On Taking a Pause
Where I Have Been, and What Comes Next
Long Time, No See
If you are a subscriber here, you may have noticed that this small space has been eerily quiet since the end of last October. If you have wondered about that, thinking perhaps that I had just tired of this site and walked away, or perhaps concerned for my well-being (thank you!), this is the post where I return to the keyboard, give a little explanation, and share what I have learned since my last post.
If you’d prefer something a little spicier and more sensational, I’ll more than understand. And there will be spice again soon, though perhaps of a newer flavor. But for now, a few thoughts, a little unpacking, and a few softly spoken observations.
For any first-time readers out there, welcome. It’s nice to meet you!
The Han from November 2025
For those new to my story, I’ve been a professional audiobook narrator since 2017, with over 200 recordings completed in that time. I think I’m most known for my work in the horror genre, but I’ve recorded a lot of nonfiction and quite a few comedies and cozy mysteries.
2025 was a very productive year. I was lucky to have a full slate of recording work from January to November, and I’m extremely grateful to authors and producers who chose me as the voice for their work. However, by November my voice was raw and raspy, and my creative well was feeling very dry. It wasn’t just my vocal strength that was ebbing.
Throughout the year, I’d been working on several other projects:
I publish a daily mythology Substack (Gods and Monsters). At the time of writing, it has about 37,000 subscribers.
I run a website with a software service (Sleuthy) I designed for audiobook narrators to find potential projects.
In addition to recording, I also run a small publishing company, Royal Wave Media, Inc., and last year we put out a small but carefully crafted selection of titles.
I have been trying to teach myself piano.
I was also putting out articles about important issues I saw around me and trying to do my part to fight for American democracy.
Let’s be frank. Even if you don’t fill your life with hard work and difficult challenges, we live in truly exhausting times. You could be the greatest sailor in history, but these waters would still prove tough to travel. And if you have even a reasonable dose of empathy or a mild thirst for justice, you simply can’t look away completely or for too long.
A decade of relentless political mud in the news has taken a toll, and last year was a deluge of awful for anyone with a heart for the world or a hope for mankind.
So, I decided to gently hit the pause button.
“What I Did on My Vacation”
First, I slept. A lot. Sleep is underrated. It is the best healer, and dreams can be a lot of fun.
If you know me a little, you’ll know I can’t stay inactive for long, however. Within a few days, I was busy making plans and catching up on things that had been kicked into the corner by the relentless recording schedule.
I completely reworked my Sleuthy software into a new, tighter version, even adding a couple of features. I wrote a training webinar for narrators using the platform, which I’ll be recording next week.
I gave my mythology Substack a little more love and created a new weekly series on the undead. It’s like a tour of world folklore around ghosts, zombies, vampires, and other undead creatures, presented in the form of a field guide for hunters or researchers. If that is up your alley, the first post dropped yesterday.
My father has written a truly excellent book on management, and I’m his editor and publisher, so that kept me busy. The book should release in all formats at the end of this month.
Most importantly, and far more joyous than all that other stuff, I got back to my life with my beautiful, supportive wife, Janine, who, by the way, is a far better writer than I am!
I didn’t stop watching the world. But I rationed my intake. I gave myself space to recharge and repair, because 2026 will be every bit as rough a socio-political ocean as any year before it.
But I knew I’d always come back to writing.
What I’m Doing Now
So, I’m back here. And yet, not the same.
Previously, I had very specific banner topics, and after working through my opinions and ideas, I crafted my work with AI. I even wrote a piece about why I used AI to help. It wasn’t prompt and paste. I would spend hours mulling the topics I chose. But I delegated a lot of the crafting to AI.
And I knew then, but realized even more so when I stopped, that this left me unfulfilled. It lacked a true catharsis and didn’t nourish my spirit. I knew that I needed to be down in the ditch, getting my own hands dirty, not standing to the side watching metal hands shape the earth.
So, from now on, every word is me. And I’ll probably write more about that.
Because I want to write. That is a realization I had while on my little seasonal sabbatical. I turn fifty-five this year. I’ve had a lot of rough years, though most were well before red hats became a signal flare. Life today is pretty wonderful. But the road here was long and mostly uphill, with no map and a lot of false footpaths.
What I’m Doing Next
I’m back to recording next week. My voice has returned. But more than that, I’m going to try something new. And it scares the hell out of me!
I’m going to try writing fiction. I’ve written nonfiction a lot, and there are even a couple of nonfiction books out there with my name on the cover if you dig deep enough. But I’ve always been scared to try fiction, and I’ve always felt a good dose of awe for the authors I record who have bravely taken that chance.
So, in the interests of public accountability, I’ll say it here. I’ll be publishing fiction, and I’ll be doing it within a year. Yikes. Huge sacksful of yikes.
But, to paraphrase Bowie, if your art isn’t a bit uncomfortable and scary, you aren’t doing it right. For me, it’s time to embrace the fear. Because the regret of not embracing this challenge would haunt me far more.
I have a few other little projects on the horizon. If you stick around a while, I’m sure you’ll hear about them.
What’s Next for This Newsletter
I’ve tried many things to improve my life, grow as a human, and find the heart of being alive. Some of these little Han-made experiments were colossal dead ends, but some turned out quite nicely!
So, I’ll be writing about that, mostly: what I’ve tried, what worked, what failed, and what I learned. I hope it’s useful and entertaining, but if some or all of it leaves you cold, that’s okay. I’ll try to write regularly, to pick useful and entertaining topics.
Of course there will be some politics in there, because I have political passions. But mostly, I want to explore the ways that I have tried over many years to make life just a little more wonderful.
My Hopes
I hope that what I write here going forward is a little useful, a little entertaining. I hope I find the joy in it that I sense lurks timidly in my heart, waiting to bud through the long winter it has waited.
Most of all, I hope that I find myself writing at a springtime for all of us. Even on the darkest days, I’ve never stopped believing that the good in mankind outweighs the bad, even if the measures are close and the evil side makes more noise.
These foul clouds that have been in our skies far too long will pass, because they always do, and I hope I’m able to write, smile, and celebrate those coming bright days we all deserve.
Thank you for reading. I’m very grateful to be back.
And this time it’s all me.
Han
Han, glad to have you back. I and many others look forward to your thoughts and analysis of the current crises we are facing as a nation and a people.