January was a bit of a wild month. I started the year with a lot of writing goals, some of which (posting more consistently on TikTok/Instagram) I’ve made decent progress on, while others (finishing a first draft of my work in progress) I’ve made very little progress on. I even missed one of my monthly goals entirely by not posting a Substack story in January.

But, ultimately, the “goal” is to simply keep writing, which I certainly did in January. Between the start of the penultimate term of my MFA, participating in Nat 1 Publishing’s Winter Court Writing Challenge, and some personal projects, I finished 5 short stories last month. Yes, quantity is nothing without quality, but I’m actually really proud of the work I put out. One of these stories, which will eventually appear in the WCWC anthology, has become one of my favorite pieces. Another, “Spooky Action at Home,” was even published on Litro USA.

That, coincidentally, checks off one of my top goals for 2026: earning another publication credit. So, I don’t know, goals are fluid or something like that.

Anyway, in addition to getting back on track with Substack this month, finishing another short story, and cranking out pages on my WIP, here’s what I’m reading this month:

I’m slowly making my way through the Booker Prize shortlist. So far I’ve read Flesh, Audition, and Flashlight. The Rest of Our Lives is next up. Made the plunge on Moby Dick, which I’m actually really enjoying. I’ve read a lot of Melville’s short stories, I think was a great primer and made the style of his writing a lot less jarring. The second book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series is there to take the edge off all this literary and classical stuff.

February is shaping up to be a busy month!