Well damn 2026!! Give a girl a minute! I’ve barely taken the christmas lights down and the daffodils are already sprouting, sun streaming through the window while I’m still wondering if I’ll get a chance to use my snowboard again this year.

It’s been a hot minute since I wrote an article. Partly because it’s been a busy few months. Partly because I didn’t know what to write. But once again, Grant Howitt showed up in my inbox today—with his totally no shits given style of saying exactly what’s on his mind, however he wants to say it—and convinced me that a thing doesn’t have to be any particular way. It can be whatever you want it to be. And if I want to write an update, I can damn well write an update. However it happens to be.

So, in no particular order, here’s an update on the things I’ve been working on over the past few months. The creations I’m proud of, the milestones I’ve reached, the projects I am super excited to be working on, and the things that’ll be coming your way in 2026, if I have anything to say about it:

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VANTHOLOGY!!

Oh yeah, that’s right!! A bunch of friends and I made a book! A real, paper, physical book that you can pick up and touch and use as a doorstop and spill coffee on and use to keep you warm on those long winter nights when electricity becomes a thing of the past.

It’s a beautiful book. Full of short stories and weird stories and all the kinds of stories nerds like me love. And not only does it include one of my own weird little tales, but I also had the privilege of helping edit it.

This was my first time properly editing other people’s work, and we were on a very tight timeline to get the book finished, so the process was intimidating, and daunting, and more than a little scary, but also immensely fun. To get the chance to be involved in other people’s process, to see their work honed and perfected. To learn from a professional editor the ‘correct’ way to use em dashes, and why semicolons are evil little beasts. So much fun, so much learnt, and at the end, a real gods damned book to show for it.

And also, my name just happens to be on the cover. That’s a first. And it feels pretty damn good.

The Book Launch!

Tumbling right into another milestone: I’m having a book launch! Or, more accurately, WE are having a book launch. For the awesome anthology mentioned above. For which I’m both an author and an editor. Another first I’m hoping will be one of many over the next few years.

Now, I’m aware I have a habit of moving goalposts before I’ve reached them. Ignoring achievements because I’m looking at the next big thing. But it’s important to stop every once in a while and acknowledge these moments. The far-off dreams you never thought you’d accomplish, the little milestones you miss because you’re already looking to the next.

So, I’m going to take a moment now. My first-ever book launch. The first book with my name on the cover. Pretty damn cool. I’ll drink to that.

Oh, and we’re already planning a second book! Vanthology 2: Misfits edition! Which has a planned release date of early 2027. Another potential story in print, another opportunity to give editing a crack, another book to add to the bookshelf, which now has two books standing proudly on it, with my words hidden inside.

Ok, go on then. I’ll drink to that one, too.

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Little Demons

Another project I’ve been working on in the shadows is Little Demons: the short story collection I’ve been not so subtly name-dropping for the past 12 months. I put this project on the back burner last year, while I focused on writing “The Novel™ “, but towards the end of the year I picked it up again, dusted off the edges, gave it a good look from all sides, and decided to plonk it firmly back on the to-do list.

Because why the hell not!? Make what you want to make, right! Put the punk back in publishing! Just because short story collections by unknown authors are not something traditional publishers are interested in, I shouldn’t let that stop me from making what I want, the way I want.

A book with my name on it, full of stories I wrote! What could be cooler than that?

So self-publishing this collection is back on the menu. Is the goal, actually, for this year. I’m currently in the editing stages. Dusting off those stories and seeing how they can fit together. Going through each one with fresh eyes, dotting the T’s, crossing the I’s, that kind of thing. Next, they’ll be sent to my editor. To be cut up with love and made to shine.

And then comes the (even more) fun part—the part I’ve never done before, and can’t wait to figure out—making it all into a fully fledged book!

I’ll need to figure out the order of the stories. A blurb. A bio. I’ll need to choose a cover artist. And figure out how to work with a cover artist. I’ll have to learn how to lay out a book, and choose fonts, and create an e-book, and make everything look pretty while still being professional. As well as all the extra things, like printing options, and page sizes, and what type of paper says ‘bad ass little gremlins live here’.

