State of the Substack 2025
Our dreams are ever made of pyrite...
With the dawning of a new year, I wanted to take a moment and assess how this year has progressed here on Substack, and my intentions going forward into 2025.
I basically began this Substack at the beginning of last year. Since then I have posted several short stories of varying lengths, I published a novella, and I included a few book reviews from other authors.
My top three favorite stories from 2024 posted on Pyrite Dreams are:
Unfinished Business
Michael had died two weeks ago, but you would hardly know it from the state of his side of the apartment. Robert, his roommate, still currently alive, wanted to clean it out and move on with his life, but Michael’s spirit would not allow it.
The Lesser of Two Evils
“I don’t think I’m going to vote this time. I refuse to pick the lesser of two evils.”
I did not post as much as I intended. A combination of the changing needs of my infant daughter and toddler son, as well as health issues, and other outside commitments got in the way of my writing time. That being said, I am working on my new weekly schedule to devote more time to writing this coming year.
My plan is to try to post at least four times a month, including two flash or short stories, one book recommendation/review, and one other article related to writing or storytelling (more on that in a couple of paragraphs).
I am planning on finishing and publishing at least one novel this year, a middle school fantasy titled The Wrong Unicorn. I will begin posting previews of chapters and illustrations from the book this year, probably mostly behind a paywall. I’m thinking of also reworking my Letter from Santa Claus into a bonified children’s book in time for next Christmas. The behind-the-scenes work for that will too be posted for paid subscribers.
With my writing focus this year shifting from my presidential novellas to more children-oriented literature, I am planning on writing some about children’s books. As a father with two toddlers, I am currently inundated by children’s books. It’s been on my mind lately. But I have always been a fan of books written for children that still have something profound and important to say regardless of the age of the reader. That will be the focus of many of the articles going forward on Pyrite Dreams.
I hope that you all had a wonderful and blessed holiday season, and that your 2025 will be prosperous and fulfilling. I hope you’ll stick around and continue to enjoy the stories I have planned to tell this coming year.
If you’ve made it this far, why not leave a comment? Tell me about the most interesting book you read in 2024. I will include mine in the comments.
Glad to hear you are able to get back to your writing, Eric. The Yuletide was truly a blessed time for me. This outgoing year I have spent most of my free time on my homework from my Old Norse and Old English zoom classes, and have done very little creative writing- wrote one poem this year, edited one other--and I've done even less reading of creative writing. I have become quite enthralled with the world of crypto decentralized finance- the how to's as well as the values of the movement-- and I'm mulling writing a simple guide to it when I get to where I understand it all well enough myself. I do intend to dive in this month with setting up my "wallet". I'm also working on a personal development issue of doing "time blocks." I tend to be real "feast or fast" in my approach to life-- if I'm editing, I don't want to stop and do something else, or writing or translating or sewing or working in the yard--I tend to gung ho whatever I'm doing, lol. But I do understand that moderation is a virtue, and I have been pretty good with my time blocks these last few days. I'm sure it's an aid to productivity. Actually, I just meant to write to you to say that I like that picture very much of the girl in the almost monochromatic blue setting and that I'm glad you're more free to write now. I guess it's just a good time for reviewing the past year. Best regards always, Elaine.
I did not read many books this past year, not as many as I should have liked. But my favorite book I read in 2024 was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It is one of those classics that I finally got around to, and I'm glad I did. I'm also glad I read it in my late 30s rather than earlier because I do not think I would've appreciated it as much in an earlier time in my life.