It’s the end of one year and the start of another. But what does that actually mean? We’re on a spinning ball orbiting a burning mass. One circle around this star takes roughly 265 rotations of our planet. We call these periods years and days, because these labels are easier to deal with. The process is continuous. There is no start to the rotation, no end.

So we assign a start and an end, because it helps us keep track of the rotations. And, in the system of labels most of us are familiar with, the end of one rotation of our sun is at the end of 31st December, and the start of the next annual orbit is the first second of 1st January. It’s an arbitrary point.

But it holds meaning for us, because we like things to be tidy. We like structure. We impose meaning, because it helps us understand. And it has become traditional to use this moment in our planet’s orbit around the heart of our solar system to both look back and to look forward.

I’m not big on tradition, but it’s hard to escape this one. So I’ll relent. What has the writing life of TW Iain involved over 2025? How productive have the last twelve months been for me?

Not very. Have I released any books? Yes — but nothing ‘new’. I released a collection of my ShadowTech series earlier in the year. Beyond sorting out a cover, formatting the ebook and uploading the files, this didn’t involve much work, and very little writing. I ran a Kickstarter for Tales of Dominions, a collection of novellas and short stories related to my Dominions series (and published this volume in all the usual places last month). Organising the Kickstarter campaign was hard, but the book itself didn’t involve much writing.

So, why the (apparent) lack of productivity?

It’s easy to seek reasons in external factors. I changed jobs in the summer, which resulted in less writing time and a big change in sleep patterns — a change that, in retrospect, I still haven’t totally adapted to. There was some illness, and a family situation that I don’t need to share here. Beyond reducing time available for writing, these factors also left me feeling more run-down. When I sat at the laptop it was often a struggle to focus. I’ve been too easily distracted this year.

Another factor is this whole space-opera project I’ve been working on. I’m aiming big with this, not least in craft. I want my writing in this series to far surpass anything I’ve produced so far. I’m putting myself under more pressure here.

And, early in this year, I realised I needed an outlet. I knew the main series wouldn’t be completed for some time, so I switched to working on a side-story. This became the Chronicles of Seraph series (because it’s going to be more than one book). Each story will be simpler in structure, and while there will be continuation across the series, each book will tell a complete story.

As we reach the end of 2025 I’m about to dive into another round of edits on the first book in the series, Kane.

But I still didn’t like not having produced anything for readers. So I started another side-project — a serialised story on Substack. This is Grim Khonsu, and it’s another spin-off from the main Unity series, focusing on one particular character.

Has this been a success? Views for each chapter aren’t great, but the story gets more readers than posts like this one. But it’s been a success in other ways. I’ve written, edited and scheduled the whole story now, and it clocks in at 45,000 words, technically a novel (albeit a short one).

And it’s been fun. I enjoy most aspects of writing, but particularly first-drafting. There’s something magical about the ideas in my head spilling out through my fingers and onto the screen. I get a great deal of satisfaction seeing the word-count rise. I get another buzz reading back over the story and realising it’s not too bad (it can always be better — that’s what editing is for).

So Grim Khonsu has been a personal success. And, although the complete story isn’t published yet, most of it is.

I’ve been more productive than I first thought. And that gives me a boost as I look ahead to 2026.

So, what are my aims for the next year?

I want to release Kane (the first Chronicles of Seraph book) around June/July time, and I think that’s achievable.

I’ll have released the complete first season of Grim Khonsu by the end of February, but I have ideas for more stories. I’m aiming for another season next year, possibly starting around May (and running through to October/November).

I also have a short-story project I’ve been working on (like the ShadowTech omnibus and Tales of Dominions, this doesn’t involve much writing). I’m working towards an April release for this.

And there are more stories I want to work on. I need to spend a chunk of time with Unity (maybe over the summer). I also have plans for the second Chronicles of Seraph book, and want to have this written and edited by the end of the year.

I’m wary of setting goals. It’s too easy for them to be knocked by factors outside my control, and when that happens it’s too easy to feel I’ve failed. But I’m confident I can achieve what I’ve set out here. Finish one novel, get another one nearly complete, and write a short-novel-length serial. Oh, and finish all the little details for that short-story collection.

And keeping a rein on all the other ideas that will no doubt spring into my mind. And work on marketing and promotion, because these books and stories won’t find readers on their own.

Okay, it’s going to be a busy 2026. But it’ll be fun.