My debut novel Shoreseeker drops tomorrow, and I’m feeling very confident about it. To show you why, let me share with you some of the feedback I’ve gotten from people who have read early and current versions of it.

The first time I showed chapters of Shoreseeker to my writing group, the Tokyo Writers Workshop, the chapters featured a side character named Penellia, a middle-aged scholar and magic user traveling through the woods with her less-than-sensible assistant, Stem. The two of them di...