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Another newsletter, the last one for 2025!
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I keep track of my newsletters, and this one is number 50. That means over the course of 2025 I only missed two. I’m pretty proud of that record, quite frankly.
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I’ve written up a series of posts for year end. The first is looking back, and commenting on what I accomplished in 2025.
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Then I went onto a middle, connecting piece, as it were. I had a serious, “Ah HA!” moment recently, which has changed my perspective. These sorts of abrupt shifts are normal for me. I understand that not everyone does this sort of thing.
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Then there’s the last one, looking into the future. I honestly don’t have that many future plans. I have lots to do. One big goal—to lose weight so I can travel. There are little things that I plan on doing. But while 2026 is absolutely a year for moving forward, it’s all about the small, regular increments, not more huge changes.
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The picture is a card that my mother sent me decades ago. I’ve always kept it because it was so applicable to me. Don’t look back—your life, and no longer an option. That doesn’t mean you can’t choose again, and again, and again, and continue to change the path you’re on. But I do tend to stick with the paths I choose.
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Our Christmas holidays were deliberately quiet. For the week before Christmas, I cured a pork butt, using the type of cure that I’d use for a ham. Then I smoked it on the day before Christmas, glazing it with a honey-pineapple mixture.
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It turned out AMAZING. So good that I’m going to have to do it again. Once just before Easter, and once in August for our annual BBQ.
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In addition, we made cinnamon rolls. It’s a yeasted dough and needs rise twice. After the first rise, we roll out the dough, add the filling, roll it back up, cut it into disks, then let it rise overnight the second time in the fridge. That way, in the morning, we can just put the rolls into the oven to bake. Yum.
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Also, we bought half a cow this year from a local rancher. We’ve been purchasing meat from them since 2013 or 2014. They’re good people. They’ve kept the price of beef the same over the last few years, which means that we get grass-fed, grass-finished meat for $5.50/pound, after butchering and wrapping fees. If you can afford to pay a lump sum for meat, I highly recommend them.
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The cows were HAPPY this year. The ranchers were able to continue them on grass right up to the time of slaughter. This means we got twice as much meat as we were planning on. We ended up buying a second freezer for all the meat. I’m going to be having so much fun with the grill this coming year! So many recipes to try! I’m actually very excited about the whole thing.
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So I guess that’s about it for me for this year. I hope that your year at least went reasonably well, and that you have some things to look forward to in the new year.
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Let me know how it’s going for you!
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Daring starship captain? Check.
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Best friend/deadly assassin? Check.
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Aliens? Got a surprise...
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Rosey just wants to go home after all her adventures. She has racing ships to build! And she wants to find out more about the materials of the original alien wreck.
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However, there are others who want to stop not just her, but all of her friends.
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A momentary retreat may be the best way to survive.
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What she finds on that path changes everything.
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Alien Encounter—the third novel in the Live Alien Contact series—tests Rosey and the others: their endurance, their knowledge, their friendship, and their trust of one other as they meet the unknown.
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Be sure to read the rest of this finished series!
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Available from the KRP store December 10. Generally available Dec 21.
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To celebrate, we're putting the first four stories of The Science Officer on sale for only $5.99!
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The first four novellas of Blaze Ward's Science Officer series collected together for the first time!
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Javier lives quite happily on his long-range scout. Alone. Away from everyone, with his chickens, his fruit trees, and Suvi, an artificial intelligence who keeps him company and runs the ship.
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When space pirates attack Javier's ship, they get much more than they bargained for.
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Join Javier Aritza, a sarcastic and quirky hero, in the first four novellas of the Science Officer, a fast-paced, action-packed science fiction series.
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Included in Omnibus 1:
The Science Officer
The Mindfield
The Gilded Cage
The Pleasure Dome
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