2025 Fiction Word Count:
Insights To Not Forget:
I think I did a pretty good job at extending grace to myself for a dumpster fire of a year. I started therapy, going to yoga regularly, and maintained both of those and writing while taking over my parents' health care and their general needs. And then my mother ended up in the hospital in August and died in September, and I had to change my paying job schedule because both my coworkers ended up in surgery in December.
Stories I Posted at Ao3 Finally:
Nonestic Tales: Wide Open Spaces: Word count = 890. The prairie is so big and the baby so little.
The Legend of Zelda: Verge of Destruction: Word count = 14,847. Ganon was defeated, and peace returned to Hyrule. But moblins still march on errands for their Master, and the Triforce issues warnings about a fourth Triforce. Link and Zelda must find it and the last Gensiarian, or risk destroying the entire universe. This story is set five years after the first game.
The Legend of Zelda: Master of the Dark Realm: Word count = 8,065. Ganon kidnaps Zelda and Link's rescue is a disaster, leaving the woman he loves trapped in a crystal protector. Now the only way to free her is to challenge Ganon for lordship of the Dark Realm. But is Link prepared to sacrifice everything he holds dear for the unstoppable destiny of the future?
The Legend of Zelda: Ganon’s Poison: Word count = 9,100. Lissa accidentally finds her way to a strange world of unusual customs and bizarre devices. Luckily, she meets a young man who chivalrously guides her through it while she searches for a way home. Unfortunately, Ganon takes advantage of her absence to poison the young Crown Prince. Zelda travels in disguise to the Dark Realm to find the antidote--aided by a mysterious stranger who hides his identity. Will she manage to find the antidote in time or will Ganon take away everything she loves?
The Legend of Zelda: Destiny: Word count = 21,716. Sixteen years have passed, and Lin has grown up under the pressures of heroic parents and his own cloudy destiny. He begins to find his own path with rescuing the Lady Elaine from Ganon. But is their love meant to be forever or is it a sacrifice for the salvation of Hyrule?
That completes my backlog of stories. What I have left to go onto Ao3 are more fanmixes that are soundtracks for fanfics.
Stories I Posted:
Evil Jack: Till Death Do We Part: Word count = 14,337. Stoker, Carbine, and Rimfire come secretly to Chicago with knowledge of Limburger’s latest plan and agendas of their own.
Star Wars: Interrogation Room: Word count = 570. Luke and Mara share a midnight kiss.
Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Plans and High Command: Word count = 7,408. Luke wakes up and plans must be made and High Command must be briefed about what happened on Bespin and what Luke and Leia are planning to do next.
Three of a Kind: Word count = 236,657. Deep Space Planet Future Rock ‘n Ride Action! A Trigun 1998 and Biker Mice From Mars 1993 crossover. Vash juggles helping out strangers to Gunsmoke and thwarting Legato Bluesummers’ machinations to further Millions Knives’ plans for the planet and finds more family than he ever dreamed he deserved to have.
Stories I Finished:
I don't have anything all done except for the posting.
Stories Caught Up in Editing:
Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Sacrifice of Happiness Word Count = 10,128 (5180 written in 2024 + 4948 written in 2025). Karbunkle is fed up of circumstances not letting him experiment how he wants to, but will changing them behind everyone’s backs give him the mental stimulation he craves? -- This one is ready to do my edits to the third draft, so hopefully posting in 2026.
Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Kyber: Word count = 3073 (1491 written in 2024 + 1582 written in 2025). I'm pretty sure that the first draft of this story is finished, so I need to edit.
Stories I Didn't Finish:
Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler: Word count = 21,343. So instead of starting the last Evil Jack story, I started on this one which is the next one after Sacrifice of Happiness.
Legends of Hyrule: The Hyrueliana 2025 Rewrite: Word count = 2866. Now that I have an outline in which the characters are taking action for their lives, finishing this story should go much faster.
Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication: Word count = 254. I had a difficult time figuring out the outline and some motivations, so I didn't get much writing done when it was working on Star Wars time. Hopefully, picking it back up in 2026 will go smoothly.
Strix: Forget the Sun: Word count = 93,264 (26,588 written previously + 4279 written in 2019 + 279 written in 2020 + 15,328 written in 2021 + 5416 written in 2022 + 23,714 written in 2023 + 15,665 written in 2024 + 1995 written in 2025). No one is surprised that this story is in this section. It had the bad luck to have its two months working time scheduled for August and September, when my mother was more in the hospital than out and died on September 12th. In that time, I only wrote the words I got in 11 days and realized that my outlined ending no longer worked because of changes I made to the story. So just write a new ending based on the new stuff, but I couldn't figure out the ending because I didn't know what genre or organizing plot idea the word total even is. After deciding to spend October, November, and December on this story to make up for the lack of focus earlier, I graphed what scenes I had according to the Story Grid method in hopes that it would help me answer the genre question. Then I started filling in a timeline of the time frame of the whole novel with what are all the characters doing so hopefully I can see what the missing genre conventions and obligations are and what to fix those with. The year ended without me having finished that timeline.
