What's Up with Peter Last: Monthly Newsletter
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January 2026
Greetings readers, aspiring authors, current authors, and fellow fiction nerds! This is the January 2026 newsletter from yours truly, Peter Last. I am a clean fantasy author based in north Alabama.
Update
A lot of my effort has been tied up recently in preparing for Con Nooga (Comicon in Chattanooga). I sprung for a corner booth this year and will be attending with my friend and YA sci-fi author Matthew Wyers. Our goal is to create a vendor space that not only provides quality novels for purchase but also supplies additional interactive activities for attendees. Activities will include working with other people to create a map or write a story one line at a time as well as opportunities to win prizes. Con Nooga will take place 20-22 February 26 at the Chattanooga Convention Center (1 Carter Plaza, Chattanooga, TN 37402). I’m really excited for this event and would love to see you there! (My wife will also be there with rescued birds you can pet, if that’s more your speed!)
Spotlight
My appearance on “The Author’s Mind” podcast hosted by Shilo Creed is live! We talked about how I developed my Shadow for Hire series, where story ideas come from, and how to world build (like an engineer, apparently!). We also, perhaps most importantly, talked about the most dreaded part of writing a novel: the blurb for the back of the book. You can listen to the podcast episode at any of the links below.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7p0R98Y9k5kPLwfYaLzpt3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MORLKSeUEwU&list=PLLKJdP-facVoLwWbIf3xlb_7bfl1cOKBD&index=2&t=40s
Writing Tip of the Month
Don’t strive for perfection.
Nothing in this world is perfect. There are no perfect politicians, no perfect parents, no perfect bridges, children, or plans. And there are certainly no perfect authors. Earnest Hemingway, who some might consider to be a pretty good author, believed that “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
The takeaway here is simple and freeing: because no one is a perfect author or, according to Hemingway, even a master, it makes no sense to strive for perfection. Simply do the best you can, make a concerted effort to improve every day, and you will be the best author it is possible for you to be. Striving beyond this is a foolish pursuit of an impossible fantasy.
Oh, and one more takeaway. Because no one is a master, don’t take any particular person’s critiques, suggestions, and advice as gospel truth. You should, of course, be open to the opinions of others – that fact is important enough for its own Tip of the Month – but don’t assign overdue importance to any particular person. Do the best you can, and that’s all that any of us can do.
That’s all for January. Looking forward to February and all that it holds in store!
Peter Last
Author – Engineer – Officer – Overachiever
Email: peterlast-author@outlook.com
Website: https://www.peterlast.com
For additional geekery, follow me on social media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PeterMLast/
X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter): https://x.com/PeterLastAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peter.last.author/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8299112.Peter_Last
P.S. Whether you are a fan of my work, a fantasy lover, an aspiring author, a current author, or {insert your own category here}, I would love to hear from you. Hit me up on Facebook or send me an email with any question, comments, compliments, or snide remarks!
December 2025
Greetings readers, aspiring authors, current authors, and fellow fiction nerds! This is the December 2025 newsletter from yours truly, Peter Last. I am a clean fantasy author based in north Alabama.
Update
I had the good fortune of being invited on a podcast this month. The host is fellow author and good friend, Shilo Creed. While we do not agree on everything (for example, she writes in first-person present-tense, which is probably the worst writing POV available to an author 
), she is very passionate about stories and willing to vigorously debate the merits and demerits(?) of various methods of planning, outlining, and writing. She is very good at going through books with a fine-toothed comb, and I can confidently say In the Service of the King, my new book coming out spring 2026, is about 30% better than the version I sent to her! I always try to return the favor to fellow authors, and we often end up helping each other out this way.
All of that to say, I value her opinion a lot, so being invited on her show to discuss something we are both deeply passionate about was an honor. Now that I’ve hyped you up for it, the big question is: where can you see the interview? Nowhere right now, because these things take time to edit and publish (such is the way of life), but I am told it should be available in January. Keep an eye on my social media pages to stay updated on when the drop will happen. I’m super excited to share the conversation with you all!
Spotlight
This holiday season, I am pleased to highlight my most popular Christmas short story to date! It was a blast to write back in 2023, and I hope you enjoy it.
What would happen if Santa’s sleigh broke down and he had to use…more pedestrian methods to finish his toy run? Enter a world where Christmas magic runs headlong into the cold hard reality we mortals deal with every other day of the year. Full of fighter jets, magic coffee cups, orbital gift delivery systems, and good ol’ Christmas magic, this humorous story offers a unique look at Christmas mythology, tradition, and the true meaning of the season. Join Santa XLVI as he embarks on his most challenging toy run to date!
Check it out for free on my website at: https://peterlast.com/stories/free-stories/christmas/the-cost-of-christmas-magic/
Writing Tip of the Month
Don’t try to be original. (Gasp!)
But wait, isn’t ripping off other stories or being derivative a bad thing? My five-word version of this tip is a bit simplistic, and may seem counter-intuitive, so I’ll let famous author C.S. Lewis explain in his own uniquely concise manner.
Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. – C.S. Lewis
Originality does not come in the broad strokes but in the details. Run out a list of descriptors for someone’s life, and there will be a lot of people who they apply to. How about a white woman who works in retail in Chicago? Most likely more than one. And yet, despite the perceived similarities, each person is different from the other, one might say “original.” It is not our superficial qualities which make us unique but the details of our lives and who we are which make me immediately and obviously different any other Alabamian Civil Engineer in the Air National Guard (yes, there are several of us).
Stories are the same in this respect. Many have pontificated about how many types of stories there actually are. Estimates range from 3 (an incredible simplification in my opinion) to 7 (slightly more nuanced) or more. But even with a high estimate, let’s say 100 different types of unique storylines, the fact is that more than 100 stories have been written. A lot more. The chances that you will be the first person ever to write a particular storyline is statistically highly improbable.
So what do we do with this fact? The idea that you can’t be truly original in terms of story seems like it should be stifling, but it is actually quite liberating. Coming to terms with the fact that we can’t be original (at least in this sense) makes it easy to follow Lewis’s advice of not “caring twopence how often [our story] has been told before.” This, in turn, frees the writer to craft a true, sincere story with realistic characters, relatable struggles, believable faults, and exhilarating triumphs. And because it is the details which make something truly unique, this method, uncaring about the originality of a work, more often than not produces something original.
That’s all for December. Have a Merry Christmas, and I will see you in the New Year.
Peter Last
Author – Engineer – Officer – Overachiever
Email: peterlast-author@outlook.com
Website: https://www.peterlast.com
For additional geekery, follow me on social media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PeterMLast/
X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter): https://x.com/PeterLastAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peter.last.author/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8299112.Peter_Last
P.S. Whether you are a fan of my work, a fantasy lover, an aspiring author, a current author, or {insert your own category here}, I would love to hear from you. Hit me up on face or send me an email with any question, comments, compliments, or snide remarks!
November 2025
Greetings readers, aspiring authors, current authors, and fellow fiction nerds! This is the November newsletter from yours truly, Peter Last. I am a clean fantasy author based in north Alabama.
Update
In October, I had the chance to attend the Foothills Book Festival in Jasper, AL and had a great time. With my 3-foot-tall stuffed dragon Pedro in tow (he is always a lot more popular than me!), it was my most successful event to date. I met a lot of interesting people and had the opportunity to converse about a diverse array of topics including my costume pieces, book covers, and, of course, writing. I also met some great authors and picked up books from SD Sampley and Paul Edward Turner. Stay tuned for reviews on them!
On the writing front, I am in the beginning stages of writing a new fantasy series with a target audience age of 10 to 13 years old. My progress is steady but slow since I am using this story to figure out my method for planning and writing a series. I am also trying out a new writing software which shows some real promise to increase my writing efficiency.
Spotlight
Afterlight is a dark fantasy written by Jonathan Shuerger. It is the second installment of the Shades of Black series. You check out my thoughts on Afterlight at https://peterlast.com/reading/book-reviews/afterlight/
The dark sorcerer Ashkelon and his reluctant apprentice Gideon Halcyon leave the carcass of Rachna behind them to confront a new threat. The dead march upon the North, raised by a necromancer far more powerful than any of the house of Sheol, able even to raise the fleshless dead. The Bonescribe has unleashed his hordes, and the world darkens as light itself fails at his touch.
As the dead walk and the light dies, as men break and run around him, will Gideon hold his courage amidst the horrors of the Dark, or will he be forever lost to the Afterlight?
Writing Tip of the Month
The best way to become good at writing is to write.
I am not the first author to give this advice, and I will certainly not be the last. That’s because it’s true, and self-evidently so. It is obvious that a person who never writes a word (because they worry it isn’t good enough) will never write a book much less a good one. As novelist Louis L’Amour said, “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
That’s all fine and good, but what if, when you begin writing, what you produce isn’t very good? This is a phenomenon we refer to as “life.” The fact of the matter is that not every word an author writes is good. You have to turn on the faucet for the water to flow, but it could be that the first stuff out of the pipe is greyish-brown and smells vaguely of fish that went past its due date one or two years ago. But you have to turn on the water to flush out the bad stuff to get to the good stuff.
My advice is therefore very simple: write. If you are procrastinating because you doubt the quality of what you will produce, write the worst opening to a novel that has ever see the light of day. You first chapter might be a little bit better, and the second chapter even more so. In time you will find that you have written a novel which, no matter the quality, is leaps and bounds ahead of the version you never wrote at all. You can edit and improve what you now have. You may also find it’s not nearly as bad as you thought it would be.
That’s all for November. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Peter Last
Author – Engineer – Officer – Overachiever
Email: peterlast-author@outlook.com
For additional geekery, follow me on social media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PeterMLast/
P.S. Whether you are a fan of my work, a fantasy lover, an aspiring author, a current author, or {insert your own category here}, I would love to hear from you. Hit me up on facebook or send me an email with any question, comments, compliments, or snide remarks!