I won't lie; the SLS rocket had me nervous. I am a child of the shuttle disasters, and I was biting my nails during the ascent. But SLS got it done.

Now, onward into our future in space.

Enjoy some spectacular shots of the launch, and a bonus shot of Earth from the Orion spacecraft this morning (a view human eyes haven’t enjoyed in too many decades).

Image credit:

Pictures 1 and 2: Eric Kuna https://x.com/erikkuna)

Picture 3: Andrew McCarthy (https://x.com/AJamesMcCarthy)

Picture 4: NASA

I may wax philosophical at length later, but most everyone won’t have seen it yet, and you all deserve to go into it fresh, without my idle musings priming your expectations.

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First off, the venue is just lovely. The con takes place across 2 convention centers, but the Writers' Block is in Summit, which is a new building, and it shows. The floor is carpeted and the ceiling is high with tons of skylights; even when it's cloudy (hello, Seattle....), the space is bright with natural light.

I'm a big fan of the "Writers' Block" setup, where all (or most) of the author tables are together in one place, complete with a giant sign hanging overhead so people can find it. I got to hang out with a bunch of authors (my favorite people after #MrJennsen, family and readers) all weekend. And most of the people who came down the aisle were there because they love books, so it was a target-rich environment.

Book sales were fantastic - comparable to Dragon Con, and my costs were much lower. I sold out of The Thief way early (the IAP award caught people's fancy!), so I'll bring many more copies of it in the future. Medusa Falling did great as well. Starshine always sells by far the most number of copies - but the people who love cyberpunk *really* love cyberpunk, so I'll always bring Machina as well. (Note: The Universe Within has also done well when I've brought it instead of The Thief, but, inside baseball: pitching readers on 5 different titles is too overwhelming; 3 to 4 is the sweet spot.)

Mr. Jennsen and I simply love Seattle and the whole Puget Sound region. We don't live there for several good reasons, but we get tempted every time we visit, and I'm so happy to live within driving distance of it now.

This view was captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a powerful network of radio telescopes in Chile.

What you’re seeing is the crowded, chaotic heart of our galaxy, a region packed with cold gas and dust, the raw material that forms new stars. The image maps an area called the Central Molecular Zone, stretching more than 650 light-years across.

Image credit:: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore et al. Background: ESO/D. Minniti et al.

More info: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2603/

Source.

When the book opens, things are in a bit of disarray. Nika and Mesme have vanished off to parts unknown, Morgan and Olivia are trapped on Mshak, and the Dzhvar are getting in the way of everything by accelerating their attacks.

Via APOD: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260214.html

Okay, fine, fine, this was a typo. But I think I adore the notion of 'furiosity,' and now I really want to keep it. The Facebook people think I should definitely keep it….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0XN3-n-2Lo

And a little peek behind the editing curtain....

You can learn more about the image and the Helix Nebula here: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/intricacies-of-helix-nebula-revealed-with-nasas-webb/

For comparison, here is the Helix Nebula as imaged by Hubble and Spitzer:

Now to tweak and edit and slave and agonize and generally bring it up to the standard that has kept you guys around for 23 books.

Cassini was such a gift. It revealed our solar system to be as beautiful as we'd long dreamed it must be.

Via Jason Major.

Lol, who am I kidding? I haven't wrangled it yet - that's next. But I did commit a whole host of heart-pounding encounters, stunning revelations and emotional moments to the page.

So have a little teaser for one of them, and celebrate with me.

I published 2 novels: THE UNIVERSE WITHIN (wrapping up the Cosmic Shores trilogy of stand-alone sci-fi adventure novels) and LIMINAL SPACE (the first book in the final trilogy of the Amaranthe universe).

THE THIEF was a rock-star of a novel this year, winning the Indie Author Project Sci-Fi Book of the Year and being named one of the best Alien Sci-Fi Novels of the Year by Discover Sci-Fi. (Yes, yes, and there was a tiny kerfuffle around the SPSFC in which The Thief was thrust into a semi-starring role. Let me tell you, going viral on X is not for the faint of heart....)

Five of my short stories landed on the moon! Thanks to the incredible Lunar Codex project and Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines' groundbreaking missions, "Apogee," "Solatium," "Venatoris," "Re/Genesis" and "Chrysalis" will reside forever in the stars.

I was a Pro at Dragon Con again this year, speaking on some fascinating panels, selling books and meeting awesome readers and authors at what is seriously the craziest geek con on the planet. I also attended Lilac City Comicon and the Local Author Celebration by the Community Library Network, fulfilling a promise to myself to put down roots in my new Inland Northwest home by getting involved in the regional author community.

Oh, and I sold my 700,000th story. Thank you, all of you, for enabling me to do what I love!

Favorite book I read this year? House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds; I deeply love that book. But it was a reread, so favorite first-time read of the year? Probably Ancilliary Justice by Ann Leckie; it deserves all the accolades it received. Favorite non-fiction? The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene; the prospect of multiverses is real science, guys.

Favorite video game? Baldur's Gate 3, again. It should be Clair Obscur, but I disliked the narrative rug-pull at the end. Also, Kingdoms Reborn turned out to be a delightful city-builder of a game!

What about 2026? THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING will definitely release, and I'll start writing NAKED SINGULARITY, the final novel in the 25-book Amaranthe saga (* sobs *). More regional author events are on tap, including my first time appearing at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle. I believe there's another lunar landing or two (or...four??) on the schedule, too.

I'm genuinely happy with the year 2025 shaped up to be, and excited for the opportunities waiting to ambush me in 2026.

How about you? What were the highlights of your 2025?

I promise you: in this final trilogy, nothing will be left on the bench. It's all happening.

Earthrise, captured on Christmas Eve 1968 during Apollo 8, remains one of the most captivating and enduring images in history.