What I Think About My Stories:
My favorite story this year: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler. This story has been roughly outlined for about 14 years, and falling into it was so easy. I ended up falling into it for 16 days while at the hospital and after. Crossing fingers that I finish the Evil Jack series before falling back in it again in 2026.
Story most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Three of a Kind. I know crossovers are always a hard sell, but I loved it to bits and wanted more comments about the changes I had made to canon. Also since Hannah told Vash what happened to her sperm donor, it has made it harder for me to write that last story in the Evil Jack series.
Most fun story: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler.
Stories I wrote that I never thought I'd write: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Sacrifice of Happiness. I think this has answered this category for two years in a row. Being in Karbunkle's POV was a trip.
Hardest story to write: Strix: Forget the Sun.
Biggest disappointment: Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication, not sure why it's giving me issues.
Biggest surprise: Legends of Hyrule: The Hyrueliana 2025 Rewrite. I had to throw everything out but once I did, I got a plot that the characters are taking action in their own lives.
What's your favorite piece of dialogue you wrote this year? From Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler:
Vinnie turned back to the new mouse. “A carnival is going on? Which way to the rides?”
Her glare shifted to a patented Charley fed up and pissed off, oh that’s what it would look like with fur. “The middle of Mardi Gras,” she bit out.
Vinnie glanced around. Oh good, nobody else knew what she was talking about either.
“Fucking tourists,” she muttered. “X-Files didn’t prepare me for alien tourists.”
“We are not tourists,” Carbine insisted. “We got your distress call. Are you the only mouse here?”
“You missed Orlando if you’re looking for Mickey and Minnie.” The new mouse folded her arms over her chest. “And thank you for hearing my screaming after you tried to set me on fire by setting the warehouse on fire.”
“You need to let the fire go,” Vinnie said. “Jet Blaster started it.”
“Your big mouth started it,” Tala corrected.
Vinnie shrugged. “He must still be sore about getting hit by the elevated train on the Loop.”
“I can’t imagine why he’s still holding a grudge.” Ooo, new girl had sarcasm too.
“We need higher firepower to fight him,” Carbine pointed out unnecessarily. Why did she think they hit Jet Blaster with a train the last time? “So focus please. How many mice do we have to rescue here?”
New mouse raised her eyebrows high. “Rescue? Are ya plannin’ on setting more of the city on fire?”
“Now you’re acting like we’re the ones to be leery of.”
“That’s right, boo. ‘Bout time you figured that out. I don’t know you and you tried to set me on fire.”
What's your favorite piece of description or narration you wrote this year? From Legends of Hyrule: The Hyrueliana 2025 Rewrite:
The gully underneath was too rocky for trees, but green boughs reached over the fragmented parapet ahead of them. Whatever had been built on the top had the summit edge fortified with a thick wall that years had crumbled. They entered through the columns that had probably held a type of gate that had disintegrated and stopped in a shaded paved yard.
The trees had grown up from opportunistic seeds in the cracks of the paving stones and without anyone living here or even visiting regularly, they heaved the stones out of the way as they grew larger. The whole yard surrounding the building in the center had been paved at some point, so paved paths still existed unevenly between the trees.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would, less, or about what you predicted? Less. I'm not upset about it, but I did drop working on the Hyrueliana in October, November, and December to edit Strix: Forget the Sun.
Number of Days I Wrote or Edited: 185 days.
Number of Days Meeting or Exceeding the daily 600 word count: 32 days.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? I don't remember taking any risks.
