Have Money When You're Old

Will Remains Writing for October 2025

Author

Will Remains
November 02, 2025

When last we checked in on the 12th Floor, my Jeep had been struck in the dead of night by a hit and run driver. Since then, my insurance totaled the car, an ignominious end to a sturdy vehicle I’ve owned for 19 years. I knew I’d have to give her up someday, but I hoped it would be a day of my choosing.

Nineteen years paying monthly car insurance and this was my first - and also last - claim on the Jeep. Denied. Thank god I had insurance!

I didn’t plan to spend 2 weeks juggling finances and looking for a new car, but here we are in a 2025 Subaru Crosstrek. She is very pretty.

I did not get much writing done last month.

I did finish a few books.

Murder mystery meets true crime in this thriller told via interviews with the family of a missing college woman and emails between two writers trying to unravel their story. Did Zoe walk away from her life on her own or was she helped by a family member or one of her roommates? Everyone has something to hide in this twisty investigation, including the journalists.

Everyone else in Ernest Cunningham’s family has killed someone, but somehow he’s the black sheep. When his brother is released from prison, the Cunninghams gather for a reunion at a remote ski resort - the perfect locale for someone to pick off victims one by one. A fun read, though you might guess the killer well ahead of time.

The sole survivor of an interstellar trek, Ryland Grace awakes from a coma with no memory of who he is, why he’s there, or how to fly a spacecraft, not to mention the identity of the dead bodies in the sick bay. Not quite as sharp as Weir’s The Martian, but a solid page-turner that gets stronger with every chapter.

A collection of oral histories of Polari, a language chiefly used by gay men in the United Kingdom. Influenced by thieves cant, seafaring slang, and Roma language, Polari allowed gay men to speak openly while concealing the content of their conversations from prying ears. You’ll be surprised how many words you recognize from our common language.

Also in this letter:

  • Posts from October 2025

  • A Parting Song

Monthly Posts
Unlike my Jeep, my creative month wasn’t a total loss, but I was on my last legs. I need the writing equivalent of the juice you get tooling around in a new car. I did find the oomph to write a post about antiheroes, which I’ve had on the agenda for a bit. TLDR: Antiheroes are a popular staple of fiction, so why do so many writers get them wrong?

A Parting Song
Some timely advice from Alison Brown and Steve Martin, with some help from the Indigo Girls: Girl, have money when you’re old.

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