, edition of Theme of Absence.

Complications, a story in the Queer Sci Fi Discovery anthology. So, this is an anthology where the proceeds went to supporting the QSF website.

Cynthia and Wilder Bloom, stories in the Longest Night Watch II anthology.

Props, a story in the Longest Night Watch I anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to Alzheimer’s research.

Surprises, a story in Book One of the 42 and Beyond Anthology set.

More Published Works

The Boy in the Band, a story in the Pride Park anthology. So, this is an anthology where the proceeds go to the Trevor Project.

The Interview, the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me!

The Last Patient, a story in the Stardust, Always anthology. This was an anthology where the proceeds go to cancer research.

The Resurrection of Ditte, a story in the Unrealpolitik anthology.

This is My Child, a short story published in the April 8, 2019 edition of Asymmetry Fiction, another site which is no more.

Three Minutes Back in Time, a short story published in Mythic Magazine.

Killing Us Softly, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

Darkness into Light, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

Plus Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline was published in 2025. You can buy it at Amazon.

There is even a great review of my short story on Amazon: Two of my favorites was actually The House Next Door’ by Trish Wilson and Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline.

The first being a ghost tour type story of Borden house and the second being. Type of what if for me which i cannot stop thinking about.

Hey, I’ll take it.

WIP Corner

In addition, my current WIPs are as follows:

The Obolonk Murders Trilogy – so this one is all about a tripartite society. But who is killing the aliens?

The Enigman Cave – can we find life on another planet and not screw it up? You know, like we do everything else?

The Real Hub of the Universe Trilogy – so the aliens who live among us in the 1870s and 1880s are at war. But why is that?

Mettle – so it is all about how society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. But then what?

Time Addicts – No One is Safe – so this one is all about what happens in the future when time travel becomes possible via narcotic.

Time Addicts – Nothing is Permanent – this is the second in this trilogy. What happens when time is tampered with and manipulated in all sorts of ways? It is the ultimate in gaslighting, for one thing.

Time Addicts – Everything is Up For Grabs – as the timelines smack together and continue to diverge, it gets harder to tell the “real” timeline from all the newer fake ones. And what if some of the changes are for the better?

More WIPs

The Duck in the Seat Cushion – in the 1960s, MJ Tanner is the only Jewish student in her school in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Navigating antisemitism is one thing. But when her mother abandons the family, MJ’s life gets even more complicated.

The Invisible Gang – Tommie Schellenbach is 63, underemployed, still looking for purpose in life. When her cousin Jackie gets sick with stage 4 breast cancer, Tommie won’t sit idly by. Neither will their friends Lola and Eden.

The economics of uninsured Jackie getting care are a nightmare, until the quartet starts to fix the problem at its source.

By robbing banks.

Prep Work

So, currently, my intention, for my 2026 or 2027 November writing, is to write the third trilogy in the Time Addicts/Obolonks universe. But I need to iron out the plot! So, I will undoubtedly spend some of this year on that. I have no name for this one yet.

For 2022 – 2026 NaNoWriMo/30Day50k events, I have decided to create a prequel for each of the 5 main universes.

These are: Real Hub of the Universe, Obolonks, Time Addicts (while the Obolonks and Time Addicts are in the same universe, I just plain want to write two separate prequels!), Untrustworthy, The Enigman Cave, and Mettle.

In 2022, I wrote the prequels for Time Addicts and The Real Hub of the Universe. For 2023, it was the Untrustworthy prequel and Obolonk prequels. And for 2024, it was the Enigman Cave prequel. The Mettle prequel is set for 2026.

So, I anticipate a lot of fun and perhaps a little confusion. But it is all good!

First Quarter 2026 Queries and Submissions

The older ones have moved. You can find them on my Publishing Stats page.

It has been quiet. But that has been by design. Right now, I just plain do not feel like putting myself out there these days. There, I said it.

In Progress

As of first quarter 2026, nothing is in the running for publishing.

I have updated the Submissions Grinder and know that, at some point, I will have to get back up on that horse.

But not yet….

First Quarter 2026 – Most Popular Posts and Pages

And, if it interests you, here are the five most popular posts and/or pages from this site!

† Getting Story Ideas – tops for clicks
• Dialogue Tags — How to Use them the Right Way – best for impressions
† Self-Review: Time Addicts: No One is Safe – best for average clickthrough rate for more than one click
• Writing Progress Report – Fourth Quarter 2025 – at #1 position although admittedly for a not so popular keyword phrase
† Set Dressing—Visual Cues in Writing – best all around with more than one “best-of” designation

I currently look at the following metrics:

† Clicks
• Impressions
† Clickthrough Rate
• Position

In addition, self-reviews of the following somewhat newer blog posts all showed up with stats this quarter:

† Community Management – Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?
• How Online Community Managers Can Follow Corporate Requirements Yet Go With the Flow
† Putting the Brakes on the AI Hype Train

First Quarter 2026 – Productivity Killers

My biggest priority had been my father. I went to see him twice during this quarter and the second time ended up being for his death and subsequent funeral. He was 94 years old when he passed, almost exactly three years after my mother.

In addition, at the end of January, we got over a foot of snow. And the truth is, that runs your life, because we had to shovel our (no lie) seven car length driveway.

It is more than just time-consuming. It is also an act that fries your brain after a while. Therefore, snow shoveling days were usually sparse when it came to creativity.

Then we had another major snowfall in February, when I was sick and then my husband was. So, again, there was a lot of mind-numbing shoveling to do. At least March eased up.

So, it was also looking for work. First quarter 2026 is most certainly not the end of that.

Also, I have been kicking around self-publishing for quite a while. And I just might have an idea to get it underway. But this will take a while…

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