Goodbye 2025, Hello 2026
The passing of another year and a look to the future
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Release Date: December 30, 2025
What a fabulous year of sharing lost & found stories!
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” — William Arthur Ward
First off, thanks to those of you who have supported me with paid subscriptions, recommendations, comments, restacks and generous words of encouragement. Earlier this winter I crossed the 1,100-reader mark, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without each and every one of you.
I’m not a big numbers gal, but increasing readership is still validating. That’s probably not cool to say, but it is true. Even after four-plus decades of being a professional writer across a ridiculous variety of forms and formats, there’s just something wonderful about knowing what I write lives beyond the page and becomes part of someone else; that somewhere someone is sitting with a friend and mentions this crazy story they read about an old Confederate bootlegger or a circus performer who gave birth to thirty-some kids, or a Boston Brahmin who spent her entire life, and nearly all of her family’s fortune, making sure her illegitimate child never realized they were mother and daughter.
I’m super fortunate in that I have the privilege of writing stories that spark my curiosity, that get me excited to stay up late digging through old newspapers and reading out-of-print books, and that capture my imagination. It wasn’t always that way, which makes all of this even sweeter.
Having friends come alongside me while I get to do it is sweeter still. So thanks for being here, for showing up, for reading along and welcoming me into your weekly routine. It is a gift I cherish and do not take for granted.
The year in review
“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne
This past year, I published eight serialized and seven standalone Lost & Found stories, plus a handful of other content, for a total of 61 published pieces. I have to admit, I’m pretty psyched about that output considering everything else that was going on in my life during 2025!
At the end of May, I introduced Margin Notes as a paywalled benefit to Paid Subscribers. It’s where I share some of the challenges and decisions that come together to create the stories, as well as bits and bobs that didn’t make it into the final product. Call it a peek behind the curtain, if you will.
As a writer, I think it’s important to take a beat at the end of every project for a debrief - what worked and what didn’t, what decisions were made and how they impacted the finished product, what challenges were overcome and how. It’s part of my own learning and continual improvement process, and something I’m excited to share. Every writer does their thing a little differently, but we can all learn from one another, and that’s my hope for Margin Notes - that you’ll pick up a little tip, maybe see one of your stories in a different light, be inspired to push past the blank page. From the feedback so far, I think I might be on the right track, but, as always, I’d love your input.
“Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” — Gloria Steinem
One of the other improvements I made this year was replacing the standard Archives with a Story Catalog that includes a brief description of each story, a word count, estimated reading time and also reader comments. My hope is that it will help readers - those who’ve been here awhile and may have missed a story or two, as well as new readers to the space - easily and quickly find stories they’re interested in. Let me know if that’s actually happening!
The other thing about adding the Story Catalog was that it encouraged me to create what I think is an easier and more elegant way of maneuvering through a serialized story. At the top and bottom of each post is a short, sweet and linked ToC that allows you to know where you are in the serial, to move ahead, to go back to the beginning or even to jump to the Margin Notes or bonus content, if available. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s a move in the right direction. Thoughts?
Viral Victorian
And finally, I’ll be adding a new series in 2026, Viral Victorians. These are stories I’ve been finding, collecting and researching that don’t quite pass the smell test. Maybe the main character doesn’t appear in any records, maybe the timeline is off, maybe the story has been refuted by people in the know. Maybe the whole thing is just implausible.
I have to say, these stories fascinate me! I’ll be sprinkling a few in here and there over the coming year. Retelling the story, sharing the actual historical record and then, when possible, tracking down the truth and sharing it, most often in a roundup post with other similar stories. I hope it’s a twist you’ll enjoy reading as much as I enjoy researching and retelling.
Not to spill the beans too early, but the first Viral Victorian installment will take a look at Cora Norwood who was name checked in a widely circulated 1880 Christmas story.
Fiction from History
““Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with. — Joan Didion
One of the most intimidating/exhilarating/terrifying messages I get from readers is, “I’d love to see this as a novel/book/movie/bigger something.”
I’ve appreciated that feedback, but honestly, it wasn’t quite enough to push me into historical fiction - a writing form I’ve tried a number of times and not really enjoyed enough to push through. What did push me hard enough this time was a question I kept hearing after I published John George’s story:
“What happened to Julia?”
Great question. The historical record gave me John George – a bootlegger, serial criminal and master manipulator who was eventually convicted of murdering Julia’s father. Court documents, newspaper accounts, prison records. I could trace his every move.
But Julia? She appears as “wife” in legal documents. “Mrs. George” in newspapers. A witness to someone else’s story. The facts I could document: married at 19, five children, widowed at 33, remarried at 40, lived to 87.
The story I couldn’t tell: What did those thirteen years with John George feel like? How did a nineteen-year-old handle being married to an incorrigible old man sixty years her senior? What went through her mind the day her husband killed her father? What was her relationship with her mother like? How did she and her five children even survive?
The archives couldn’t answer those questions. It preserved John’s story and lost Julia’s.
So I turned to historical fiction.
Not to retell John’s story in a different voice, but to recover the parallel narrative that was always there – the one the historical record missed simply by focusing elsewhere. Same events, different perspective. The story that needed fiction because nonfiction didn’t have the tools to reach it.
I’ve been toying with this idea for a while now. Maybe you’ve noticed a new History from Fiction section on the Lost & Found home page here on Substack. Most recently I shared my 2025 Christmas story, The Stocking on Car No. 7, which quickly became one of my most popular post.
