I just published a novella that I wrote during the summer of my PhD thesis defense. I actually wrote the first scene a year ago because it wouldn’t get out of my head, then returned to it in May 2025. A novella is apparently just a short novel, so that’s what this is, I guess. I have no interest in wasting people’s time—especially my own—so I wrote Growth and Decay to be a quick read (~70 pages) while still saying everything I had to say.

This was a surprising journey for me. I didn’t expect to actually write a full story, but writing was the only effective way I found to reduce the stress of my defense, so I ended up writing quite a bit. The story is also shockingly good, in my biased opinion. As someone who’s usually overly-critical of his work, I still can’t believe how funny, deep, and original it feels.

The writing process was also more introspective than I could have ever imagined. I consider myself a boring person who lives a boring life, but I still found jokes, personality, and inspiration in the most random memories. Turns out life’s richer than I thought.

Growth and Decay covers a lot of themes, but perhaps the most interesting one relates to my grad school experience: relentlessly pursuing that which you feel incapable of accomplishing. It’s a strange feeling.

Feel free to contact me if you have any feedback!