Spring Updates! And . . . do you hear that?
Here we are again, abyssal folk! I have a small handful of items to share, ranging from an award announcement, to my 2025 reading plans, all the way to backpacking 37 miles in the mountains, and more. It’s been a hell of a couple months; it’s starting to finally warm up—and stay warm without swings back into winter—here in the Midwest, and the signs of spring are abundant. All but the most stubborn of trees, those mainly being the oaks, are budding green and the toads are ringing their throats through the entire night now, giving a beautiful chorus to the night’s chill air to fall asleep to. Or an annoying ruckus of drum splitting chaos . . . To each their own, I suppose, but I see it as the former.
End Realm has received 2nd place in Body Horror/Gore in the spring 2025 BookFest Awards. It also placed 1st in Book Cover Illustration. I am incredibly honored to have my debut recognized in these categories. This is an accolade that I held no expectation for, my thanks go to all the judges for their reading time. It brings me great happiness knowing that for most readers, it has been a good experience.
Typically, Nicole and I try and eek out a trip in early March down to the Great Smoky Mountains. By that time, we have both had enough of the Wisconsin snow and bone-cold hell that plagues the state. The snow is pretty for a week or so, but after that, I spend a short portion of each and every day cursing it to the ninth circle. In 2024 we decided to skip our southern escape; with our wedding in the fall, we felt it the financially responsible thing to do. So this year, we were extra desperate for the trip. We ended up backpacking 37 miles over the course of 2 nights and 3 days, cutting our planned route short due to some unfortunate injuries we sustained the month prior. Making the decision to cut the trip down by 2 days was . . . difficult. But it was the right choice. The safe choice too. Part of the planned route we did complete had us on the Appalachian Trail for roughly 16 miles, and though we would love to through-hike the entire AT, those 16 miles will have to do for now, and they were still really amazing to experience: we summited Thunderhead Mountain, proceeded through Beechnut Gap, Mineral Gap, Brier Knob, Mount Davis, Hemlock Knob, and got to see the Derrick Knob shelter before exiting the AT to head north towards Dripping Spring Mountain—which we camped on top of, and what would end up being our last night of the trip. We can’t wait to get back, and thus far, the plan for 2026 is to backpack a route with our oldest son, Carson.
I threw out a short (9 minute) video speaking on my 2025 reading plans and some of what I’ve read so far this spring. The video can be seen here, but if you’re looking for the TLDR, here’s the gist—my focus for 2025 is to revisit some of the novels I adored in my late teens & early twenties; this encapsulates a lot of fantasy such as Robert E Howard’s Conan the Barbarian and the earliest Drizzt books by R.A. Salvatore such as Homeland, Exile, Sojourn. I will unfortunately be doing far less reading this year; while I’m drafting my next full-length novel, time is limited, and I tend to feel distracted during the initial drafting process if I am delved too far into reading other works.
Do you hear that? Yes, yes there, off in the distance. That must be a darkness encroaching, which unfortunately . . . sounds as though it means to put itself in a loom right overhead, to reign in chaos from godly perch, and douse the land below with obliteration and the flow of blood. Yes, I think we can take this to mean the skies will soon break.
Live while you can, dream while awake.
-Tyler