But those short stories weren’t based on retellings I’d already published.
Julia’s novel is different: I’m returning to a historical event I’ve researched, written and shared with all of you, and asking, “What didn’t get recorded?” and “What possibilities exist?”
I’m not 100-percent sure what I’m going to do with Julia’s story now that I’ve written all 30,000 words of it. Honestly, I feel a bit like the dog who accidentally catches the car – now what?!
I’d love your feedback. Drop your thoughts in the comments, send me a private message or reply directly to this email. I read every response, and your input genuinely helps shape what I create and share here.
Welcome to the party no one can pronounce
“America is a tune. It must be sung together.” —Gerald Stanley Lee
I don’t know about you, but I am beyond excited about the celebration of America’s 250th birthday!
Of course, I don’t know what to call it: The semiquincentennial? The sestercentennial? Maybe the bisesquicentennial?
C’mon now, who in their right mind thinks any of those roll off the tongue easily?
As for me and mine, we’re just calling it America250, and I’ve been gathering some fantastic Lost & Found America250 stories to share with you during the coming year!
Some will have the look and feel you’ve become accustomed to here: historically accurate nonfiction narratives centered on one individual and their story and faithfully retold in serial form.
Others will be a little different, focused on an event or happening that has been, more or less, lost from the collective memory of America. Some might be retold in parts, others will be stand alone stories. Some will include Margin Notes, some will have bonus content, and some will not.
Each America250 story will, however, be deeply researched, accurately retold and personally crafted by your’s truly.
The first one, Front Row to the Republic: The Life of Azubah Freeman Ryder, drops next week!
I’m still on the fence in terms of the scheduling of these stories, but have begun work on twelve just so I have them available. What do you think?
Publish one America250 story each month, say on the first Tuesday?
Follow each Lost & Found story series with an America250 story?
Keep Tuesdays for Lost & Found stories and publish America250 stories on a different day?
Set aside a specific time period, say the entire summer, to publish America250 stories, and stick with Lost & Found stories the rest of the year?
Don’t bother with America250 stories?
Make these stories available in a different format, maybe a standalone book that could be purchased or dowloaded?
Again, your thoughts are greatly appreciated, so please do share them in the comments!
Some of the books behind The Lost & Found Story Box
“The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make one book.” — Samuel Johnson
I absolutely live by this Samuel Johnson quote. Part of it is that I love research so much, of course, but also I think reading around a topic is critical to understanding how a specific event or person fits into the bigger picture. This past year, my book shelf grew by leaps and bounds. In part because of the writing schedule I set for myself, but also because so many of you suggested books I might enjoy, or that had something to do with one of the stories I shared - thanks!
I am always looking for new reads (and old reads, sometimes they’re the best ones, right?) and appreciate your book recommendations, whether or not they relate to something found in this space.
Here’s a look at some of the more than 60 books I read this past year as part of the research required to bring Lost & Found stories to life.
“Biography of Mrs. J. H. Conant, the World’s Medium of the Nineteenth Century
Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition
Stories Can Save Us: America’s Best Narrative Journalists Explain How
The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln’s Ghost
And, thanks to Jill Swenson, who recommended one of my favorite books of the year that had nothing to do with a story I was researching, To Banish Forever: A Secret Society, the Ho-Chunk, and Ethnic Cleansing in Minnesota by Cathy Coats. It’s an astonishing Lost & Found story, and one, frankly, I wish I’d come across, tho Cathy did a fabulous job of both research and storytelling, and turned it into a really great read.
What books did you find especially great in 2025, and what are you looking forward to reading in 2026?
At the top of my list is Jill’s forthcoming book, The Land of everlasting Sky: A Memoir of Loss and Legacy on Lake of the Woods, which comes out in June!
Goals for the new year
“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” — Louis L’Amour
Beginning when I was 12 and continuing to the present day, at the start of the new year and on my birthday in May, I set aside time to work on my Top 100 list. I go through and mark off those things I’ve accomplished in the previous year, archive things that no longer strike my fancy or meet my needs, and add new things to look forward to. The list has changed so much over the past 52 years, and returning to it every year is always such fun. It’s a visible reminder of who I have been and who I want to be, where I have spent my time, energy and resources, and where I need to focus them in the future.
Substack has never been on that list, and it likely won’t be on it this year, either.
What has been on there, and what will still be on there in 2026, is a simple reminder that I am a writer and writers write. So, see you next Tuesday!
Copyright 2025 Lori Olson White
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The Story Catalog is not an archive in the usual sense. What you’ll find here is a living catalog of Lost & Found Stories – deeply researched historical narratives told in parts, discovered through newspapers, letters, court records, logs, and the stubborn human habit of leaving traces behind.
Have you read the incredible true story of Aimee Henry and Mary Martha Parker? Call Me a Bastard is my longest serialized story to-date, and the one that started it all here on the Lost & Found Story Box. Check out the story from the beginning.
The Lost & Found Story Box is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
What an amazing year, indeed. Bravo. You’ve been an amazing asset to this community since the day you arrived. Thank you for all you’ve done.
Good luck with your foray into fiction, Lori. It’s certainly a whole different skill set, but I think you have it. I faced the same dilemma and after much debate with myself wrote a novel that eventually found a publisher. I’m very excited but also nervous about how readers will react. Publishing schedules being what they are, it won’t be out till June. And strangely enough, my main character is also a Julia.,