The Most Incredible End to the Year – December 2025 Wrap
Another year has come and gone. 2025 was a roller coaster ride for me, but I’m so grateful for all the good memories. December brought some magical moments, from anthology publications to lots of love on my Christmas music, so I’m excited to unveil my last monthly wrap of 2025.
Three Anthology Publications
I wrapped up my incredible year in the anthology world with three publications.
First, Seasons of Romantasy: Winter by Quill & Flame Publishing House was published on December 11. My new adult romantasy, “A Vow of Ice and Sapphires,” is the last story in this anthology. I loved writing this one, so it’s an honor closing out the book. I’m still waiting on my copy to arrive, so I’m looking forward to receiving a surprise in the mail hopefully soon.
Second, Shadows in the Raven’s Eye: A Reimagining of Poe’s Tales by Zombie Works Publications came out on December 16. I can’t put into words how lucky I feel to be in this anthology with “Silence Is Madness,” my reimagining of Poe’s fable, “Silence.” I wrote all about Shadows in the Raven’s Eye in this blog post.
Third, I wrapped up my 2025 publications with Holiday Spirit by Dragon Soul Press on December 20. My new adult speculative romantic suspense, “The Snow Globes of Tinsel Falls,” is in this book, and out of all the stories I wrote this year, “The Snow Globes of Tinsel Falls” is definitely in my top three favorites. I shared the details about Holiday Spirit in this blog post.
So, that’s a wrap on my 2025 anthologies. I’m ending the year with seventeen total publications, and I’m so grateful to have my work in such wonderful books.
The Last Anthology Updates of the Year
On top of celebrating my three publications, I couldn’t resist reaching a new level of unhinged to end the year.
In December, I wrote four new stories.
That’s right.
Four.
Told you I reached a new level of unhinged.
First, I wrote and submitted a young adult folk horror for a water themed anthology. I love this story because it’s an original legend with lunar magic, folklore, and a wintery willow grove setting. I should find out the news about this one in January.
Second, I wrote an adorable young adult meet-cute for a spring romance anthology. This one centers around music, and the love interest may or may not be a pianist. The submission window opens on New Year’s Day. So, I’m looking forward to starting my 2026 anthology submissions with this story.
Third, I wrote and submitted a young adult folk horror reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood for a fairy tale anthology. At first, I struggled to come up with an idea for this submission call, but since I love fairy tale reimaginings, I couldn’t pass this anthology up. Thankfully, I settled on an idea I liked and got the story submitted in time. I should hear about this one in January.
Fourth, I woke up on New Year’s Eve and chose chaos because I decided to write and submit a young adult romantasy with a selkie as the love interest, and oh yeah, the deadline was December 31. When I made this wild choice, I had no clue what to do for the story, but by breakfast, I had an idea, ate my muffin, then wrote, revised, and submitted the story before midnight. If this one gets into the anthology, New Year’s Eve 2025 will go down in history as one of my most unhinged ends to a year ever. I should find out about this one in a few weeks.
Looks like several anthology decisions will hit my inbox in January. Manifestation mode activated.
Aside from writing four new stories, I did another major rewrite of my strawberry dark romantasy. I can’t say much about a certain anthology right now, but hopefully this last revision got the story over the finish line. If all goes well, I should have exciting news early next year.
Finally, before Christmas, I put together the manuscript for my butterfly anthology, Kaleidoscopic Quill. After working so hard on this project for most of the year, I can’t believe its spring publication is only a few months away.
2025 was a golden year in the anthology world.
Am I going to chill in 2026?
Nope. Absolutely not!
I’m determined to make 2026 even better.
My First Lit Mag Publication
On December 22, “My True Love Gave to Me” was published as part of Micromance Magazine’s 12 Days of Christmas. I absolutely love Micromance, so I’m delighted that my very first lit mag publication is with them.
You can read “My True Love Gave to Me” for free here, and if you would like to learn more about my first lit mag publication experience, check out this blog post.
Celebrating my first lit mag publication a few days before Christmas was such a special gift.
My Two Guest Appearances on Publishing Podcasts
I’m so excited to share my guest appearances on two publishing podcasts hosted by author friends.
First, I chatted with Mylee on Books and Beyond about nourishing creativity and avoiding burnout, and you can listen to the episode on Spotify. Huge thank you to Mylee for having me on her show to cover such an important topic.
Second, I sat down with Tali on the Prose Pros to talk about short stories. Since writing short stories for anthologies is pretty much my whole personality, I had a blast covering this topic. You can listen to the episode on Spotify. Huge thank you to Tali for letting me share my insights and experiences with short stories.
I had so much fun during both these conversations, and I’m super grateful that Mylee and Tali welcomed me onto their shows.
Recording Vocals for “Don’t Let It Snow”
While I was in the studio, I filmed myself recording vocals for “Don’t Let It Snow.” I shared the video on December 7 to celebrate the song being out for a month, and you can watch it on YouTube. I had a lot of fun recording “Don’t Let It Snow,” so I’m glad I could share this glimpse into the session.
Releasing “Sugar and Spice”
On December 5, I released my eighth original Christmas song, “Sugar and Spice.”
I had a blast writing and recording “Sugar and Spice.” This song is polar opposite from “Don’t Let It Snow,” and I love that. “Sugar and Spice” is such a fun and festive pop song. I’m glad I could release it this holiday season.
Some Spotify Stats for “Don’t Let It Snow” and “Sugar and Spice”
The love both “Don’t Let It Snow” and “Sugar and Spice” received this holiday season completely blew my mind. After making the decision to push my EP back to 2026, seeing these two songs take on lives of their own warmed my heart.
