2025 was my biggest year yet, there’s no doubt about that whatsoever. From the Kickstarter with EverAfterPrint going live and being successful to then holding my very own book in my hands, it’s been such an exciting year for my development as an author. I’m so grateful to have made it to this point in my career because, whilst it’s still early, it’s such an achievement; 2025 is a year I will forever be thankful for.
Of course, Beneath the Blossom Tree (which you can find on EverAfterPrint and Amazon) is an enormous part of my 2025. We were still editing it at the beginning of the year, refining and strengthening it. I knew it would be going to Kickstarter, but we hadn’t set any date, so making sure it was as strong as it could be for whenever it did get launched was a big part of my first quarter. I was still working on other projects (which will always be the case, because making my focus entirely singular is a complete impossibility), but I knew Beneath the Blossom Tree was going to be my first venture into publishing. So dedicating my time to ensuring the strongest version of this story existed was a major part of this year for me.
When it was launched, the Kickstarter process was both incredibly exciting and nerve wracking. I couldn’t help but look at it multiple times a day, hoping to see an increase in the percentage towards our target. When we got there, a few days before the end of the campaign, that was an indescribable moment for me. To know that this book you’ve poured months and months of your life into, working with an amazing team who have helped shape it into its strongest form, that it’s going to be printed and placed into the hands of the generous readers who helped fund it, there’s almost nothing quite like it.
And the acknowledgement that I was going to be published was such a dream come true. My first ambition as a child was to be an author, and I digressed from that ambition as I grew up, only to return to it during my time at university. When I got to hold this beautiful book in my own hands, it was phenomenal. Not only because the artwork is stunning, but because that’s a truly physical representation that the first ever dream you had when you were a child has come true. It’s an amazing feeling, and one that I hope everyone gets to experience in their life.
Now, of course, that doesn’t mean things are over. This is an enormous first step into the world of authorship, but it certainly won’t be my last, and it certainly doesn’t mean much larger, and perhaps even more difficult, steps won’t follow. I can say that I am a published author and be incredibly proud of that fact. But my dream of writing full-time, of having multiple books to my name, that’s still far away, even if I have taken this fantastic step to get me closer to that point.
Whilst Beneath the Blossom Tree was going to Kickstarter and then being published, I’ve still been working on other things, some less successful than others. I’ve made some changes to plans, had to alter things that I thought were pretty set, all in the name of building my portfolio. I had an idea for what I imagined my next published book might be, and that’s had to change for various reasons; I had to ask myself what was sensible, and working on certain projects over others had to be a serious question I asked. I had to be realistic, and that’s not always easy, but it’s necessary.
Sometimes making changes to things you thought you understood feels negative at the time, feels perhaps like stunting your progress. But it’s all in the name of something greater. Whilst it does feel like a step back to work on a different project to the one I had initially been pushing forward with, I know it’s the right thing to do. And so changing directions, even if it was only a shift of focus, has been taking up my time after Beneath the Blossom Tree went to Kickstarter.
I’ve had some truly incredible moments of productivity during this year, pushing forward with projects, reworking stories that I thought I might previously have to leave behind, and getting thousands upon thousands of words onto the page. There’s been times throughout this year that I’ve felt truly inspired, and I’m super proud of the work that I’ve done.
2025 was also a difficult year in a lot of ways, many quite personal. The ebb and flow of life is just that, and I certainly had some lows that really did affect my writing. It’s a natural part of the creative process, it’s a natural part of life itself, things are not always on the up, sometimes they’re on the down. Sometimes, they’re on the down a lot. It can be really difficult, during those lows, to push yourself forward, to keep moving on with dreams. Sometimes you almost feel like giving up entirely.
Thankfully, those lows don’t last forever. They might last far longer than you’d hope, but there are opportunities to leave them behind. Whilst it’s important to acknowledge those lows, it’s more important, I think, to be kind to yourself. If you feel guilty over those moments where you perhaps didn’t make much progress because of the way you were feeling, or if you only ever remember the negativity, that stops yourself from striving forward. So I try my best to show myself kindness during these lows, during these moments of lesser motivation, and I move forward, always hoping tomorrow might be better. If it’s not, that’s okay too. But one day, you will get a better tomorrow, and being kind to yourself until then is a vital step when you’re living creatively.
So what comes next? I’ve got a short story being published in an anthology that I hope to be able to share more with you in the coming weeks (that I announced briefly here). I plan to submit to more competitions, because you never know where that might take you. And I’ve got so many projects to work on. My past few weeks have been quiet, sometimes it can be hard to find motivation when the days are darker and the weeks are counting down to another year, but I’ve spent some of that time honing my focus and thinking about what I can really dedicate my time to next year. I probably always have too many projects on the go at once, and so I will still being working on multiple things. But there are a couple of stories I know I’m going to be giving most of my focus to, and I’m excited about pushing them forward.
There’s a part of me that thinks 2026 might be a bit quieter than 2025, and that’s more than fine considering my debut novella was published in 2025! But just know that, simply because things are quieter, that doesn’t mean there isn’t progress or that you’ve stopped entirely. Progress comes in many different shapes: sometimes that’s being published, and sometimes that’s writing away in the background and knowing those words might not be seen by readers until a couple more years have passed. It’s having confidence in yourself and where you’re going that matters. And I feel confident about where I’m heading, that’s for sure.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this year such an important one for me, and here’s to hoping it won’t be too long before I can get another book out there for people to read.
To 2026.
Robyn x
R. A. Howard 