Change is the only constant. The only question is the degree of change. And I suspect 2025 will be a year of great changes indeed.
Regular readers might have noticed a distinct lack of content in December. The traditional reflection post is missing, and so is the early January post.
In late November, I identified a new income opportunity. From then until now, I’ve been working at it, maximising the amount of money I could earn every day. It got to the point where I could go to bed, dream about work, wake up, and expand on the contents of the dream at work.
Obsessive? Arguably. But in that time, I managed to pay off the biggest debt hanging over my head, and find money to pay for the cover art of Babylon White.
There are other expenses on the horizon, however. Work, and more importantly, money, needs to be a top priority.
Outside of work, I’ve also uncovered a health issue. I’ve endured low-level but persistent chronic knee pain over the past few years. I’d chalked it up to overtraining. Then I noticed I was increasingly unbalanced, especially while walking.
A recent examination revealed that the true cause was overpronated feet, potentially aggravated by bunions. A small problem, so long as it doesn’t get worse.
I need to reengineer my daily training regimen. I need to rebuild my feet, recalibrate my gait, and realign my body. That means focusing on exercises for overpronated feet, balance and stability work, and lower-impact lower-body movements. I need to set aside the athletic martial movements of my younger days and find a whole new way of thinking about moving.
Not all news is bad news. My family recently adopted a pair of cats. While their presence is comforting, as you can imagine, we’ve had to adjust our lifestyle to account for their peculiarities.
2025 marks a shift in priorities. I need to prioritise health, finances and family. Life circumstances have set me back far behind my peers—and, at the same time, I finally have a chance to try to catch up. I need to make up for lost time.
Where does that leave writing?
I am a writer. None of this will change that. It does, however, mean that I’ll have to figure out a new life schedule. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with different schedules and hours, trying to find what works best.
Going beyond that, I need to be more pragmatic about writing. Every story represents a significant investment of time and energy. As an indie writer, as a small business owner, I need to ensure my products are worth the opportunity cost. And therein lies the problem.
The pulp writers and high lit authors of previous eras had agents and publishers who supported them. They could focus their energies entirely on writing, and simply collect their paychecks. I suppose I could have been well-suited for that age, but we don’t live in that era any more.
The working writers of today churn out huge amounts of written-to-market material to satisfy the whales of Amazon. While they may make a lot of money, I can’t do this either.
For one thing, some of them write in genres that I refuse to. Genres like erotica, haremlit and related fields are corrosive to the soul. I cannot participate in it, either as a producer or a consumer.
For another, this strategy produces an ocean of homogenised product, indistinguishable from each other. AIs today have reached the point where, with some editing, they can churn out fiction similar—or superior to—to such content. Future AIs will be even more capable. I cannot, will not, be replaced by a machine. And that means writing the kind of stories that machines cannot.
This leaves me in the position of having to write stories that have mass appeal and yet are artistically distinct. I know how to do the latter. The former is… trickier. Especially since my own tastes are not aligned with 99% of modern audiences.
But I have to try.
At the same time, increased income points to the possibility of running actual marketing campaigns beyond just newsletters and the Based Book Sale. While word of mouth is important, amplifying my voice in a crowded ocean is the only way to move forward.
Everything changes. Everything remains the same. Life is changing, and yet my core activities have not. They are merely being rearranged and redesigned to suit these ever-changing times.
Case in point: Babylon White is in the final stages of post-production. The crowdfunding campaign will be announced very soon. it is the final volume of the Babylon series, and I’m excited to unveil it at last.
Next on the horizon is Song of Karma. There are a total of 5 books in this superhero vigilante series. After a few turbulent years, I’m finally ready to return it to the market.
Newsletter subscribers will know I have other books planned. For now, those plans are not firm. I’ll provide updates once I’m ready to commit.
2025 is set to be a year of changes. But those changes should help me become more of who I am. It’s going to be an interesting ride ahead, and I appreciate your support for the coming journey.
In the meantime, if you haven’t already, you can sign up for my newsletter. You’ll get access to behind-the-scenes material, regular updates on my stories and publishing schedule, and other exclusive content. You’ll also get a free ebook! Sign up here and begin your journey.