So, somehow, it’s July. That means 2026 is halfway done – somehow. I don’t know about others, but my brain is struggling to keep up with the passage of time this year. For me, personally, 2026 has felt very 2020. In March 2020, I (and the rest of the world) shifted to full-time work-from-home thanks to lockdown. At the end of January 2026, I shifted to full-time work-from-home because my day job lost our building. If you know me personally, then you know about that situation.
Nothing we could do about it. We’ve been working on a lease for a new building for months, and at the beginning of June, we finally got the lease signed and now we’re in the process of moving everyone in. The result, however, has been a weird sort of time warp in my brain, much like during Covid lockdown.
Looking back on this time in the future, I expect that I will similarly feel like this time was a bit of a black hole. Despite all that, I have still successfully made progress in my writing journey. So today, I’m going to breakdown the progress I’ve made and outline some plans moving forward.
Before going over all of that, however, a bit of a health update: As some know, I have been struggling with food intolerances for several years. Well, in mid June, I had a very modest dinner of baked chicken, white rice, and peas. Shortly thereafter, my chest started hurting and increased in severity over the course of a half hour. After a trip to the hospital, we learned that my gallbladder was full of stones.
After removing the offending organ and several weeks of recovery, I’m feeling much better and I’m able to each whatever the heck I want. Sure I need to be mindful for the sake of the change in my digestion, but I will no longer be sick for days if I choose to eat, for example, sushi and have some chicken soup with it. Life is pretty good so far. It has derailed my reading momentum a bit, so I’ll have to course correct there. Still…
On to my writing journey!
Submission Progress
Number of short story submissions so far: 11
Number of short story rejections so far: 10
Number of agent submissions so far: 3
Number of agent rejections so far: 1
Applied to a writer’s residency for 2027! (I have to waiting until November for my rejection letter for that)
Reading Progress
Number of books completed: 20
Favorite book so far: A Deadly Education
Currently reading: TBD
So What’s Next
The rest of the year is an open slate, y’all. We have so much we can do. One of the most exciting things that happened in this first half of the year is that I have a new desktop computer. When 2026 started, my precious big desktop computer really started to die a very slow death. That machine is 13 years old with only a replacement of power supply. It’s been trucking on for a very long time.
With the new computer, this means that I can return to the world of live streaming! I streamed for a little over a year until my work life became so stressful I just couldn’t summon the consistent energy to do live streams. But I miss it. I really do. So I still have some pieces to put together, but I’m hoping to start with a very slow roll out of some video content in the second half of this year.
I’m not letting up on the submission grind, however. I am still behind on my rejection goals as well as my reading goals. I really want to push through and get caught up. This means I need to zero in on those goals. With the new computer and being back into my happy place physically, I have high hopes for my creative juices.
As I still am behind on rejection letter responses, my twice-weekly posting schedule will continue until I’m all caught up. If I really like this schedule, I may continue it. I’m playing this part by ear as we go, so it should be fun for all!
All in all, I have a good feeling about the second half of 2026 on a personal level (let’s not discuss the insanity of the world at-large). If you all have goals for the second half of 2026, I’d love to hear them! Let’s go out there and get that bread!