I wrote one at the end of 2024 and forgot to even post it since my website then was in disarray. This year I migrated to WordPress for ease of posting my events because the big lesson of 2025 was LIVE EVENTS.
Maybe it was the forced isolation of lockdown, but in-person events was a big thing for us in 2025. we tabled at Emerald City Comic Con, Rose City Comic Con, and Portland Book Festival. Oh and I also tabled at Dragonsteel Nexus in Salt Lake City in December. We met so many readers, and we sold so many books. It was awesome. It was also a ton of work. Surprising nobody who knows me, I’m planning to do just as many (if not more) in-person events as a vendor this year in 2026! (Stay tuned for the schedule!)
There were so many wonderful events this year, many of them clustered in the second half. I was delighted to serve as conversation partner for Ryka Aoki when the San Francisco Public Library chose Light from Uncommon Stars as their June book club pick. It was a warm, generous group of readers, and my first time onstage in that SFPL auditorium—but not the last. I returned in October for Litquake, thanks to Yvette Davis and the SFPL team. It felt especially meaningful because Ebony Gate features the SFPL, including a magical library and archive hidden within the library itself.
In December I ended up sharing a table with my friends HY Gregor and David Shadoin at Dragonsteel Nexus and we had a blast. So many readers came by to tell me they had enjoyed Ebony Gate, which was very cool because as an author you never really know who is out there reading your books.
Many librarians came by too and the coolest part was one of them was the first one to reach out to me for discussion questions when they read Ebony Gate at their book club!
Julia Vee 