My Fellow Sectorians,

What a difference a year makes. Those were the words I had hoped to open this year’s State of the Sector address, and I’m glad to be saying them now in earnest.

Last year’s State of the Sector address was pretty bleak on many counts. I’m happy to report that where there was uncertainty before, I now have clarity and direction. I know what I want Sector M to be, and I’m finally at a point to start actualizing on various projects that have been waiting in the wings for too long. It’s an exciting time at Sector M.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at where Sector M is now and where it’s going.

This Is What I Do Now: I left my full-time job back in June. I mentioned in last year’s State of the Sector that signing on with that job was one of the hardest professional transitions I’d ever made. As it turned out, it didn’t get easier. In fact, it became increasingly obvious as the first part of the year wore on that it just wasn’t for me. To be clear, I think the job I had could be a dream come true for the right person, but I was most definitely not the right person.

I took a cruise in May, and I found myself standing on a beach in Grand Cayman. (I wrote more about this moment in this blog post.) I had an instant of clarity that day, and I have been working toward that goal ever since. For years, I’ve wanted to focus on my games, novels, and other projects. Now that’s what I do. While I’m averaging many more hours per week than at a regular office gig, I wake up wanting to get to my keyboard to start working each day. I’m healthier and whole lot happier than I was before. My schedule is my own again, and the only real problem so far has been scheduling actual days off.

Exhibit/Experiential Writer: I’ve mentioned before that I’ve worked on exhibits for the Perot Museum. Well, I just finished the biggest project for the Perot in my years-long history with them. Coming in March of 2026, and just in time for the World Cup, say hello to Soccer: More Than a Game, an exploration of the science behind the world’s most beloved sport. This was an incredible experience, and I hope to do many more like this one in the future.

My love of museums is something I’ve talked about for many years on this blog, and I love the kind of exhibit and experiential writing that goes into them. So, if you run a museum and need a writer, hit me up.

Novel(s) in the Works: I just finished the copyedits on my military sci-fi novel. Now that I have a manuscript ready for release, I’m getting the layout, cover, and audio version of the book sorted out. I don’t have a firm release date yet, but I’m hoping that it will be in the first half of the year. More on that one as news becomes available.

At the same time, I’m preparing my epic fantasy novel to go to my developmental editor. (I’ve commissioned a map for it and everything!) I would definitely like to release both novels in 2026, but these things can take time, and I want to do it right. These books, and certainly the characters in them, have been with me for years, so I would rather wait and release them when they’re ready rather than try to rush to get them out the door.

I’m also finishing up on a trilogy of short cyberpunk novels that I’ve mentioned here a time or two. Originally one big novel, it became clear that the story was too large for one volume. The novel was naturally segmented into three books in any case, so they will now each be separate releases. If they catch on, I may release them as one single, collected volume. In any case, I will likely not publish the first of this trilogy until they are all ready to go. That way, I’ll be able to release them in relatively quick succession.

Convention Support: Many moons ago, I worked for a game company. As part of the job, I went to conventions such as San Diego Comic Con, Gen Con, MegaCon, and a bunch of other ones, big and small.

Truth be told, I’ve missed it.

This year, I plan on making official Sector M convention appearances. I’m not sure how many I’ll go to at this point, but I hope it is a fair few. The first one I will attend is Gamicon in Coralville, Iowa, March 6–8. Others I will announce here on the Sector M blog as I confirm them.

That leads me to my next point…

Sector M Newsletter: The Sector M blog has been how I’ve been conveying information about upcoming projects and so forth for a while now, but the traffic here can be really uneven, and visitors may just be dropping in for my opinions on fantasy dwarves or strange headcanon, never seeing the updates. In short, traffic to the blog is largely passive. I need a solution that’s more active, one that will beam all the pertinent information directly to those who want to hear it.

So, I will be creating a Sector M newsletter. It’s already in the works, and I hope to launch it at the end of this month. It won’t replace the updates I post on this blog, but it will be a monthly distillation of everything that Sector M is doing on all fronts, from games to conventions, books to future projects. When the newsletter is ready to go, I’ll announce it here so that those interested can sign up.

Artificer’s Guide Addendum: In 2025, we launched The Artificer’s Addendum, a supplement to our flagship book, The Artificer’s Guide to Magic Items. This free downloadable PDF is a set of clarifications, examples, and errata from the original book, along with some extra thoughts and reasonings behind certain design decisions for those who are curious.

While most supplements are along the one-and-done model, this supplement will be occasionally updated with new information, FAQ sections, and material. My intent is to eventually put my thoughts on how to convert The Artificer’s Guide rules into the 2024 D&D rules set, though I think the core ideas of my book are still viable even after the release of Eberron: Forge of the Artificer.

Sector M’s First Kickstarter: I mentioned this last year in this blog. Sector M Games has been working on development of a cyberpunk-themed board game. I’m doing the pre-work to get everything in place for a Kickstarter campaign later in the year. My initial thought is October, but a project this size has a lot of moving parts to it. I will be writing a developer’s diary on Sector M’s Patreon, so another great reason to join it! If you enjoy cyberpunk or board games (or, ideally, both), you’ll want to take a look when the time comes.

2026 Blog Posts: Overall, I was much better about delivering blog posts on time in 2025 than I was the year previous. I want to continue that trend in 2026. Of course, life can (and often does) happen unexpectedly, so I’m hoping that the following release dates will be pretty solid. They are:

• January 16
• February 20
• March 20
• April 17
• May 15
• June 19
• July 17
• August 21
• September 25
• October 16
• November 20
• December 18

Looking Ahead

I have never been happier with the progress Sector M is making on all fronts more than I am right now. Full stop. While the path I’ve chosen is a challenging one, and definitely not for the faint of heart, what I’m doing now is what I believe to be my first, best destiny.

Star Trek fans may be familiar with that term. If not, it’s something that Spock says to Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Spock notes that Kirk’s first, best destiny is commanding a starship. “Anything else,” he notes, “is a waste material.”

Telling stories for my tribe of fellow geeks and nerds, as well as making cool stuff for the aforementioned geeks and nerds, is what I’m build for — a far better fit than I was for the regular corporate 9-to-5 gig. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that path in life, but it’s just not for me.

So, if you’d like to support what I do, please take a look at the aptly named “Support” tab above for a listing of Sector M products and offerings. In particular, I would like to build my presence on Patreon this year, so please take a look at what’s going on over there. If you’re in a place where you can support original stories, games, and geeky fun (that use zero AI), consider supporting Sector M over there.

In closing, I would like to wish everyone reading this a happy New Year! Stay strong, stay true, hold your loved ones close, and pursue your dreams like you have afterburners strapped to both of your feet. Zoom, zoom!

See you around the Sector!

Si vales, valeo.

-MC