Just a few short years ago, I was an aspirant who never thought he’d publish a novel. This book in your hands is my sixth out with a major publisher, and I currently have three more under contact. What’s more, by the time this book prints, I’ll have been on a major prime-time TV show, signed my first deal to write history, and announced a board game based on my Shadow Ops novels. My point (apart from bragging) is this: I never, ever, ever thought any of these things would happen. And they weren’t happening, until suddenly, they were. You have your span of years on this earth, and while I can’t promise you’ll hit the marks you set, I do think you may as well keep aiming for them. Don’t give up. I’m so unspeakably glad I didn’t.