Just in case you hadn't heard about this yet, the audiobook version of House of Blades is available now on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes!

People ask me for an audiobook more than almost anything else, and honestly I expected to have finished House of Blades last summer. But I put it on the back burner to get OSAS out on time, and here it is! Only a year later!

Future audiobooks won't take so long. But I'm waiting to begin Crimson Vault for the time being, because I want to see how HoB sells, and get a little bit of reader feedback.

Speaking of which, if you do listen to the audiobook, feel free to leave a review...

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/House-of-Blades-Audiobook/B00ZGW7B4U

To celebrate 100 combined reviews of the first pair of Elder Empire novels, I've agreed to give you some extra content here on the blog. Because I'm awesome, and because 100 is such a cool number, I'm including not just one piece of content, but five!

That's four cooler than it could have been!

Here's the first: information regarding the future of Simon and the Traveler's Gate universe.

(Hit the jump to see it!)

All of the above.

I told you, I reserve the right to change my mind. And I have. I said to you, "I'll deliver whichever one was most popular." Instead, I'm going to do all of them.

The votes were clear, but there were passionate advocates for all options involved. So I decided...you know what? I can do them all, I will do them all, and Merry Christmas. I'm starting with the winner, and I'll work my way down the list one at a time.

The first of five planned 100-review rewards will be delivered two days from now. And we're starting off with...

The future of Traveler's Gate.

"But the last time we asked Will for the future of Traveler's Gate, he gave us sphinx riddles and lies! Even his Valin story ended on a cliffhanger!"

No. This is the current introductory information--sort of a trailer in written words, if you will--that sets up the next adventures of Simon and company.

Tell your friends.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we recently hit 100 combined Amazon reviews for the Elder Empire books! Pat yourselves on the back!

As I did for 10, 25, and 50, I was going to release some original content to celebrate 100, but I delayed a while to give the second anniversary of House of Blades the attention it deserved. Now that comments on that front are starting to wind down, I thought I'd get back to what matters: you.

Two weeks ago, I asked you to suggest some options for potential 100-review rewards. They fell into a few specific categories, and I would now like you to vote between them on this handy-dandy poll.

In a week, I'll tally the votes. Then I'll deliver whichever one is most popular.

DISCLAIMER: Any stories will be short, because writing two novels at once is hard enough, and any information about unreleased stories will be subject to editing and my own fickle whims.

Again, any statements I make about the future are not binding. I may change my mind later. I may be lying to you now. Always in motion is the future.

Without further ado, the Poll of Absolute Destiny:

At this exact moment, three years ago, I was writing the first words on the first page of what would eventually become House of Blades.

At this exact moment, two years ago, I was waiting on House of Blades to upload to Amazon.

It wasn't until June 2nd, 2013 that I sold my first book, but it was the night of June 1st that the upload began. At this time, I was refreshing my laptop every thirty seconds to see if I'd gotten that email saying my book was finally available for sale.

I had a book. It was rough. And it was going out into the world all alone. I only hoped that people wouldn't hate it too much.

At this exact moment, one year ago, I sold my 101,988th book. 

***

I don't talk much about my personal life on here, mainly because my "personal life" mostly consists of writing more fantasy novels. There's not a whole lot else to tell. But let me assure you that this has been an amazing journey for me over the past two years. For one thing, I've always wanted to be a professional writer...but I never expected to get there so quickly.

If we're going by the timeline in my head, I'm about twenty years ahead of schedule. I was supposed to go to college, get my degree, and then figure out some career while I was writing on the side. Eventually, maybe I'd be good enough that I'd write a book that people would want to read.

There are a million proverbs and parables that essentially translate to, "If you think the future is going to play out the way you planned it, you're an idiot." Pick your favorite.

So I just wanted to share this with you, as I sit here after two years. Because many of you have been following me, supporting me, reading me, or riding around on my shoulder (I'm looking at you, Shuffles) for every one of the last 730 days.

All I wanted to say was thanks. It's been fun.

I know it might not mean that much to you--you're looking for something to read, and I fully understand that--but I get to entertain you. I don't care if you shelve my books next to Lord of the Rings or if you spent a couple of hours reading my books on Kindle and never thought of them again.

If you're here reading this, it means I was able to distract you for a while. To me, believe me, that's a humbling privilege.

And I thank you for it.

-Will

P.S. And now, on the second anniversary of House of Blades, I'd like to reveal the cover for the soon-to-be-bundled complete Traveler's Gate Trilogy!