A Personal Message
I’ve wanted to write a book since I was ten years old, ever since I started reading Eragon, the Belgariad, Lord of the Rings, and the Dresden Files, to name a few. For a long time, I thought I would never achieve it. I would read a book, be astounded at how amazing it was, and then tell myself I could never replicate such a feat.
Even if I did, surely no one would want to read it. It would suck, and the only entertainment anyone would get from it is ripping on how bad it is.
Somewhere down the line, I decided to finish a book, not for anyone else, but for me. I could and had done it. Maybe it wouldn’t be good; very possibly, it would suck.
So, I wrote the first book of the Grey Files.
It was meh.
But it received over six hundred followers on Royal Road, and I allowed myself to think I could do this. Some people hated it, and I got plenty of rejection notices from publishers I shopped it around with.
But some people liked it. That said, I had talent.
So, I wrote another book.
Rise of The Infernal Paladin was me writing my own badass MC in a LitRPG Apocalypse. I wanted to write a character that didn’t just grow in stats and levels but grew emotionally. Not to knock any other books out there, but as a reader of this genre, I felt like the MC’s in LitRPG Apocalypse’s didn’t change.
They grew in power but otherwise remained static.
I wanted to attempt to write about a person who was not the same by the end of the book. His numbers didn’t just go brr; he learned from his mistakes. He developed as a character.
This book landed me a publishing deal. Someone decided I was worth investing in as a writer and that my book could succeed.
Now, I can look back at my ten-year-old self writing stories about OP characters, angels of death, and other nonsense and say, “Hey, you did it. You got somewhere with this.”
I can point at my book and tell my kids, “Look, Dad contributed something to the world.”
They might look at me funny, but hey.
Overall, this means so much to me. Whether the book is a success or not, I got here. I’m thankful to everyone who helped make that happen.
I hope you enjoy the book if you read it!