Well, here we are. The afterword, uh, a couple weeks after I said I would post it. Mostly that's because I keep thinking of things I want to add, or things I don't want to add, but I think at the end of the day I'm kind of overcomplicating it. So I'm just going to write what comes to mind, and that'll be the afterword, and maybe I'll write more afterwords because there are no rules and no one can stop me. The afterward afterwords, if you will.

I've been writing Edge Cases for something like three years now? It started as a Reddit prompt back in September 2021, so it's been a long time. I expected to finish it a lot sooner, but evidently I underestimated how much actually goes into finishing a book, or how hard it is to actually keep everything in mind while writing. I was mostly a short story writer before getting into this sort of long-form writing, so I've never really had to contend with, say, my memory issues before. Case in point: accidentally renaming characters and landmarks because I forget that I've already named them.

I keep notes now! I've learned from my mistakes. I still have problems with my notes, but it's a little better than before. The tradeoff is that I'm slower, because now I'm taking the time to check back on my notes, correcting errors, editing... The plus side is that I'm happier with what I'm writing once I give it a bit of time to cook, but it does also take me longer to write, and that's something I'm still kind of struggling with.

But hey! I'm moving forward. I'm trying to make writing a career now. Edge Cases is a little less successful than I would've hoped, but that's fine; I didn't expect the book to go big on RR to begin with, let alone get all the way to Amazon. The fact that I can hold a physical copy of my book in my hands is amazing, and more than anything else, I've really enjoyed telling the story. And I don't feel like I want to stop. I feel like I want to come back every so often, and see how Vex and Sev and Derivan and Misa are doing. I probably will! Maybe not anytime soon. I kind of have to pay the bills, and as much as I would like it to, Edge Cases is not quite doing that.

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Not that I'm giving up on it. I still have two more book launches to go, and I'm just hoping the book gets to a little more of its intended audience. I wrote this book at a time when I needed hope. That's what Edge Cases was for me--like a wish written into the form of a story. It's why I eschewed the traditional forms of interpersonal conflict you'd see in an adventuring party; yes, that can make stories more compelling, but it's not what I want the story to be about.

I wanted a story where kindness wins. I needed a story like that, even. In 2021 I was coming off losing some of my closest friends, and the pandemic afterward didn't exactly do a lot to raise my spirits. That's kind of reflected in the story, isn't it? The universe of Edge Cases is not a universe that cares.

But the people do. And that's the point.

Which is why, as saccharine as some might say the story is, well... it's what I needed. It's what I think others like me might need, either now or someday in the future, and I hope it serves that purpose if or when that time comes. Besides, there are a couple of truly selfish people in the story. Edge Cases just doesn't really focus on them.

I could do a whole series of reflections on various story arcs and worldbuilding choices, but that would make this afterword too long. Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to talk about, though! Whether it's about Vex's family, or the specifics of magic, the epilogues, or what happened in the Void when they were traveling.

Anyway, this is getting long. The point is, it's been a journey. It's not a journey I would trade for anything, though, and it's a journey that's only been possible because of all of you. So once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading.

Oh, and uh, I'm putting the stub information in the author's notes below, because I feel like I'm ruining the sincerity of the afterword if I put it in the same box.