Changes Are Afoot
How this substack will go in 2026
As many of you have noticed, I’ve been on hiatus on this substack from August 24 until December 10. Basically I quit posting here because I was on the verge of a burnout.
This has happened before. Back in 2010, after being an Interzone co-editor for four years (where I opened the slushpile to email submissions, which I read in my spare time), and delivering my optimistic SF anthology Shine to Solaris Books (which took two years to get published as Solaris Books changed owners exactly at that point), I was also very close to a burnout.
Keep in mind that being an Interzone co-editor paid nothing, and while I did eventually got money for Shine, $5,000 of the $7,500 went to the authors, while I spent most of the remainder on marketing it. Therefore, I had to keep the day job, which at that point meant a huge amount of travelling around the world.
My younger version was able to keep 12 to 16-hour days going for almost six years until the body—and the spirit—begged for mercy. So I quit the genre world while keeping my day job, as the bills and the mortgage had to be paid. I didn’t stop writing, though, and slowly, I came back.
Something similar happened this year. After maintaining a very tight schedule on Substack for my first two years, my older self—the day job doesn’t get easier as you get older, rather the contrary: the more you know, the more tasks your employer loads on you—felt the pressure and took a four month1 break.
I’ve looked at my financial situation and it is in such a state that I can afford to retire earlier. Which is what I will do next year: I will quit the day job, get pre-pension payments (which is possible here in The Netherlands, it does mean that my actual pension payments will be a bit lower when I lawfully retire), which will be complemented with quarterly payouts of my (ethical) investments. And I have a considerable amount of savings.
Meaning I will have more time for my writing and this substack. Also, I don’t want to break up a novel serialisation as I did with the last chapter of The Replicant, the Mole & the Impostor. So I’ve devised a solution.
In November and December, I’ve cut my next novel The Three Reflectors of Consensual Reality in 57 pieces (52 pieces; that is, one per week, didn’t quite work, so there’ll be double postings in December) and wanted to preplan them all on Substack.
Unfortunately, Substack only allows you to plan posts three months in advance2. Which I dutifully did, and have put up all the other parts as drafts (you can put up a lot of drafts, I’ve found out). So this novel will happen, come Hell or high water. Parts of it may be posted automatically—for example, when I am on holiday—but by the end of 2026 this novel will have been posted here, in full.
Long term planinning (novel and story-wise):
2026:
The Three Reflectors of Consensual Reality (first part of the Consensual Reality trilogy, 115,000 words);
Final chapter of The Replicant, the Mole & the Impostor (29,300 words);
2027:
The Transcendence of Consensual Reality (second part of the ‘Consensual Reality’ trilogy, 111,000 words);
“Black Swan Hacks” (novelette, set before The Transcendence of Consensual Reality, 14,700 words);
2028:
The Constructors of Consensual Reality (third part of the ‘Consensual Reality’ trilogy, 100,000 words);
“The Transit Year” (novella, set before The Constructors of Consensual Reality, 36,400 words);
2029:
“Microcosmic Heaven” (short story, set after The Constructors of Consensual Reality, 7,300 words);
“The Cryptomancers at the Heart of the Galaxy” (novella, set after The Constructors of Consensual Reality, 33,600 words);
Divine Denouements & Celestial Silhouettes, part 1: Heaven and Earth (98,000 words);
2030
Divine Denouements & Celestial Silhouettes, part 2: Heaven on Earth (current work in progress);
To be absolutely clear: all the novels and stories set in the ‘Consensual Reality’ Universe are finished and have gone through copy-edits. The only thing the novels need are cover artwork, and I have my eyes set on a piece for the first novel, hoping it’s available (I’m going to inquire the artist after January 1, when I will have more funds). Once I have a cover, I intend to make each novel available on Amazon, Apple Books, Lulu, and my personal store around September each year.
On top of that—since The Three Reflectors of Consensual Reality takes a deep dive into consciousness, there will be essays3 about consciousness accompanying it. Also—as this has become exquisitely timely—some piece about reality and the Simulation Hypothesis, possibly in combination with an accompanying short story4.
The first novel of the ‘Divine Denouements & Celestial Silhouettes’ duology is also ready, has been copy-editied, and even has (temporary) cover artwork. I am about a third way through in part 2.
In general, I spend the warm months (summer in The Netherlands, spring and autumn in the Mediterranean) writing creatively (mostly starting/finishing the novel I’m working on), while I spend the cold days (winter in The Netherlands) doing the more administrative (not-so-creative) side: polishing up the first drafts, copy-editing, designing, preparing the novels/stories for publication. Basically, I hope to finish Divine Denouements & Celestial Silhouettes, part 2: Heaven on Earth by the end of autumn this year, then spend the winter preparing The Transcendence of Consensual Reality for publication on substack. Then rinse and repeat.
I have no fixed idea yet for which novel comes after Divine Denouements & Celestial Silhouettes, part 2: Heaven on Earth, but time will tell5. Anyway, since I’ll have much more free time and considerably less stress, this schedule should be eminently doable.
Also—I forgot where I read about this, either on another Substack or on Discord—but I agree that charging $5 per month (or $50 per year) is too much. So I’m lowering my subscription rate to $30 per year6. I wanted to lower the monthly price to $2.50, but Substack has set the minimum monthly price at $5. Sheesh.
Aha: I found a workaround: a HALF PRICE OFFER that I’m making valid throughout 2026. If that works—lowering the monthly subscription price to $2.50—I’ll probably make it valid indefinitely (click the link):
For that you’ll get a full novel per year, plus a number of short stories/novelettes and even the odd novella, plus my usual, if irregular, essays, music pieces and poetry. I hope that’s a reasonable value for money proposal7.
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Author’s note: the New Year is approaching, so Happy New Year, and many thanks for reading!
Well, three-and-a-half, to be precise;
They didn’t expect such a crazy person like me who wants to plan a full year ahead;
Quite possibly a very long one, depending how it does in a competition;
Unless some publisher is foolish enough to pick it up;
The Three Reflectors of Consensual Reality was supposed to be a one-off and became a trilogy with—so far—four accompanying stories. Divine Denouements & Celestial Silhouettes, part 1: Heaven and Earth was also supposed to be a one-off, but halfway through I realised it needed to be a duology. The only way for me to find out where I’m going is to start a new project, and see how I go from there, as the plan changes more often than not during the writing and researching process;
I actually wanted to lower it to $25, but $30 is the lowest amount Substack allows;
Within the limits that Substack allows me;