2025 - A Year of Learning and Resilience

2025 was quite the year for me. It was a year of firsts, and a year of re-learning so many things. It’s also my first full year of running my editing business full-time, and that for sure was an adventure. Aside from running my own business, this year was full of travel, fun, and crazy adventures I never would have expected.

But the best part about this year was rediscovering myself. Rediscovering the things I love doing, things I haven’t done for three or more years due to high stress at my previous day job. Reading, writing, and getting outside hiking or kayaking just for the sake of doing those things has been such a joy.

Writing Life

Rediscovering reading has only fueled my writing and creativity in 2025. I actively worked on/got words down on eight different projects, resulting in more than 50,000 words. Far more than I anticipated out of this year, though I set my goals quite high just for the chance to reignite both my creativity and redevelop a consistent writing habit. It definitely took a while to create the habit, but we’re nearly there. And in 2026? I’ll be tackling a new book, aiming to draft and edit it before the year is out (before June if I can manage that).

Aside from those eight projects where words happened in 2025, I brainstormed on at least four other future projects. I’m letting those simmer in the background for now while I tackle other projects that have been simmering for years. My planned projects to work on this year are:

Secret Ballet Project 🩰— The main project I want to get done this year, another ballet retelling adjacent to Project Nutcracker (another in the series of interconnected standalone novels). Hopefully, I can write, edit, and have it ready for pitching to agents/editors by the end of the year.
Project Ocean 🌊— This will be a background project I’ll work on as I have time and ideas; essentially, when I get around to editing on the new ballet project, I’ll be working on getting words down for this one. It’s going to be a long writing process because of the complexity, but I’m perfectly okay with that.
Project Pokemon 🧬— Another background project I’m excited about, but that’s going to take some time to get right. Since I’m re-starting a previously written work, it’s a bit harder to nail some things down than I anticipated, so this one’s going to go at the pace of brainstorming. (Character Introductions here.)
Project Fox 🦊— This novella was just so fun to write and finish a draft of. So in 2026, my plan is to give it a good read-through, figure out the edits I need to make, and do all the research I ignored while writing the first draft. (I’d really love to have this ready to share with you all in 2027 but . . . we’ll see how 2026 goes first. 😂)

I’ll likely dabble in several other projects along the way, but these are my big planned projects for the year. And it’s likely I’ll be doing even more brainstorming on some other ballet retelling ideas I have. 😁

ALG Editing Business

As the first year of full-time running my editing business, ALG Editing, it was definitely challenging but so very worth it. I’ve never felt more validated in a life change than I did with this one; quitting my day job last year was the right call, more so than just necessary for my health (mental and physical). I stepped out in faith that this business would do well for me, despite the rise in Artificial Intelligence editing models and such. My biggest win was hitting my income goal for the year, something I didn’t expect to hit.

One thing I’ve learned? Every client I’ve had has greatly appreciated the human touch to the editing, because of the human brain’s ability to process nuance rather than blindly apply editing and/or writing “rules” to a piece of fiction. I’ve absolutely loved working with each of my clients this year, and I look forward to working with them on future novels and with new clients in 2026. You guys are in for some amazing books from these authors, and I can’t wait until they’re out in the world.

New for 2026, I’m offering a new editing service and a new editing package. Now that I’ve added line editing to my offerings for authors, I can’t wait to see what more I can do to help authors level up their writing and stories, all while working within their voice. With line editing, I can dig deeper into a story, helping to refine it for the intended audience and ensure clarity for readers.

I’m also looking forward to exploring a few other useful services for authors that may be added later this year. Overall, my goal is to help authors refine their books so they reach even more readers. I’ve been absolutely blessed by the clients I’ve had over the last five years, and I eagerly await all of the amazing books I’ll read from authors this year.

For some editing tips, check out these posts:

If you’re curious about my services for authors or want to hear some client testimonies, head over to my Author Services page.

Life Updates and Adventures

A lot of 2025 I spent finding myself again, as I mentioned above. That included a lot of traveling and volunteering, along with attending conferences and other writing events to help me jump-start my writing again. Looking back, I can’t believe how much traveling and volunteering I did, but it was so very needed. And the traveling really helped my creativity along, transporting me to other worlds and introducing me to new stories.

