Reflecting on the Past: A 2025 Recap
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2025... What a ride it's been!
When I started writing and publishing seriously, I set a personal goal to write and release at least one book per year. Since 2017, I have been able to meet that expectation I set for myself for no particular reason.
Although I never needed to force myself to keep up with that goal, setting that expectation kept me on a disciplined writing schedule that helped me to write and release eight books. Some of those books have even won awards and honorable mentions internationally.
However, something changed this past year, and I was not able to meet that goal for the first time in 8 years. While I like to beat myself up for not meeting my own expectations, my more rational side has reflected on the meaning of such an important year in my life.
For me, 2025 has been about learning and realigning priorities.
Often, we push ourselves to make the most of our time, to be as efficient as possible with our work and sometimes even our fun. I'm one of those who fall into the bucket of people who are critically terrible at purely relaxing and who always feel the underlying need to be productive. I feel guilty when I am not working on something.
However, as I said before, something life-altering happened to me this year. Something that forced me to stop in my tracks, set everything that didn't matter aside, and focus on something entirely new... someone entirely new.
Throughout the years, I've accumulated a number of titles, including United States Marine, Award-winning Author, Police Officer, and, most importantly, Husband. But, 2025 added a new one to the list, one that I cherish so deeply, I felt the need to pause everything else in life: Father.
Earlier this year, my wife gave birth to our first baby girl, and we have been indescribably in love with her. The tiny moments I once took advantage of to write or work on other personal endeavors are now spent caring for a little beautiful bundle of chaos who laughs at all the stupid faces and dances I do to make her smile. And, despite the lack of sleep and extra time to work on my personal goals, I find myself happier and more fulfilled than ever.
2025 was a year of lessons in patience, fatherhood, and the importance of balancing priorities.
I did not complete my ninth book as I had hoped, but I got about 80% done. However, I was able to complete other tasks while helping at home with a newborn. I pushed my next book's release date to early 2026, but I'm proud of everything else I achieved in place of publishing a new book this year, including:
Redesigning book covers for three of my books
Creating book cover concepts for four new books I am in the process of writing
Starting a YouTube channel focused on readings from my poetry books
Creating a pretty cool book trailer for my novel (my first serious video editing project)
Creating dozens of new poetry prints for my shop
Redesigning my newsletter and updating my author website
Reading, educating myself, and researching topics including artificial intelligence, investing, politics and world affairs, cybersecurity and privacy, video editing, and marketing strategies, among many others
With all that said, the lesson I'd like to share with you is that it's okay to shift goals and priorities. We mature as we grow, and our paths often change because of it. It's the natural course of life.
Did I meet my goal of publishing a book this year? No. Will I make up for it and try to publish two books in 2026? Yes. Do I regret a single thing? Not at all!
There are seasons for creating and others for learning. This was definitely a season of learning for me.
I learned to be more present and more intentional about spending time with my family, and to do everything I could to be a better husband and father this year. Everything else is secondary to me.
Ultimately, I feel satisfied with my accomplishments and the challenges I overcame this year.
What book did I enjoy reading the most in 2025? See below!
The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness by Andrew Klavan
In his USA Today bestselling The Truth and Beauty, Andrew Klavan explored how the work of great poets helps illuminate the truth of the gospels. Now, the award-winning screenwriter and crime novelist turns his attention to the dark side of human nature to discover how we might find joy and beauty in the world while still being clear-eyed about the evil found in it.
The Kingdom of Cain looks at three murders in history--including the first murder, Cain's killing of his brother, Abel--and at the art created from imaginative engagement with those horrific events by artists ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky to Alfred Hitchcock.
To make beauty out of the world as it is--shot through with evil and injustice and suffering--is the task not just of the artist but, Klavan argues, of every life rightly lived. Examining how that transformation occurs in art grants us a vision for how it can happen in our lives.
Klavan eloquently argues that it is possible to be clear-eyed about the evil in the world while remaining hope-filled about God's ability to redeem it all.
Resources for Writers
If you are struggling to find your voice as a writer, I offer several free resources when you join my newsletter, including a copy of my professionally developed writing guide, 15 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block. I also include an exclusive free digital copy of my collection of published love letters, Red Magic: Love Letters for a Soulmate. The book also includes reflection questions that serve as writing prompts to help you explore what it means to live and love.
Finally, because I believe in the immense power of poetry, I took the skills I have learned throughout a decade of writing and shared them in my online course, Becoming a Poet: A Course to Unlock Your Writing Potential. This course will help you discover your voice as a unique poet by learning to write impactful poetry using effective strategies to find inspiration and craft evocative imagery.
I love helping new writers achieve their goals, so please don’t pass up these resources.
Discover your voice as a unique poet! Learn to write impactful poetry using effective strategies to find inspiration and craft evocative imagery.