Dear Friends:

We are drawing nigh on one year of my official return to the creative space, which is not something I entirely envisioned myself saying, since a part of me was expecting to have already thrown in the towel by now. Heck, I’m impressed with myself for even getting started up again after pulling the plug on my old Instagram art account in 2023. With graduating, job hunting, and now full-time employment consuming the majority of my waking life, my creative side sat dormant, unsure of when it would be called back into service again.

Then, one day, a beautiful thing happened. While I was on a hike, I started to form words in my head, then molded them into bits and pieces of a story centered around a witch and her cat boy assistant, two characters that I developed during my college days. I rushed home to scribble those bits and pieces into my notebook, and over the course of a month, hammered out a crude and shoddy attempt at a short story, which I then gave the flattering title of “Doctor Lavender 0”. The story was not Pulitzer-worthy by any means, but it was a crucial spark that got my creative juices flowing again. Since then, I’ve drafted a few more Dr. L short stories, cranked out a few not-too-shabby illustrations, and even found some time for music, my longest-tenured hobby of them all. And as I sit here on the other side of 2025 and look back at what I’ve been able to create this year, I can now officially tell myself that, in the words of today’s kids, “Unc Still Got It”.

It is thanks to all of you, my wonderful subscribers, that I’ve been able to rediscover the joy of making things. Thank you for indulging me and for partaking of my work. Simply opening these emails and reading what I have to say means a lot, and your continued support and encouragement convinces me that I’m actually doing something worthwhile here and not wasting my (or your) time. I intend to continue creating art and sharing stories, for as long as ideas flow and time allows. And the end goal remains: to eventually combine both writing and art and create a manga, the ultimate art form of them all.

Happy new year, everyone. See you in 2026. And together, let’s see where the magic takes us.

— JV