In 2016, I started my websites as a place to store my thoughts, ideas, and experiences for photography and writing. Since then, the writing is the only thing that has continued to stick. Sure, I still write reviews over on BMW the Critic (and will continue to do so this year)—but that’s mostly to catalog my thoughts about books, movies, and video games. The true creative space that I keep coming back to is here with the stories I produce each year. I’ve occasionally gone back and looked at my long-term plans for my writing. Some predictions came true, while others were pushed out further in favor of ideas that came fully formed to the front of my mind that screamed to be let out. While 2026 will be lighter than some of my busier years, I’m also looking out into the future and making near-term plans that will influence what I work on this year. If anything, these aren’t New Year’s resolutions as much as they are S.M.A.R.T. goals I want to accomplish.
Courier to the Stars
With my goal to publish one book a year, it’s been about four years since I’ve published a traditional novel instead of cookbooks or children’s books. This year, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the release of Michael Strogoff: Courier to the Czar, I’ll be releasing my science fiction adaptation of this classic Jules Verne work, Courier to the Stars. I currently have it being reviewed by a trusted individual who is familiar with the source material and I’ll be reviewing his feedback and making polishing edits in April so it’s basically ready to go for a late September release (like I do with all my books). Of course, I’ll be adding some special visuals at the start of each chapter, so there’s still more work to do past proofreading the text.
“The Hermit Reversed”
One of my newer goals is to write and polish a short story that I can submit to anthologies and other contests. I’d like to do at least one a year to have enough for a collection in 2030, so this year I’ll be refining the draft I wrote last year about an unusual relationship between a crustacean and a robotic suit of armor. I think it has potential for the twist in the third act, but there are already improvements I know I want to make from the first draft. If you’re interested in beta reading this ~5,000 word short story for me once I get it punched up a bit in March, be sure to e-mail me at info@benjamin-m-weilert.com so I can put you on my beta reader list.
Amazon Affiliate
Late in 2025, I applied to be an Amazon Affiliate. What this means is that I get a small kickback for any links that people use to buy products on Amazon. This means that any of the items you can get on Amazon via the buttons on my Published Works page will earn me a little extra money (on top of the royalties I’d normally get). If you want to support what I’m doing, this is the best way to do so. Of course, there are a lot of links to create, so I’m dedicating my time in February to get this done (you can still order via Amazon in the meantime, though—you don’t have to wait until March).
Family Project
The small project that grew into a big project last year is back, but this time it’s mostly complete. There’s some touch-up and layout improvements I’ll be doing in January with my mother who was an award-winning yearbook teacher for many years. I hope to finalize this project by the end of May so it can be printed and ready to hand out at a family reunion this summer. If anything, I’m already proud of what my family has been able to pull together for this project and I look forward to the final result.
The November Project
I think I’m going to stop planning what I want to work on in November (during the time usually associated with NaNoWriMo) since the last three years have seen me fail to follow through with the book I thought I was going to write. Even in years before, the November Project wasn’t very clear in January, so I’m not really going to try to codify that far ahead. Usually, my muse tells me what to write around May, so I’ll wait until then. Either way, my plan is to do a month of world-building in July, since that has served me well for Rift and Virtuosa the last two years. As for what I’ll be preparing for, here’s a shortlist of ideas I might pursue…
- The Princess of Midnight, Book 1 of the Exiles fantasy trilogy (including initial plans for the whole trilogy)
- Books 1 and 2 from the Space Scout Handbook science fiction middle-grade series (including initial plans for the whole series)
- Andromeda, a spin-off urban fantasy based on characters from The Constellation Tournament
- Rhyming History, an in-depth non-fiction look at Christianity during different historical eras like Rome in 380 AD, Germany in 1940, and the United States in 2024.
- Books 1 and 2 from the Wizard of Oz middle-grade LitRPG adaptation series
The Future…
Where do I see myself in five years? While I’m still not sure what I’m writing this year, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to publish in the next few years. Here’s a sneak preview of projects finally coming to fruition…
- 2027: The Constellation Tournament (Book 1 in The Constellation Tournament)
- 2028: Ωmegα Protocol (Book 2 in The Constellation Tournament) | 10th Anniversary Edition and Audiobook for Fourteener Father
- 2029: Sol Champion (Book 3 in The Constellation Tournament)
- 2030: The Ascent of the Writer 2 (name TBD) | Omnibus collection for The Constellation Tournament
- 2031: Rift
As always, check back in December to see how I did (and what I finally decided to write in November).