It’s a crazy thing, publishing a trilogy, never doing much marketing on it and taking it all down, and ten years later, going back to it to make a professional go of it.

It’s amazing to see the change in quality from first edition to second, given time, greater experience, and feedback from my editor and publisher.

I’ve grown in style and in structure. I’ve grown to become more comfortable “killing my darlings.”

To compare the quality even of the early drafts of the prequel I have to early drafts of the original trilogy really encourages me. The first draft of that prequel, especially, had some issues, but I was able to identify them clearly, resolve to clear them up, and find ways to revise things so that the story is more coherent, cohesive, and believable.

I’m really happy with the story the prequel tells. I’m loving the changes in the second edition of the trilogy, book by book. And I’m really enjoying diving into writing again with a deep sense of purpose I didn’t have the first time around.

Today, I’m thankful for all of this.