Writing Update: Those Left Behind — Second Draft Complete

The second draft of my military sci-fi novel, Those Left Behind, is finished! 

So, what's next? Alpha readers!

I'll be reaching out to people on social media (@steve.k.writes on Instagram) if they are interested. Some of you have already reached out (thanks!). 

Currently, I'm polishing the second draft, which would make the finished product a third draft. That copy will be the Alpha Reader copy. Once I get feedback, I'll adjust accordingly and then begin my search for Beta Readers. 

I'm pretty excited that things are moving along. 

And for those who don't know, Those Left Behind is a novel heavily inspired by Halo: Combat Evolved, the movie Platoon, and my combat experiences as a Marine infantryman. 

Gardener vs. Architect

Erebus is going to be my first novel. The process has been exhilarating to say the least. Because this is my first work of fiction, I've been playing around with different ways to write the story. Even once I'm finished, I don't think I'll know my exact approach to writing books. In fact, I have a strong feeling that'll change with each book I write. 

I think George R.R. Martin put it best when comparing the two approaches with "gardeners" and "architects." I'm definitely in the gardener category.  I wrote the first draft of Erebus from start to finish without any outlining. In between drafts, I created an outline based on what I wrote and already I am far from that outline. 

And that's the thing with outlines, they are meant to be broken. For me, it's a useful tool to see how scenes are structured. But by no means am I married to them. New characters have already found their way into the stories, old ones have vanished into the background. It's exciting seeing a story take on a life of its own. 

Not everything is seat of the pants writing (although that first draft very much felt like that). I have goals. Things are placed with intent and I'm kind of just seeing where the story takes it. If it doesn't work, well, I end up revising. And that's okay. I've already had to rewrite the first two chapters of the second draft because a character found their way into the story and created a sub-plot that just didn't fit the rest of the story. 

Anyway, I found that very interesting from Martin, and considering I'm giving A Song of Ice and Fire another read, I wanted to share this.

Lifting Weights: Tactical Barbell

                                  

Just around the corner is Tactical Barbell III. And I can't wait. 

Tactical Barbell has been a staple in my programming since 2016 (holy shit, that's 10 years). I used it to get fast and strong for OCS and kept it in my rotation whenever life got too busy. It's a minimalist program. The templates are simple and it follows very closely to Jim Wendler's 5/3/1. In fact, it's basically the same program with some tweaks. 

Below I dive into the nuts and bolts of my training, you can skip down to the Thoughts section if you don't want to read that stuff. There's a lot of jargon in there specific to the program.

Base Building

This iteration has been going on since last September. I came to the conclusion that running is the best cardio for me (despite my efforts to give it the cold shoulder since 2023, when I left the Marine Corps). So, in order to get back into running, I kicked off with base building. Here's how that went:

DAY	WEEK 1	WEEK 2	WEEK 3	WEEK 4
1	SE 3x20	SE 3x30	SE 3x40	SE 1x50
2	E 30M	E 40M	E 50M	E 60M
3	E 30M	E 40M	E 50M	E 60M
4	RECOVERY	RECOVERY	RECOVERY	RECOVERY
5	SE 2x21	SE 2x21	SE 2x41	SE 1x51
6	E 35M	E 45M	E 55M	E 60M
7	REST	REST	REST	REST
DAY	WEEK 5	WEEK 6	WEEK 7	WEEK 8
1	SE 3x50	Max Strength	Max Strength	Max Strength
2	E 45M	HIC	HIC	HIC
3	E 45M	RECOVERY	RECOVERY	RECOVERY
4	RECOVERY	Max Strength	Max Strength	Max Strength
5	SE 2X50	HIC	HIC	HIC
6	E 45M	E 30-60M	E 30-60M	E 30-60M
7	REST	REST	REST	REST

Note: E-Endurance (run) SE- Strength Endurance HIC-High Intensity Cardio

I started at 195 lbs with the goal of dropping to 185 and maintaining that. This program is not very friendly for cutting weight (as is warned in the book). But I know my body and how to slowly cut weight with this workload.

I won't get too much into what SE entails or any of that. Feel free to hit me up if you're interested. But every time I run this version of base building, I feel good. My strength takes a hit (as expected) but my running feels solid. 

When I did this for OCS, I will say that I modified this with base building for specific running programs.

Continuation

Following that, I started my two phases of Operator with "Black" as my endurance protocol. I'm currently on block two of my second phase, which looks like this:

Week		1	2	3	4	5	6
Sets X Reps		3-5 x 5	3-5 x 5	3-4 x 3	3-5 x 5	3-5 x 3	3-4 x 1-2
Session One
1 RM %		70%	80%	90%	75%	85%	95%
Squat		210	240	270	225	255	285
Bench		170	190	215	180	205	230
Weighted Pull-up		175	200	225	190	215	240
Session Two
1 RM %		70%	80%	90%	75%	85%	95%
Squat		210	240	270	225	255	285
Bench		170	190	215	180	205	230
Weighted Pull-up		175	200	225	190	215	240
Session Three
1 RM %		70%	80%	90%	75%	85%	95%
Squat		210	240	270	225	255	285
Bench		170	190	215	180	205	230
Deadlift		265	300	340	280	320	355

My endurance training is below:

Day	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3
1	S	S	S
2	HIC	HIC	HIC (Easy)
3	S	S	S
4	HIC	HIC	HIC (Easy)
5	S	S	S
6	E x 60 MIN	E x 60 MIN	E (Easy)
7	Rest	Rest	Rest

S- Strength Training

I'm coming up on week five of block 2, after which, I'll retest my estimated 1 rep max. 

Thoughts

This program is great when you need flexibility or you're trying to balance running and weight lifting. Obviously, this isn't the most optimal program for pure strength training, but that's not my goal. I needed program that fits my tight schedule. It's dummy proof. You figure out your numbers and you just run it. 

I feel a lot stronger after each iteration. It's actually hard not to adjust the numbers but that's where the magic of this program comes from. You aren't supposed to "gas" yourself out during each workout. 

The biggest negative is the repetitive nature of the weight lifting program. Squatting and bending every session gets old fast. If you like variety, this will be a challenge, although the book offers plenty of alternatives. I personally can't see myself breaking away from the traditional Squat/Bench/Deadlift holy trinity. 

As far as caloric intake goes, I've stayed consistently at 185 pounds. But this is a tough program to eat maintenance. With all of the running you'll easily fall below maintenance. So you need to make sure you're eating enough. 

Writing Updates: May 2 2026

The release of Halo: Campaign Evolved is just around the corner. While it's not a new Halo game, I'm excited to revisit Installation 004. My interest in Halo has faded over the years. It has nothing to do with how 343 Industries has handled the franchise (well, not entirely). I've just moved on from gaming in general. 

Given that Halo has over 30 books since 343 Industries took over (and have since rebranded themselves as Halo Studios), you might think that I'd be burying myself in the lore. Well, I've tried. Numerous times.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's difficult to get drawn into the Halo universe. My work-in-progress novel is heavily based around Halo: CE, and even Bungie took the series in a slightly different direction following their first game. But I'm just not all that interested in the series as I used to be. I think it's how the Spartans have become Power Rangers.

Also, I felt adding Craig as the cover photo was fitting for this post.

What am I reading?

Halo Edge of Dawn—see above

Starhammer—Here's some science fiction that slaps. 

Dark Tower IV: Wizard and the Glass—Always have a Stephen King novel at the ready

Lots of boring business books. 

What am I watching?

Well, the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are on, and if you're not watching the Buffalo Sabres, you're wrong. My predictions are virtually in the toilet. Which you can see below (updated as of Saturday).