If you couldn’t already tell, I’m super excited about the prospect of self-publishing an entire book from start to finish. There are so many aspects to figure out that I’ve never done before. So many mistakes to make and then learn from for next time. I’m just at the start of the journey right now, the solid ground of playing with words that I kinda/sorta/somewhat know how to do. But I can’t wait to dive into the rest of it and figure it out.

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The children’s book that is in no way a children’s book

Following my recent epiphany about self-publishing, my illustrated vampire tale about blood and betrayal is also back on the to-do list. Because why make one book when you can make three?

This story has been edited and finalised for a while now, so the next steps in this project are layout and illustration. The things I know nothing about. And also, subsequently, the expensive stuff.

Last month, I decided to have a dabble, and created a rough design template, based on a basic children’s book template I found online. Once again, this is not a children’s book, but many of the resources for picture books still apply, which is pretty handy for a noob like me. The template has page numbers and panel spreads, with rough layouts showing text placements and (incredibly rough) design ideas. I also contacted some printers, who gave me a whole bunch of info on size dimensions, illustration requirements, paper types and binding options, and a rough budget for printing costs, which is surprisingly less than you’d think for a small print run of a full-colour book.

So now, it’s time to find an illustrator. And that requires a budget. Because art costs money, and the type of art I want unfortunately requires more money than I currently have. Because I’m a sucker for pretty things.

So while the ‘illustration savings account’ is being slowly filled, my little Scandinavian vampire is back in his folder, waiting patiently to be brought to life. Once I’ve reached that target $$, I’ll reach out to some illustrators (yes, I’ve already been looking, and yes, I’ve already picked my favourite, who also happens to be the most expensive. See earlier statement about pretty things), so this project is in a bit of a waiting game right now, until I have enough coins to throw at making pretty art.

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So many ideas

And now I’ve opened the floodgates to the idea of self-publishing, I have so many more ideas bubbling away on the stove.

There’s a character study collection I’ve been writing that I think would look awesome as an illustrated chapbook (now I confidently know what that is). I’d love to get some bookmarks printed that I can give away with Little Demons. And maybe even stickers, ‘cos who doesn’t love a cheeky little ghost sticker? Am I right? A couple of characters from the book as cute little holos. A few chapter illustrations you can stick on your waterbottle. Did I mention that I like pretty things? And the idea of getting to make pretty things that are related to my own work!!! Gah, it’s just too exciting!!

This change in mentality about self-publishing has really sparked something inside me. Seeing my writing not as a way to try and prove to the world that I’m good enough to get published, but as a small punk band doing what I want, making cool shit the way I want to make it.

Like those artists on Etsy making NSFW fanwork. Or musicians who write songs about niche little shows. There’s no money in it. Not really. Not enough for a record label or a brick-and-mortar store to be interested. And the things they’re making are so niche that most people won’t even know what they are.

But they’re still doing it. Making the things they love, because they love making them. Selling a few things here and there, maybe enough to cover a coffee, but doing it because they want to. Because it’s what they love to do.

That’s the vibe I am bringing into 2026. That grass roots, not doing this for the money, I’m weird and I don’t give a fuck vibe. Making things because I want to make them. Having fun and writing nonsense, and doing it because I can, not because I should.

Publishing the unpublishable since 2026.

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So there you have it. The wins I glossed over. The goals moving forward. The projects that are making me giddy with excitement, and the tasks I’ve laid before myself for the upcoming months.

Maybe it’s the spring, or maybe it’s the words, or maybe it’s the inspiring list of creators below who have filled me with the desire to make weird shit and do so proudly. But either way, things be happening in this brain of mine.

Here there be dragons. And soon, very soon, there will be more…

So far, this year has been inspired by, in no particular order:

• Vivienne Medrano’s animated shows
• Black Gryph0n’s song Insane
• Grant Howitt’s emails
• SlyghtlyArt’s stickers
• Pomelo Soul’s art
• Noah Kahan’s music
• Taylor Swift’s video for Opalite
• Tokyo’s arcades
• Comfy dungarees
• And that sweaetcorn bread you get in Japanese 711 that is literal crack

TBC. Watch this space. Things be happening. More coming soon….

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