At the start of every new year I like to reflect on the previous year, see what I accomplished, had published, got done. Did some projects I say I would get realized actually get realized? Did I wander off and do something else? Am I more or less prolific?
Prior year recaps can be found at the following links:
Publication Accomplishments
In the realm of physical publications, I appeared in five (!!) journals, magazines, and books!
Firstly, the year began with the publication of Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book which contained my horror/sword and sorcery/comedy short story “There’s Always Room”. I do not write much fiction and this was the first time in years I had something that was not non-fiction published. This was actually a story I wrote ten years ago for a different anthology that did not make the cut. Thus, the story has been sitting in my arsenal to be used later all this time. The opportunity popped up in 2024 for a different anthology, I revisited this story, polished it up a bit, submitted it, and got accepted. Take this an encouragement that rejections can turn into successes, even if it takes a while.
Next, in February, the 109th issue of the Burroughs Bulletin, the journal of the Burroughs Bibliophiles, came out and contained my interview with peplum starlet Bella Cortez titled “Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty”. Michele and I spent a good chunk of 2024 discussing the sword and sandal films of Bella Cortez on Scholars from the Edge of Time, and this interview is the cumulation of those efforts. I felt really proud to immortalize her and one of her movies, in this instance, an Italian Tarzan knock off.
Fast forward to the end of the year and volumes five, six, and seven of New Edge Sword and Sorcery were published simultaneously. I was invited by editor Oliver Brackenbury to contribute a themed cocktail to each issue. It was fun inventing cocktails to honour different characters of sword and sorcery fiction and I was ecstatic to be involved. The hardcovers of these issues are so damn stately and it feels really rad to be included in their pages.
2024 saw the beginning of my past works being reprinted and that practice continued well into 2025. Last year I had six previously published works reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal, while this year I had nine!
In 2024 I had 13 articles published at my website. This year I had 15:
- Comic Book Reviews = 10
- Magazine Reviews = 2
- Interviews Conducted = 1
- Peplum Ponderings = 1
- Conference Recaps = 1
So, overall, on the writing and publishing front, by the numbers I had a much more successful year in 2025 than in 2024.
On the flip side, some projects did fall through. The book that my peplum cats essay was initially accepted for had a change in editors or publishers or something and my essay is no longer a part of it. If anyone out there is editing a collection that needs an essay about lions/tigers/panthers and how they recreate the Nemean Lion myth in sword and sandal films, let me know! In the meantime, the essay goes into the arsenal, to be used at a later date.
I did bow out of the Roger Corman project. The essay I was writing was less Roger Corman-centric and more industrial sampling specific, and I really could not find a way to rejigger it. So, better to bow out rather than write an essay that does not even pass my muster for the project at hand.
Podcast/Vidcast Accomplishments
Podcast and vidcasting took a bit of a backseat in 2025. For H. P. Lovecast Michele and I did not record any episodes. There are lots of reasons for this including there was just a lot on our plates. Michele and Travis Lakata did start their vidcast, Ride the Stream, so do check that out. We are hoping in 2026 that we will bring H. P. Lovecast back. On the board is to start with an episode on Deadly Spawn.
Even though there were no H. P. Lovecast this past year, Scholars from the Edge of Time was pretty prolific! Overall 2025 can be recapped as:
- 10 appearances on Scholars from the Edge of Time
- 1 appearance on Castle of Horror podcast
Conferences
2025 did see me return to the conference circuit, somewhat. In late September, Michele and I attended the Edgar Rice Burroughs Circle of Friendship (ECOF) gathering in Willcox, Arizona (read my recap of it here). It was our second time ever vending a convention, so that was neat. I sold a few books, which is a nice feeling. I gave a presentation on the sword and sandal elements of the Burroughs novel Tarzan and the Lost Empire, which, I think, was decently received? Hopefully I made some impression on the ERB Inc., folks and other attendees. The last time I did an academic presentation was at AnnRadCon in 2022. I am not 100% sure what I am going to do with my presentation. I may record a version of it and put it on YouTube with some of my other presentations, or rewrite it to be in essay format and submit it so one of the Edgar Rice Burroughs journals out there. But, it was nice to be back at a conference and giving a presentation and hopefully another opportunity pops up in 2026.
2026 Expectations
Overall, 2025 was not a bad year at all. A fairly successful year in fact! I did hit a few slumps through the year. After giving my presentation in Willcox, I was pretty much drained from writing, so the last part of 2025 I did not get much done. I’ll be honest, it is tough sometimes. I am still culling through a backlog of obligations. I’ve said “yes” instead of “no” to too many things. My work life has gotten more strenuous as I am now juggling being on two different teams, reporting to two mangers both with different sets of projects. Sometimes when I am done with a day at work I don’t want to look at my computer anymore. General life anxiety also creeps in, and, well, it takes a lot of effort to push myself to work on things.
Walking into 2026 I already have things lined up to be published. I have a stockpile of reviews that are spoken for to be reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal (one just dropped earlier this month!). A short story of mine that has been out of print for many years will also be reprinted around March, so that is great!
Michele and I did a few episodes of the Fan2Fan podcast in December, so expect those episodes to drop soon. We also contributed some text to an upcoming secret Fan2Fan project. I can’t say more, but I’m extremely excited about it.
I will also be returning to Exotica Moderne! I am finishing up am essay about the documentary The Donn of Tiki and interviewed the filmmakers behind it. This will see the light later this year as well. I have other ‘to do’ items on my Exotica Moderne list (that have been there for a while) that hopefully I will realize.
So, 2026 is already looking pretty good with material already primed and good to go.
Other obligation-wise, the Emmanuelle book needs to be a big priority to complete in 2026. I’ve been stymied on this project and hope to get is sussed out and get back on track. I’ll be honest, unliked my peplum book which went by smooth, this project has not been the best to work on for a variety of reasons. I’ll say no more out of professionalism.
I also hope to get re-caught up with my reviews of the Vanya series of comics. I was caught up for a brief spell there, but then Willcox happened and I got fatigued on writing.
I would like to go back and revisit some of my presentations I’ve given in the past and see about getting them published in some form. Maybe working backwards from the Tarzan presentation I just did, and then the Acylum presentation. I believe I’ve done some great academic work that should be published to reach a greater audience.
I have been asked back to contribute cocktail recipes to the 2026 issues of New Edge Sword and Sorcery. Of course this requires me to go back into the lab, experimenting with mixology to come up with some great, new libations.
A big thing I want to pivot to are revenue generating projects. I’ve gotten too much in the hole for doing things for/about others and I should be doing more projects that I want to do. I think of back to the early years of Covid and Nick Mamatas was sharing on social media how much he was making each month in royalties and passive book income. It was interesting and kind of inspiring. Aside from the yearly McFarland check I get for The New Peplum and Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Moderne, I do not have any other publications that generate passive income. I would love to change that, especially as we move into more uncertain times economically. With that in mind, I do want to draw attention to my “Support Me” page which has a list of ways to support me in what I do.
Overall, I am looking forward to 2026. I am intimidated to get back on track for the Emmanuelle book, to be honest. Words of encouragement and motivation will be greatly appreciated.
I do want to end with a sincere thank you to all the folks who support what I do, be it buying books I am a part of, inviting me to podcasts, recommending me for projects, or even sharing my work on social media. It is dog eat dog out there. I am a small fry in the sea of other writers and academics. Every little bit helps and I am grateful for the support I do receive.