There are days that I wonder why I did many things in my life, but I have never questioned why I wrote my book. I have spent a few days contemplating why I waited so damn long to do it, but I regret nothing, having completed it. Seeing my story in a book cover, with the art that I commissioned, and my name as the author, really still blows my mind.

I have dreamt of writing novels for most of my life from the time that I could hold a pen and write words on a page. When I was younger, I wrote stories on yellow lined sheets of paper, reading them to my sister who tells me as an adult that she was angry with me for "never finishing one!" I even looked up publishers and sent my handwritten drivel to some poor editor somewhere who rejected my manuscripts but sent me a rejection slip with his or her encouragement to keep on trying. I am sure that this person could tell that I was just a kid, but the gesture sticks with me when many other childhood memories have gone by the wayside.

Writing and music were my escapes. I spent hours in my bedroom with the door closed listening to LP records play, dreaming that I was the rock star, or maybe some heroic knight sent to save some damsel in distress. Daydreaming was called slacking when I grew up, but it was the only place that I could hide when things got too crazy.

My father passed away when I was young. My mother never truly recovered from that loss and went through a long bout of mental illness and depression. School was not easy. I didn't fit in very well, but I had a few good friends, and we supported each other like family, most of us catching the usual childhood abuse that peers push on each other in public schools.

Later in my childhood, around the age of 15, I discovered Dungeons and Dragons. Gygax had created an interactive world for me to play in before the days where you could log in and see it with your own two eyes on a computer or gaming system screen. There, in the depths of my imaginary dungeons, on many a crusade to save the day, I learned how to believe in a fantasy world. Reality sucked at that time, quite frankly. Fantasy made life bearable.

So, I did all of the wrong things as a young adult. Then I joined the military and did all of the crazy stuff there also. Somehow I retired honorably, and along the way, I found the Society for Creative Anachronism, which allowed me to experience combat, chivalry, arts and sciences, and the medieval mindset firsthand. There, not only could I dream of living as a heroic fighter, but I also had the opportunity to strive to live that Dream.

Now having found my way in the adult world, I still had my dream of becoming a writer, but honestly, I was afraid of failure, so I talked myself out of it. Then one day a friend called me out, daring me to jump out there and do it.

I decided to give it a go, and being true to myself, I allowed my inspiration to come from the adventures of my life, the mundane everyday tasks of being a Marine, with a healthy dose of Tolkien, Gygax, and D&D, mixed with living within the SCA. Due to this experience, the text was easy to write. It poured out of me because it had been in there for 45 years begging to be set free.

Now, after writing, editing, revising, editing, revising, screwing it up all over again, and then finally publishing the book (knowing that it's still not perfect and never will be), I can say that I DID IT. Whether it sells a million or stalls at one-hundred, it is done.

I built my world. I created my gods. I breathed life into the reality within my vision and created my dream. I am now an author in spite of myself, and that to me makes it all worth it.

Now, I hope that others will enjoy the tale that I have created as much as I loved writing it.

My book is entitled, The Champion of the Golden Queen. It is available on Amazon.com in Kindle and paperback formats. Please give it a shot!

Thank you for following me, and listening to my ramblings!

If at any time you have any questions about anything, please feel free to ask me! I would love to answer you.

Have a great evening.

Austin