December 2025 Dispatch
Lots to talk about this month, so let’s get into it!
First and most exciting: Writer Ways comes out this week! If you’ll be at MFF, please swing by the FurPlanet table to get a copy signed (both my author names are on it so I can sign as either!). If you’re not, it will be available in the usual places next week. I really hope it helps people get their own stories out into the world.
Second, I’m going to be at MFF! I’ve got three panels on Saturday: Introduction to Novel Writing (10a), Novel Writing: First Draft and Next Steps (1p), and Taming the Hydra: Managing Large Story Worlds (3p). Then on Sunday I’ll be talking about Crafting Your Novel’s Elevator Pitch (10a) and Writing Believable Villains (11:30a). So it looks like Friday and then Sunday afternoon will be the best times to find me at the table. I’ll be there Saturday when I can, most likely from 4:30 on. I’m excited to see y’all at the table and in the panels!
Okay, this month I got a novelette (12K words) written that had been in my head for a while. It’s titled “Weekend Body” and I have no idea where I’m going to publish it, but I’m having some friends read it for ideas. I also started revisions on Azure City and got some feedback on Unlawful Possession, so those are moving closer to being ready to publish next year.
Speaking of next year…okay, so back in 2023, a new con named Anthro New Mexico invited me to be a GOH at their inaugural convention, which was supposed to take place this year. Last year, ConFuror asked me to be a GOH at their convention this year, and I had to decline because it was a week before or after ANM. Then ANM got pushed to 2026 because of a change in hotel management, and ConFuror asked me to be a GOH at their next convention and the dates do not conflict this time. And earlier this year, Furlandia invited me to be a GOH at their 2026 convention in May. So…I’ve been invited to be a GOH once per year over the last three years, but somehow all of those conventions are happening in 2026. SO! If you’re around Portland in May, or Albuquerque in September, or Guadalajara in October, I’d love to meet some of you I don’t usually get to see! I will be going to my standard few cons, of course—FC in January, TFF in March, SDCC in August, MFF in December—so I will get to see some of you there. Eastern US might not work out this year, what with all the other travel, but we’ll get there again, we promise. In the meantime—it’s going to be an exciting year!
As for December, I’ve got to finish up revisions on Azure City and Unlawful Possession. Both of those feel close to done, so that’s good. I’m really enjoying Monster Huggers and can’t wait to see where it goes. And any day now I should start writing the fourth Wolftown book and maaaaaybe the third Dude book…
If you are a $20 or up member of the Patreon, you will be able to follow the serialization of the Squeak Thief audiobook starting this week! I hear wonderful things about it, so take that opportunity! Since Science Friction is complete, that’ll be going up for sale to everyone later this month.
Books
(I moved things around and reformatted!)
Upcoming releases:
Writer Ways: A Helpful Guide to Novel Writing: 2025 (NOW). I wrote down about 100,000 words worth of what I’ve learned about writing novels, and I show my process while writing The Price of Thorns to give you an example to follow along with.
Azure City: 2026 (Winter). A book full of blank pages might be the key to another world, but the more Athos reads, the more he disappears from this one.
Weasel Under The Sun: 2026 (Spring). The third Ellie Stone mystery (second to be published on its own)! Ellie works for a month in another family’s kitchen while hers is on vacation, but murder will follow her anywhere…
Unlawful Possesssion (Wolftown book 3): 2026 (Summer): Chasing a ghost-napper, Jae uncovers a larger, more sinister plot.
Audiobooks:
Love Match 2 is out! Find it on Audible or iTunes.
Science Friction is going to be on sale this month on Audible and iTunes.
Next up after Science Friction on the Patreon will be Squeak Thief! It starts serializing this week!
And Dude, Where’s My Pack? is also nearly done.
Work on the Price of Thorns audiobook is largely done with just pickups and post left; we hope to have this out next year (there have been delays because of scheduling with the people proofing it).
Out now:
Dead Right: The sequel to Unfinished Business! Jae gets tangled in the life of a ghost activist who endangers his relationships and his future. Out now in print and e-book form at Argyll Productions and wherever you get books!
Squeak Thief: A rich mouse hires a fox thief to steal from his own family, but the job quickly spirals out of control. You can get it as a print book on FurPlanet or Amazon, or as an e-book on BadDogBooks or any other major retailer.
The Price of Thorns: buy at Argyll and review at Amazon or GoodReads. In a fantasy world where stories are woven into the fabric of magic and life, Nivvy the thief is hired by a mysterious woman, and this job will change his life in ways he could never have anticipated.
In progress:
Monster Huggers (Patreon) - serializing
Robin Hood fan fic (two books) — draft complete, awaiting revision
Ty the Knot — draft complete, awaiting revision
Fast Break (a gay basketball player story on Patreon) — first draft ongoing
untitled fantasy world project — outlining
Streaming:
Plur1bus (Apple+): By Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad, this science fiction series has been amazing since the first episode. If you don’t know anything about it, I almost don’t want to ruin it by telling you the premise, buuuuuuuuut it takes a very interesting concept and explores it with some very interesting characters. Rhea Seehorn (Kim from Better Call Saul) does an amazing job as Carol, and the rest of the cast is great, and they have some fantastic writing to work with. I love SF shows that keep you occupied thinking “if this happens, then what would happen to this…” and Plur1bus does that exceptionally well. Caveat: only halfway or so through the season yet, but I think by episode 3 you know what a show is going to be.
Zootopia 2 (theaters): Heck yeah we saw it! I thought it was very much a worthy successor to the first. They built out the world more, introduced fun new characters while letting us check in on our old friends, and (most importantly to me) gave Nick and Judy a very believable conflict to work through. One success was not going to paper over the very different philosophies they have in life, and that—the heart of the movie—works very well here. Also we get a lot of smug Nick face, hooray. I don’t think the structure is quite as tight as the structure in the first movie, so I don’t think I’ll be teaching it in structure class, but it moves along well, it continues to teach kids that rich people shouldn’t be allowed to do things, and it keeps Nick and Judy out of cop uniforms for most of the movie. They are still cops, and having them be pursued by the police feels a bit like trying to have your cake and eat it too, but fine, whatever. I will just note that my fanfic where they quit to become private detectives is still available for adaptation.
Whatever you celebrate, I wish you the very happiest of times this month! Even if you abstain from holidays, December is a time when everyone else is usually pretty chill, unless you’re a seasonal worker, in which case <3 <3 <3 to you. If you are celebrating holidays, I hope you can celebrate with the people who enrich your life and make you happy, as I will be doing.