Thank you for reading up to this point in the book. This volume is the result of the four years I spent writing the conclusion to the print run of Walking My Second Path in Life. My online readers already know this story, but my various helpers and I ran into a bit of trouble with this book. Now, when I say that, you might assume that some sort of issue occurred when I switched publishers, but it wasn’t anything of the sort. The trouble I’ve had these past four years was the usual kind, namely me periodically failing to make progress and everyone else having to come drag me with ropes, get me moving again, and shove me forward all the way to the finish line. I call this a funny story, although that may not be appropriate considering how much trouble I put everyone through. Still, I’m laughing as I look back on it now and write this, so I would call it humorous. No matter how much it pained me at the time, it’s become a memory that I at least personally can laugh about in hindsight.
The spark that lit the fuse on this powder keg, so to speak, was when my editor came up to me and said, “We’d like to publish Second Path in three volumes,” whereupon I said, “Since this is the third volume, can I write it from scratch to wrap up the full story?” Unfortunately, there was a huge issue with this idea—namely, that I am not exactly a professional writer. I’m just an amateur (yes, I’ve tried as best as I can, but compare me to a professional author and you’ll see what I mean), but I’ve bumbled along as I tend to do, and with the help of my editor and proofreader I’ve managed to produce several works that are just barely fit for publication. As a result, I’d never written a full book from scratch before.
As one would expect, I came up against difficulty in the writing process. I spent an entire year without writing, and at that point, I thought I had no choice but to throw in the towel. (Mind you, I probably should have thought that before I wasted the whole year.) However, my editor and everyone else waited so patiently for me. If anything, they were helping me in every way: cheering me on with regular phone calls, keeping me company, lending me writing advice, and so on.
So the trouble of these four years was less some huge scandal and more of what I just described above—i.e., me not writing. Whenever that happened, my editor would call me, and I’d write a little bit, and they’d call me back, and I’d write a little bit more. That cycle continued, and the little bits built up until, after four years, this third book was finally complete. At that point, it had taken so long that my editor had transferred to a different publishing company, which is the reason why this series switched publishers. They’d been so kind to me that I wanted the book to end up in their hands so, even though this is somewhat absurd, the series and I followed them to their new position. Speaking of my editor, I was on the phone with them the other day, and one of us said, “Wow, has it really been four years?” This shocked both of us.
I’ve said this all online before, but thank you, readers, for all your many words of encouragement. Let me be real with you—writing this was hard for me. But when I was finally finished and able to share this story with you, seeing you enjoy it made me so glad that I’d written it. It then occurred to me that, had I given up partway through, I wouldn’t have been able to experience this heartwarming feeling. Giving up was not only possible; if anything, it was highly probable. There were many times when I tried to abandon the book altogether, but now here I am with the book complete and my heart warmed. Also with me now are the many people who brought me here: everyone who supported me during these four years. There’s my eternally supportive editor; Kurodeko, who took on the project despite all the time gaps and transfers and in the end produced some amazing illustrations; the editor in chief who made their very important presence known via phone calls with my editor; all the various members of editorial staff who gave me help whenever I was stuck writing scenes and such; the proofreader who gave me gentle advice about my writing style in the first two volumes; the readers who still patiently waited for this third book after years of inactivity; everyone who wrote me fan mail; and then you, the person who chose to pick up this book and read it. This book wouldn’t be here if not for all of you.
In terms of sales, this book would be by no means considered a success, but I feel like I succeeded anyway thanks to all of your kindness and support. From where I sit in this low point, I must tell you that what I see is something happy, compassionate, and unexpectedly beautiful. I think I’d like to hold onto this moment to remember along with this book, to look back on decades from now.
I have been a selfish author up to the end, and for that, I apologize. Thank you very much for reading Walking My Second Path in Life.