Hello, dreamers. NaNoWriMo 2025 is entering the home stretch. With one week to go, it’s hard not to keep one eye on your word count. But I’ve been averaging around 4k words per day. And that means I’m going to make it. Even better, I’ll probably hit 50k before Thursday, allowing me to take a breath and enjoy the holiday. With that said, here’s what I’ll be up to this week:

NaNoWriMo

As I mentioned in yesterday’s NaNo update, I currently stand north of 40k. I’ve added since then, and am now confident I’ll make my 50k goal with time to spare. Days, probably.

But it’s important to note that just making it to 50k doesn’t mean my work is complete. Not even close. As I’m writing a multi-POV work of hard science fiction, 50k means I’m not even halfway there. And that means I face a familiar decision: do I pause after hitting my goal, or just keep going?

Once I’m this deep into a novel project, I’m locked in. I’ve settled into a groove, and there’s a risk that if I take a protracted pause I’ll find it hard to get back into novel-writing mode. What’s more, with the holidays upon us and January just around the corner, I’m fast approaching my next round of query prep. And I already have a lot of ideas for major reworking in Seven Days on Samarkand. Between that and my custom of devoting the first few months of a new year to short fiction, I’m loath to step away from Aquarius 1 now.

If nothing else, there’s no way I’m simply going to drop everything I’m doing the moment I hit my month goal. I will almost certainly continue on through the next action sequence, if not further. After that I’ll probably take a day or two to reassess. I’ll edit what I have so far, look at ways to improve the story as it stands, and maybe even get in some short fiction work.

Then, I’ll decide how to proceed through the final month of the year.

Short Fiction

I had one last piece of business to conduct for Galaxy Press in advance of next year’s anthology: writing a log line. I did that (it was without a doubt the easiest thing they’ve asked me to do), and it’s in my editor’s inbox as of this morning.

I’m still awaiting my contract from Analog for “Casual Brutality”. The editor in chief warned me that, due to their recent acquisition, they’re working through a serious backlog. But I do plan to give him a gentle nudge today regarding the contract. It’d be nice if I could see it before the calendar turns to December. But I’ve waited this long to appear in their venerable publication. I can afford to wait a little longer.

Beyond that, the main new in short fiction again deals with my critique group. These guys are awesome, and we added our first new member last week. I’ve continued handing them my existing short fiction manuscripts, always with thrilling results. At this rate, I have high hopes that they’ll have worked through all of my current manuscripts before the January sub windows open.

Upcoming Content

Between entering a transition at some point in December and looking ahead to the January query window, I’m once again looking over this site with a critical eye. I don’t have any clear ideas yet of what I want to do with it, if anything. But I feel it’s always a good idea to spruce things up ahead of another round of queries, when agents will probably be viewing my site.

That said, here’s what you can expect on this site through the week ahead:

Wednesday: “NaNoWriMo Midweek Update”

On Wednesday I’ll be updating readers on my progress with OctoWIP. This week I’ll be looking at what’s to come for the story: where it’s ultimately headed, and my plans for getting there beyond NaNoWriMo.

Thursday: “With Gratitude”

Every year I post something special on Thanksgiving Day. It’s usually the one time of year I allow myself to get deeply personal. This year, I’m embracing the core theme of this holiday: gratitude. I’ll be taking a moment to thank some of the incredible people who’ve helped me get this far, and those who will surely be there to help me get even further.

Friday: “Science in Fiction: Alone in the Universe”

Are we alone? Science tells us there’s no way we could be. But if there are, in fact, hundreds or even thousands of other intelligent species scattered across our galaxy, well…where are they? In this month’s “Science in Fiction”, I’ll be taking a look at the Fermi Paradox: what it is, what might be behind it, and how the modern sci-fi writer can address the apparent silence of the cosmos.

Sunday: “NaNoWriMo 2025: A Retrospective”

The week will end with my annual recap of NaNoWriMo. I’ll discuss not only what I accomplished but my experience trudging through a novel project, and the wonderful people I’ve connected with along the way.

It’s going to be another big week. So read on, and dare to dream. – MK