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It’s been a great year!
2025 turned out to be one of the most productive writing years I have enjoyed in a while. For starters, I completed my second book of poetry, Moonshine Love: Written Under the Influence. Some production issues caused release delays, so I missed my hoped-for Christmas release, which is perfect because I will now release it in time for Valentine’s Day, so you can whisper sweet nothings in your lover’s ear with a little help from your best pal, Geno.
In addition, I released FOUR(!) short stories, which will be part of The All-American Songbook. I am proud of this because I got my ox out of the ditch (and my ass out of a funk) and got this unique project back on track! Add 89 + this one =90 JourneyMan posts, and you have a year of prolific writing.
So, let’s have a look back, shall we? I will give you some links to some of my favorite pieces and each of the short stories written and released in 2025 with links).
The All-American Songbook
Vincent: The Man from Nowhere
Vincent: the Man from Nowhere is the fourth installment in the series Character of the Song (a working title). Each story is based on a character or characters mentioned in the lyrics of a popular song. This one is unique in that it is inspired by two songs from two vastly different artists:
Vincent by Don McLean, a haunting and beautiful depiction of the genius and madness of a man who was rejected by his peers but remembered by the world as a singular artist.
Van Gogh by Pony Bradshaw, a contemporary song by a lesser-known balladeer. Bradshaw’s song is more autobiography than biography but no less powerful in its lament of genius versus madness, solitude versus love, rejection versus acceptance.
Set in the piney woods of east Texas and covering generations of familial and social struggle, this story grips you and pulls you into its portrayal of love and loss…and life unhinged.
Bobby McGee and Me: The Rest of the Story
Everyone knows the song about the restless souls who found freedom on the road, but the legend of Bobby McGee ends with a heartbreak and a mystery. Now, her husband, Little Tony De La Cruz, is ready to tell the real story.
In a dual-timeline investigation that spans from the dusty dive bars of Lindale, Texas, to the foggy serenity of a Napa vineyard, two reporters chase the truth. They uncover the devastating trauma that forced Bobby onto the road, the shocking violence that made her run, and the unrelenting love that finally offered her sanctuary. Discover the profound choice she made just outside Salinas—the one that defined her life, her love, and the unforgettable line: “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.”
Or the Magnolias Bloom
A heart on the run keeps a hand on a gun.
Sam Cade has spent twenty years trying to outrun himself. A legendary Texan known to the Comanche as Mupitsi—the monster who comes in dreams—Cade’s life is a trail of gunpowder, high-stakes gambles, and narrow escapes. From the blood-soaked soil of Missouri to the bone-chilling winds of the Llano Estacado, he has survived by being faster, smarter, and colder than the men hunting him.
But the most dangerous territory he has ever navigated isn’t the Indian Nations or the lawless frontier—it’s his own memory.
When a chance encounter with a redheaded Missouri kid triggers a reckoning, Cade realizes he can no longer flee the ghost of Virginia Rose, the woman he loved and shattered two decades ago. Haunted by a tattered dress and a soul-crushing mistake, Cade turns his horse East. He trades the “high lonesome” of the West for a two-thousand-mile trek toward redemption, navigating a world of vengeful warriors, suspicious settlers, and the internal fever of a broken heart.
“Or the Magnolias Bloom” is a sweeping tale of the American West that asks the ultimate question: Can a man who has lived as the “Death Angel” ever find his way home?
Deeply atmospheric and emotionally resonant, this story is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit and the life-saving power of grace.
Mona Lisa and Mad Hatter
“They don’t get more human or interesting than this, Ollie.”
When syndicated columnist Oliver Caudle stops to gawk at a larger-than-life figure on a bone-chilling Chicago street corner, he expects a simple human-interest story. What he finds is Mona Lisa—a six-foot-two powerhouse in a royal blue satin dress—and her silent, dancing companion, the Mad Hatter.
In the seventh installment of The All-American Songbook, Oliver is drawn away from the Magnificent Mile and into “The Freq,” a crimson-walled pub where the darkness is a physical weight and the music serves as a secular communion. But the real story isn’t found under the strobe lights; it’s uncovered over eight hours of coffee and relentless snow in a 1956 diner.
From a tragic Wall Street legacy and a father’s dying wish of solidarity to a heartbreaking loss in Baltimore, Munson Lumpkin reveals the man behind the makeup. It is a journey through “strange times” where the lines between performance and reality blur, ending in a sunrise gospel performance that turns a city diner into a cathedral.
A lyrical exploration of paternal legacy, the weight of a name, and the life-saving power of grace.
The Best of JourneyMan’s Journal 2025
Or at least, a few of my favorites. Revisit them here…
In chronological order…
So, there you have it! 2025 in review.
And now, as a farewell to 2025, I will share the last poem in Moonshine Love, which you will surely add to your library in 2026.
Unforgot
Should old acquaintance be forgot?
Not by me, No! They shall not.
I remember every friend
Who ever helped me on my way
Each of them, I contend
Prepared me for this very day.
Should old offences by forgiven
While we are still among the living?
Or shall we wait til we are better
In that great day that knows no night
To finally break the offender’s fetters
And forgive the slightest slight?
Should old accounts be settled up
And all the books be reconciled
Before we drink the bitter cup?
Life’s little receipts, they sure add up
And don’t they trace a life that’s wild?
Should old promises now be kept
And the finer things finally gotten to?
The creeping years—how they have crept—
Now angel’s wings are brushing you
What’s one last thing you’d like to do?
Should old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
No my friend, they shall not
Not as long as they are mine.
As long as memory serves,
I’ll hold them in reserve
And keep for them a sacred spot—
No less than they deserve.
Old acquaintance unforgot
The End
Thank you for joining me on my journey while you have been on yours. I do not tak a single reader for granted and never will. You mean the world to me!
May God bless you and yours, grant you good health and success in 2026, and give you peace.
“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”
–Numbers 6:24-26
