Ash Vale Updates: December 2025
Last one of the year!!!
We’re in that liminal state of being between Christmas and New Years, where cheese is a primary food group and pants don’t fit, and time appears to stop existing except for when I need to eat again or when the mail comes and I’m perplexed that they can deliver on Christmas except that it’s not Christmas, is it?
Anyway, all this to say that I’m greatly enjoying the holidays and the time off. I’ve somehow got less and more done than I had hoped, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I’ve had a tough year; grief and loss have taken a few different forms, for myself and some close friends, and I’ve had periods where I wrote nothing at all because I just couldn’t. You can’t pour from an empty cup, as they say. But there were also some awesome highs: launching OTHERSIDE, having some really cool stories published, and getting to consistently play music with some of my favourite people. It’s made this a complicated year to reflect on, but one that I’m mostly happy to say goodbye to in the rear view mirror.
I hope that if you’ve had a year with high highs and low lows, or even just a mix of it all, that you go into 2026 with intention and purpose, and that the high highs find you, wherever you are. Thanks for being here.
Writing
Out Now
I had a story out earlier this month that’s kind of gross, fair warning, but I think it’s an interesting one. It’s about a pregnant woman who experiences a symptom called pica, where she has an insatiable desire to eat something she shouldn’t. In her case, it’s…her own hair.
After a few weeks of this, Elena insists I go back to the doctor. She says something is wrong. She’s right, but I’m having trouble paying attention to the conversation. I’m not sure how to tell her I’m so weak that I actually exist outside of my body at this moment. I’m watching all three of us from the ceiling, a little spider, barely nodding my head along to words that are too big right now. I don’t think she’ll understand.
End of Year Reading Wrap-Up
I finished 40 books in 2025, which was pretty sweet considering my goal was just 25! I’m very hit or miss with books; I’ll go through phases where I’m reading a lot at a time, and then a month or two where I slow right down. I also read a mix of non-fiction and fiction, some literary, some genre, some romance. I’m all over the place, largely dependent on what comes in from the library.
Below I’ve included my 10 favourite books this year! Note that I just read them this year, several of them didn’t come out in 2025. Some of them aren’t necessarily books I gave 5 stars (though some are, Metal from Heaven my beloved), but they’re books that really stuck with me for some reason after reading, and something that’s memorable will make the list for me anytime.
So, in no particular order, my favourite reads this year:
Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag
Bunny by Mona Awad
Metal From Heaven by august clarke
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
The Traitor & the Wretch by Jasmine Walls
📚️ Reading
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
📺️ Watching
HEATED RIVALRY AHHHHH
🎵 Listening To
GNX by Kendrick Lamar