Did you meet last year's goals? Let's find out. The goals from my 2025 one-page business plan are:
- Writing Strix series:
- August, September: Finish Strix: Forget the Sun first draft
- August, September: Edit Strix: Forget the Sun
- August, September: Send Strix: Forget the Sun to a developmental editor
- Writing Star Wars stories:
- April, May, July: Finish Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication first draft
- April, May, July: Edit Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication to second draft
- April, May, July: Send second draft of Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication to beta
- April, May, July: Edit Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication to third draft
- April, May, July: Finish SL: Kyber first draft
- April, May, July: Edit SL: Kyber to second draft
- April, May, July: Send second draft of SL: Kyber to beta
- April, May, July: Edit SL: Kyber to third draft
- April, May, July: Finish Rescue the Farmboy: Homecoming first draft
- April, May, July: Finish SL: Ord Mantell first draft
- Writing Biker Mice From Mars stories
- February, June: Finish Wars Are Won: Sacrifice of Happiness first draft
- February, June: Edit Evil Jack: Till Death Do We Part to third draft
- February, June: Edit Wars Are Won: Sacrifice of Happiness to second draft
- February, June: Send second draft of Wars Are Won: Sacrifice of Happiness to beta
- February, June: Edit Wars Are Won: Sacrifice of Happiness to third draft
- February, June: Finish Evil Jack: last story first draft
- February, June: Edit Evil Jack: last story to second draft
- February, June: Send second draft of Evil Jack: last story to beta
- February, June: Edit Evil Jack: last story to third draft
- Writing Trigun fanfics
- January: Edit Trigun: Three of a Kind to third draft
- Writing Zackverse stories
- March, October, November, December: Finish Hyrueliana first draft
- March, October, November, December: Edit Hyrueliana to second draft
- March, October, November, December: Send second draft of Hyrueliana to beta
- March, October, November, December: Edit Hyrueliana to third draft
- March, October, November, December: Finish Gargoyles: Caught in a Web first draft
- March, October, November, December: Edit Gargoyles: Caught in a Web to second draft
- March, October, November, December: Send second draft of Gargoyles: Caught in a Web to beta
- March, October, November, December: Edit Gargoyles: Caught in a Web to third draft
- March, October, November, December: Finish Gargoyles: Wild as a Swallow's Song first draft
- March, October, November, December: Edit Gargoyles: Wild as a Swallow's Song to second draft
- March, October, November, December: Send Gargoyles: Wild as a Swallow's Song to beta
- March, October, November, December: Edit Gargoyles: Wild as a Swallow's Song to third draft
- BookWorm's Library maintenance
- July, December: Make sure software is up-to-date
- July, December: Add any other files that need adding
- July, December: Add FanFiction Garret section to the site
- July, December: Add recipes to Cookbook
- Ao3
- June: Upload already published stories
- June: Upload SL: Plans and High Command on May 4, 2025
- June: Upload thirteen fanmixes
- June: Upload Trigun: Three of a Kind
- June: Upload Rescue the Farmboy: Extricition
- June: Upload Wars Are Won: Sacrifice of Happiness
- June: Upload Evil Jack: Till Death Do We Part
- June: Upload Evil Jack: last story
- June: Upload Zackverse: The Hyrueliana
- June: Upload Gargoyles: Caught in a Web
Do you have any goals for the coming year? The goals from my 2026 one-page business plan are:
- Writing Strix series:
- September, October: Finish Strix: Forget the Sun first draft
- September, October: Edit Strix: Forget the Sun
- September, October: Send Strix: Forget the Sun to a developmental editor
- Writing Star Wars stories:
- March, April: Finish Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication first draft
- March, April: Edit Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication to second draft
- March, April: Send second draft of Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication to beta
- March, April: Edit Rescue the Farmboy: Extrication to third draft
- March, April: Edit SL: Kyber to second draft
- March, April: Send second draft of SL: Kyber to beta
- March, April: Edit SL: Kyber to third draft
- March, April: Finish Rescue the Farmboy: Homecoming first draft
- March, April: Finish SL: Ord Mantell first draft
- March, April: Edit Rescue the Farmboy: Homecoming to second draft
- Writing Biker Mice From Mars stories
- January, February: Edit Wars Are Won: Sacrifice of Happiness to third draft
- January, February: Finish Evil Jack: Perseverance first draft
- January, February: Edit Evil Jack: Perseverance to second draft
- January, February: Send second draft of Evil Jack: Perseverance to beta
- January, February: Edit Evil Jack: Perseverance to third draft
- January, February: Finish Wars Are Won: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler first draft
- January, February: Edit Wars Are Won: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler to second draft
- January, February: Send second draft of Wars Are Won: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler to beta
- January, February: Edit Wars Are Won: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler to third draft
- Writing Zackverse stories
- May, June: Finish Hyrueliana first draft
- May, June: Edit Hyrueliana to second draft
- May, June: Send second draft of Hyrueliana to beta
- May, June: Edit Hyrueliana to third draft
- May, June: Finish Gargoyles: Caught in a Web first draft
- May, June: Edit Gargoyles: Caught in a Web to second draft
- May, June: Send second draft of Gargoyles: Caught in a Web to beta
- May, June: Edit Gargoyles: Caught in a Web to third draft
- May, June: Finish Gargoyles: Wild as a Swallow's Song first draft
- May, June: Edit Gargoyles: Wild as a Swallow's Song to second draft
- May, June: Send Gargoyles: Wild as a Swallow's Song to beta
- May, June: Edit Gargoyles: Wild as a Swallow's Song to third draft
- BookWorm's Library maintenance
- July, December: Make sure software is up-to-date
- July, December: Add any other files that need adding
- July, December: Add FanFiction Garret section to the site
- July, December: Add recipes to Cookbook
- Ao3
- August, November: Upload thirteen fanmixes
- When finished: Upload Rescue the Farmboy: Extricition
- When finished: Upload Wars Are Won: Sacrifice of Happiness
- When finished: Upload Evil Jack: Perseverance
- When finished: Upload Zackverse: The Hyrueliana
- When finished: Upload Gargoyles: Caught in a Web
Here's to 2026. We'll get through all this together.
