I have currently had two stories which I am dying to write. One of which I now am writing (the follow up to Gold for Steel) and the other is a project I have had in my head for years. The plan is to finish the series I am working on now from beginning to end before I venture off into the dark waters of new worlds and adventures. With that said it's going to be hard. Every day I wake up and think of new plot points and twist for both stories. 

The Gates of Kastriel is well plotted out, and I know exactly where the story ends. But Project B is different. Opposed to GoK where I don't think of it as separate books, just one big story I am just dividing up into pieces. Project B is a single book. One story that is told from beginning to end in one shot. Kastriel is something that will take me at least the next three to four years to finish if I can put out two books a year (fingers crossed). 

I won't stray from the path, and I will keep working on GoK but, it is hard not to start a new word document and write about the Project B. When I do get around to writing that story I know it will blow people away. 

​So reviews for my book are starting to come in, and for the most part, they have been pretty good. There is only a handful on GoodReads and Amazon as of this post, but hopefully, that number will grow. I will say that every time I see a review, it is a bit nerve-racking. 

As a writer, you truly do bare yourself to your readers. People read a fiction story with imaginary characters, but those characters come from a real place. Before I started writing, I would hear people talk about "finding their voice." I honestly never knew what that meant until I started writing. As I traversed along in my literary journey, I eventually did find my voice. I found that part of me that I could share with the world that was unique to me. It's that voice that allows my fantasy story to read differently than the thousands of other fantasy stories. 

So now that I have found and shared my voice with the world, I have opened myself up to criticism. Some will be constructive and help me grow as a writer and some will not. Either way each time I see a new review posted by someone critiquing my story or better yet me; a rush of anxiety overwhelms me. I know eventually, I am going to have to stop reading the reviews. It will only be a matter of time before the extremely negative and unproductive ones come in. When they do, I will embrace them the same way I have embraced the positive praise I have received. I guess this is what comes along with being a writer. This is what comes along with sharing your voice with the world.

​Well, well, well it looks like I am finally up and running. I have published my book and have told all of my family and friends about it. My plan was not to promote it at all until I wrapped up the sequel. Not sure if I will stick to that plan or not. I really just want to focus on finishing the first draft of the sequel. We'll see.

I have to say that I am pretty proud of this book being that it is my very first writing project. It's not perfect by any means, and I can see a TON of things that I could've done better. But, for the most part, I am pleased with how it came out. It was my introduction to writing. Hopefully, ten years from now when I have written a dozen more stories I can look back on Gold For Steel and feel embarrassed by my writing. Each story should be a vast improvement over the previous one. Even with Gold For Steel, I made massive improvements from the very first scene I wrote to the time I finished the last chapter. 

It's a good story. May not be a best seller or even read by more than five people. But I can honestly say I did a good job if I do say so my self.