Writing Progress Report – Fourth Quarter 2025

Progress Report – Fourth Quarter 2025

How was the fourth quarter 2025 for writing? So, I spent fourth quarter 2025 on #30Day50k and on looking for work (the story of my life). I did a ton of writing while juggling, well, the rest of my life. So, there was that…

This time frame also included more time spent with my father. Of course, I did not write much during those times.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Posted Works

First of all, I worked on some newer short stories, mainly Little Red. This one has been drafted on paper and so I spent some time editing it and getting it into electronic form.

I also worked on editing older stories and finishing some, to tie up loose ends.

And, I wrote for November, in a kind of Faux NaNo way.

Then on Wattpad I posted nowhere, although I did take note of stats.

Milestones

Also, I have written over 4.02 million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined, with about 2.23 million words in original writing!). So right now, my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:

† Dinosaurs – 45 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
• The Dish – 259 reads, 24 comments
† There is a Road – 196 reads, 28 comments

Published Works as of Fourth Quarter 2025

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.

Looks like Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline is published by Riverdale Avenue Books!

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?

More WIP

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?

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 will not 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 2027 or 2028’s 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: 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!), 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 was set for 2026.

I am still in the process of writing The Invisible Gang.

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

Fourth Quarter 2025 Queries and Submissions

The older ones have moved. You can find them on my Publishing Stats page. See below for the URL.

It’s been quiet. But that has been by design. Right now, I just plain do not feel like putting myself out there these days. So, this is staying as a small section for the time being.

In Progress

As of fourth quarter 2025, 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…..

Fourth Quarter 2025 – Most Popular Posts and Pages

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

I look at the following metrics:

† Clicks – top posts: apart from the home page, it was Getting Story Ideas
• Impressions – top posts: Dialogue Tags — How to Use them the Right Way, Avinash Kaushik’s Web Analytics 2.0, a Book Review, Getting Inspiration from TV Shows, and Set Dressing
† Average CTR – top posts: Getting Story Ideas, Character Review — Peri Martin, Character Review — Lex Feldman
• Average Position – top posts (all are at #1!): Self-Review – Alien Justice, Beta Reading Part 2, Optimizing Twitter, my Resume,
Self-Review – Wilder Bloom, The Weird World of Being Published

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

† Jewish Characters in my Fiction
• Self-Review – Fragments
† Character Review — Student #17

Fourth Quarter 2025 – Productivity Killers

So, it is looking for work and visiting my elderly father, what else? And it is looking like fourth quarter 2025 will not be the end of that.

Querying and Publishing Stats
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