I would like to take a moment and thank you for reading Branded, book 1 of the Honor Bound series. I had three goals in writing this book.

1. Cut my teeth as an author

2. Tell a good story

3. Learn

I can tell you I have had an absolutely incredible time writing and have truly enjoyed the journey! All 752 pages of it! My plan is to continue writing as long you, the reader, continue to read what I write.

Only you can tell me if I've achieved my second goal, so feel free to comment and don't be shy about critical feedback! I firmly believe that open and honest feedback is the best way to grow. Of course, I also believe in kindness. So feel free to provide praise!

As I indicated above, my third goal was to learn. While there is a hole in my bucket of wisdom, I'd like to share what I have garnered thus far.

* I enjoy writing! It is an outlet that has gotten me through some tough times and is as much fun to me as reading! Well, almost as much fun as reading. Ok, depends on the book. If its a choice between my wife trying to get me to read her non-fiction nonsense, than writing is a blast!

* While I enjoy writing, it is harder than I initially believed it to be. The most challenging part for me is annotation. Then doing it again, and again, and again, only to find from your most welcome comments that I missed something after multiple reviews. Did you know professional authors that have contracts with publishing companies usually have up to 5 different types of editors working hand in hand with the author? Mind blowing. If anyone is looking to be an editor and will work for Cheetos, let me know.

* I did not intend to write a 752 page book! That is way too long. Unless you're Robert Jordan (may he rest in peace). Than you can write as many pages as you like. Unfortunately, I'm not Robert Jordan. I’m planning to go back and see how I can streamline the story to get it down to 500 pages or less. It’s going to be hard, but if I’m going to publish the book, this is a must.

* I was either a great success with Kedryn's character, or a failure. Still trying to figure that one out. My intent was the Kid was not meant to be liked or be the hero from the get go. Both he and Glade are meant to be two different extremes that finally come together to survive. I acknowledge I went too far to the left and will be going back to rewrite his character arc so he is not the comedic relief, but I will be balancing that out to stay true with the intent of these two characters. Future books depend on it.

* Repetition for clarification is more annoying than helpful. I realize that repeating the same thing over and over again, as in clarifying my repeating nature, is in fact, annoying. Apologies for all of you that had to suffer through my repeating repetitions. I can repeat that in case you need me to clarify my repetition. ;)

* A character's voice is harder to grasp with an ill-defined character's personality. On the converse, once you have a character's personality nailed down, it becomes much easier to write. Unless its Croon. That guy is just... weird.

Now that I have pontificated and likely driven you all away with dull wit and boring prose, I would like to ask a favor from all of you. In order for me to truly learn, I need outside perspectives. What drives me crazy as a consumer is when I read a book and the story goes stale, or something doesn't make any sense, or worse, the explanation of the mechanics overtakes the story. I would appreciate your genuine feedback (both critical and positive) on the book thus far. The best mistakes are the ones we can avoid.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Again, thank you from the cockles of my heart for spending your valuable time with me. I do not take it for granted.

Respectfully,

J. G. Anders