Some places I traveled to this year:

Tennessee for the Renaissance Faire — This was such a fun trip and I really hope I can do it again in 2026! It was my first ren faire, and I honestly had so much fun. The actual castle that’s lived in was a big part of the fun for this one!
Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Realm Makers Writing Conference & Expo — I attend this conference every year, but this year was both good and very, very hard. I attended amazing classes and met some truly wonderful new people, while also visiting friends. But I was also reminded of my unpublished status again, even while I got some seeds to help my faltering resilience along. (Read more in the post linked above.)
Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota for National Parks and volunteering — Although most of my time was spent near Cody, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park, my trip included visits to check a few National Parks and places off my bucket list: Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Rocky Mountain National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave National Park, and Badlands National Park. Some of these are must-return-to-explore-more places, while others I had the chance to really enjoy.
Nashville, Tennessee for the Lyrical Writing Retreat with The Writer’s Sanctuary — This was a much-needed break and chance to really dive deeper into some of the mechanics of storytelling while also deciding which ballet retelling idea to prioritize and also get some writing in. It was definitely the right thing at the right time, because it jump-started my drive for consistency.
Louisville, Kentucky for a trip to the orchestra — Another absolutely necessary trip for me this year, because attending and hearing about the process of composing (which I already vaguely knew about) made me think deeply about why I write. Not necessarily about what I write, but why I can’t seem to quit. It was a big help to my resilience, and it reminded me that sometimes the path we begin pursuing isn’t the one we should stick with; it’s okay to backtrack and take a different fork (or forge through the tangled forest until you reach the right path).

Aside from these trips, I did my usual volunteering with the local train, Spirit of Jasper. I always love working with the other volunteers, serving and chatting with the passengers. This year was especially fun with the many different passengers we had (some from across the country or even international travelers!), and honestly I can’t wait for the new season to begin (even though it keeps me so busy I sometimes worry if October’s too much 😂). Add to that the many trips to visit my sister this year, and I’ve had a very fun year full of travel and volunteering—a year that refilled my creative well in ways I never expected.

Bookish Thoughts

Reading scaled up dramatically this year from previous years. In 2024 I read hardly any new books, sticking mostly to the audio versions of the Harry Potter and Nevermoor series because that’s all my brain could handle. But in 2025? I read 40 books. One I DNF’d (did not finish), mostly because I just . . . couldn’t get into it. But that happens, and it wasn’t worth trying to force my way through it.

Here’s a brief recap of what I read in 2025 (check out the posts for a mini-review of each book):

January, February, and March — The Great Awakening (Tales of the Unicorn Sea #1), Infernal Fall, Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1)
April, May and June — Dear Writer, Are You Intuitive? (Quitbooks #6), Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #2), Ignite (The Phoenix Flame #1), King of Star-Cast Skies (Instanolde Chronicles #2), A Tempest of Tea (Blood & Tea #1), Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #3), The Little Girl and the Sea (Tales of the Unicorn Sea #2), Inkbound Inheritance (Inkbound Chronicles #1), The Mystwick School of Musicraft (Mystwick School #1), Camp Cacophony (Mystwick School #1.5), The Midnight Orchestra (Mystwick School #2), The Dark Refrain (Mystwick School #3), Prophetess of Arden (The King and Prophet Chronicles #1), The Hobbit (Lord of the Rings prequel), Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #4),
July, August, and September — Skyborn: Sparrow Rising (Skyborn #1), Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart #1), The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart #2), The Last Wayfinder, Wind and Truth (Stormlight Archive #5), The Fellowship of the Ring (Lord of the Rings #1), The Two Towers (Lord of the Rings #2), King & Prophet Chronicles #2 (client edit), The Return of the King (Lord of the Rings #3), Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1), The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine (The Rivenlea Sphere #1)
October, November, and December — A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart #3), Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #2), Skyborn: Call of the Crow (Skyborn #2), Skyborn: Phoenix Flight (Skyborn #3), Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #3), The Fortune of Fractured Fate (Fate of Elodia #2), Of Fire and Ash (The Fireborn Epic #1), Of Sea and Smoke (The Fireborn Epic #2), Of Dawn and Embers (The Fireborn Epic #3), The Restitching of Camille DuLaine (The Rivenlea Sphere #2), Mirrors (Heartbooks #3)

It’s been an absolutely wild year in reading, with one series read twice, lots of rereads for new books in the series releasing, reading lots of books by favorite authors, and discovering new favorites and new authors. I’m really looking forward to reading more next year and developing a really good reading habit. 💙

Also, a fun announcement! I’m going to start including long-form reviews on the blog! These will be my Bookish Thoughts shared throughout the year on different reads—both on new releases, and also on any rereads I feel I’d like to review. ☺️ There will be 2-3 book reviews put out each month in between content like you’ve seen here this year.

Overall, 2025 was a good, though hard, year. And I’m looking forward to stepping into 2026 with new habits, renewed spirit, and a bolstered resilience within this publishing industry. Let the reading, writing, editing, and adventures abound!