Reflecting on the Past: A 2025 Recap
I missed my yearly book goal for the first time since 2017 — because I became a father. What I learned about priorities instead.
2025... what a ride it's been.
Eight years, one book a year
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've been able to meet that expectation for no particular reason other than having set it.
I never needed to force myself to keep up with that goal, but having it kept me on a disciplined writing schedule — one that helped me 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 eight 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.
Learning to realign my priorities
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 people who is critically terrible at purely relaxing, who always feels the underlying need to be productive. I feel guilty when I'm not working on something.
But 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.
A new title: Father
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 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 used 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. Despite the lack of sleep and extra time for my own 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.”
What I got done instead
I did not complete my ninth book as I had hoped — I got about 80% done. I pushed the 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'm in the process of writing
Starting a YouTube channel focused on readings from my poetry books
Creating a 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 and researching topics including artificial intelligence, investing, politics and world affairs, cybersecurity and privacy, video editing, and marketing strategies, among many others
UPDATE — SEPTEMBER 2026
That ninth book finally got finished and is Paraíso: Poemas de amor y la vida, released earlier this year. I finished a lot of it with the help of 100 writing prompts — here's exactly how that worked.
Some of those new covers are for After Dark
A few of the "four new books" mentioned above have turned into something different from poetry: my first horror stories, coming in 2027. If you want in early, there's a free short story waiting. Find it here.
The lesson: it's okay to shift priorities
With all that said, the lesson I'd like to share is that it's okay to shift goals and priorities. We mature as we grow, and our paths often change as a result. 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.
Meet the author
Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, raised in a military family, and a former U.S. Marine. He is the author of more than eight books in English and Spanish and is currently writing his first horror stories. He lives in Florida with his wife and daughter.