2025: A Year in Review

Hi everyone,

As the year winds down, I’ve found myself looking back at what 2025 asked of me as a writer. It wasn’t a loud or fast year, but it was deeply formative, a year of finishing stories that needed care, and starting new ones that needed patience.

Finishing 'No Light Without Darkness'

One of the biggest milestones this year was completing No Light Without Darkness. This was a story that refused to be rushed. Finishing it felt less like “finally being done” and more like setting something gently down after carrying it for a long time. It reminded me that some stories only reveal their ending once you’re willing to sit with uncertainty.

The vampire genre continues to be a popular one, and I challenged myself with it, relating to the fantasy novels I've read over the past few decades and plunging into world-building mode for the latter half of 2024 before finishing it in June 2025.

This story started as a one-shot chapter, became a life of its own, and 28 chapters later, I can safely say that I'm very happy with the outcome. This one will be earmarked for publication in the future (along with a sequel), but for now, you can enjoy it for free on Wattpad (https://www.wattpad.com/story/356218141-no-light-without-darkness) or AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/51655345/chapters/130577218)

Synergism 

In 2025, I also finished editing Synergism. This stage of the work was about listening closely, to what the characters were asking for, to what the story had already become, and to where it needed to land emotionally. One of the biggest challenges when writing a story is ensuring that the ending ends with just the right cadence. From the very beginning, I knew where I was taking this supernatural MM romance novel, and I can safely say I'm very happy with how it turned out.

With edits complete, Synergism is now fully prepared for publication in January 2026. Letting a book reach this stage is always both grounding and a little surreal.

Starting Something New

Learning to trust the story as it unfolds

This year wasn’t only about endings. I also began two ongoing projects:

• The Silence That Lives Between Us. (available here: https://www.sinagami.com/the-silence-that-lives-between-us/)
• Vermillion (available here: https://www.sinagami.com/vermillion-1/)

Both are available to read for free on the website, and writing them in this open, evolving format has been a completely different experience. I usually work several chapters ahead, outline a full story before publishing the first installment, and then push myself to release new chapters on a strict weekly schedule.

With these two stories, my process has been much looser, and in many ways, more challenging. It’s required a lot of trust: in the process itself, in the readers who follow along as the story unfolds, and in letting the narrative take its time rather than forcing it toward completion too soon.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As I look toward the coming year, 2026 feels like a year of release and expansion.

In January, Synergism will be published on Amazon and Kindle. I’ll also be collaborating with Shinagami on a collection of Romantasy short stories, a project I’m genuinely excited to share more about soon. Later in 2026, I plan to publish another book that continues to explore themes and structures that have been quietly shaping my work.

I want to do so much, but of course a year can go by in the blink of an eye. Another short story? A sequel to No Light Without Darkness? Another palace drama? These are all on my list.

A Quiet Thank You

More than anything, I want to say thank you. To those who read, who send kind messages, who sit with these stories as they unfold - your presence matters more than you probably realize.

2025 taught me that writing doesn’t have to be loud to be meaningful. It just has to be honest.

Here’s to carrying that intention into the year ahead.

❤️JJ