Victoria Noe

Now that Unstoppable: Straight Women on the AIDS Frontlines is out in the world, I can turn my full attention to 2026. When I started seriously thinking about future plans a few months ago, the only thing I knew for sure was that I would not write a new book next year. I always need a break between books, and given how exhausting it was to write about this year’s politics as it affects the HIV community, it feels even more important.

That does not mean I’ll be relaxing, at least not any time soon.

Future plans meant moving one thing up my constantly evolving to-do list. It also meant looking for new ways to ‘repurpose content’ - a fancy phrase for finding new ways to share dozens of audio interviews, hundreds of blog posts, and at least two of my books. I was initially hopeful that whatever form that repurposing took would be a little less work than writing another book. I think I was mistaken.

It’s not doom and gloom, by any measure. I’ve already announced my priorities for 2026 (and probably 2027, too) in my monthly newsletter, which you can sign up for here. For those of you who do not get my newsletter, here is my to-do list in its current form:

1. Translate both F*g Hags, Divas and Moms: The Legacy of Straight Women in the AIDS Community and Unstoppable: Straight Women on the AIDS Frontlines into Spanish. There aren’t a lot of books about HIV/AIDS in Spanish, other than textbooks and scientific information. But people have convinced me that there is a market for this in the US. If we can keep to the timeline I’ve set up, the books will come out in September.

2. Start a podcast based on both books. I have guested on a number of podcasts over the years, and I love doing it because I love talking about the women in those books. But I am very aware of the demographics of my readers, and I’m not reaching audiences under the age of 45. Again, other people have suggested - no, insisted - that I take this step. When I told my therapist I was still unsure about this, despite the reasons behind it, she said, “because you’ve never done it before”. That’s something I have to keep in mind. I don’t have a date yet for the first episode, but June is probably the most likely.

3. Continuing to write freelance articles and make public presentations. Because of ongoing issues with post-concussive syndrome, which flared up in the spring, I have had real challenges writing. Luckily Unstoppable was almost finished by then, but freelance writing has suffered. I’m hoping to get back to that in early 2026. I’ve done a little public speaking recently, all related to the book launch, but I’m already been asked to present at a  conference in March.

That’s most of it. I’ve tried to not set unrealistic deadlines for any of this, though anything can  happen along the way. There are lots of things to consider - funding to create the translations, marketing the books and the podcast, etc. 

I may fall flat on my face with one or all of these goals, though I certainly hope not. I’m going to give them my best effort. Believe it or not, I have other projects I can do to occupy my time. 

But as you may have also realized, it’s the things I didn’t try that are my biggest regrets, not the things I tried to do and failed. 

So, as the tenth Doctor Who was fond of saying, “Allons-y!”