I don’t often share stats, since that’s not why I’m a songwriter. I write and release music because that’s what I love to do. Still, I wanted to take this moment to celebrate how my two new Christmas songs performed this holiday season because I never expected this to happen.
From release day on November 7 to New Year’s Eve, “Don’t Let It Snow” had 8,156 streams, 5,658 listeners, and 1,132 playlist adds. During the last twenty-eight days, the top five countries were the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany, and the top five cities were Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Toronto, and Houston. I think it’s so cool that the top three cities are in Australia.
From release day on December 5 to New Year’s Eve, “Sugar and Spice” had 4,614 streams, 3,763 listeners, and 554 playlist adds. The top five countries were the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Germany, and the top five cities were London, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Houston. I love that London is the top city this time.
I can’t thank my Butterflies all around the world enough for showing “Don’t Let It Snow” and “Sugar and Spice” so much love.
Some Spotify Wrapped Stats for My Music, Write on Track, and Literary Blend
I wanted to celebrate the end of the year by sharing some Spotify Wrapped stats for my music, Write on Track, and Literary Blend.
Spotify Wrapped gets released at the beginning of December, so the stats don’t include data from the entire year. Thanks to my Spotify for Artists account, I was able to get accurate stats, so I’m going to share those, along with some of my favorite parts of my Spotify Wrapped for my music and podcasts.
First, here are some stats for my music.
My songs were streamed 15,809 times. I’m absolutely gobsmacked.
9,414 people listened to my music in 2025. This is actually insane. No words.
My biggest day was December 11 with 772 listeners and 873 streams.
My songs were added to 1,897 playlists. That’s a ton of playlists. I’ll never get over this.
“Passive Aggressive” was the night owl, the song that was streamed after dark. I love this so much. “Passive Aggressive” definitely has night vibes. If I wasn’t sleeping, I would definitely bop to this one after sunset.
“Kaleidoscope” was the early riser, the song people listened to in the morning. I love this so much, too. “Kaleidoscope” is such an uplifting song, so I’m glad my Butterflies wanted to start their days with this one.
“Meet Me At Christmas Time” was the shared treasure, the song most shared with others. This is so surprising to me, since it’s a Christmas song, but as someone who listens to Christmas music all year round, I fully support this.
“You Get What You Give” was the party starter, the song most streamed to start the weekend. This is such a fun and sassy song, so I can totally see how it would be a song to kick off the weekend.
Finally, my top album was Hear Me Out. I’m so glad both old and new listeners made this album part of their 2025.
Next, here are some stats for Write on Track.
This year, I passed 200 episodes. Since starting the show in May of 2021, I have shared episodes every other Sunday consistently, not missing a single release day. It’s so cool to see that Write on Track is still going strong over four years later.
Write on Track is only a few listens away from hitting 13,000. I can’t even wrap my mind around this. People have heard my guests and me talk for almost 13,000 times. That’s so wild to me.
The show was listened to in twenty-seven countries this year. The top five were the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Canada, and New Zealand.
Write on Track was the top show for eighteen listeners, in the top five for forty-eight, and in the top ten for sixty-three.
Spotify Wrapped shows my listeners’ top five artists, and both Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter are on the list, Taylor at number one and Sabrina at number four. This is super cool because they’re two of my favorites.
Lastly, Write on Track won two awards. First, it was a 2025 Marathon Show, since listeners listened for longer than 81 percent of other shows. Second, it was a 2025 Fan Fave because the average rating was higher than 75 percent of other shows.
Finally, here are some stats for Literary Blend.
Literary Blend passed 5,000 total listens this year. I can’t believe the conversations on the show were heard over 5,000 times in under two years. This makes my heart so happy.
Next, the show was listened to in thirteen countries. The top five were the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, and Spain.
Literary Blend was the top show for fourteen listeners, in the top five for fifty, and in the top ten for sixty-one.
20 percent of listeners hit play within twenty-four hours of a new episode coming out, and I think this is super cool. I love how listeners are so excited to hear the conversations on the show.
Taylor and Sabrina were in the top five artists for my Literary Blend listeners too, Taylor once again at number one and Sabrina at number two. Also, Johann Sebastian Bach is on the list, which I fully support because I’m a classical pianist.
Lastly, Literary Blend received three awards. That’s so incredible. First, it was also a 2025 Marathon Show. People listened for longer than 79 percent of other shows. Second, it was a 2025 Talked About Show because the podcast received more comments than 86 percent of other shows. Third, it was a 2025 Most Shared Show because the podcast received more shares than 83 percent of other shows.
Thank you so much to everyone who listened to my music and podcasts this year. I’m forever grateful for the love and support, and I can’t wait to release new music and share more conversations on my shows in 2026.
Three Heart of Indie Radio Holiday Specials
This December, I got to produce and co-host two Christmas specials and a New Year’s Eve show on Heart of Indie Radio. A Nashville Christmas aired on December 20, and this is a show of all original country Christmas music. A few days later, Ribbon and Tunes, a show of all original Christmas pop music, aired on Christmas Day. Finally, Before the Ball Drops, a perfect show to end the year, aired on New Year’s Eve.
I can’t thank Eddie and the whole Heart of Indie team enough for letting me do these shows. All of them are available on MixCloud. You can listen to A Nashville Christmas here, Ribbon & Tunes here, and Before the Ball Drops here. This was the best way to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve in the music industry.
Donating a Cute Reindeer
Every year, I love to donate a toy for a special child to unwrap on Christmas morning. I chose a cute reindeer this holiday season.
Giving back is so important to me, so I loved doing this.
And that’s it. 2025 is over. December definitely brought some incredible moments to end the year.
2026, I hope you’ll be a golden one.