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. 

Eat The Hatchet is Back

 

Three years ago, I started a blog called Eat The Hatchet. 

I had just left the Marine Corps for the second time and found myself with a lot of downtime in between careers. While I was waiting for my new workplace to get set up (which took nearly six months), I wanted to start writing. I picked hockey. 

I've talked about my connection with hockey and the military in the past. In short, it became a way to escape the military day-to-day life and a way to help transition (both times). My blog gave way to a couple of writing opportunities, and then over the summer, I planned on putting the blog on the shelf. 

Well, I decided to change that. 

My grandpa recently passed away, and while he wasn't a hockey fan, he did enjoy reading my stuff. He always pushed me to keep going. Maybe it's a way to feel connected to him, but I decided to bring the blog back. 

Because I'll be going back to school, I don't expect my coverage to be as in-depth as in the past. I'll still write for Second City Hockey, but you can find my Blackhawks thoughts here in the meantime. 

The new home (with all my old posts) is: eatthehatchet-hockey.com

In other news, as to why I've been quiet here, well,  I've been posting my writing updates to my newsletter, which you can find on the right sidebar. I plan on doing a post with some writing updates here soon. 

Thanks to everyone who has ever supported me in my writing journey. 

Writing Updates: June 1, 2026

This month's newsletter is now out which is where you can find my latest updates on the books I'm working on. Click the link here, or just read ahead for the main meat. 

Book Updates

Afghan Memoir

The first drafts for both deployments are complete. I still need to add other people’s perspectives. Here’s what’s next:

• Interviews: Hitting the homies up for phone calls.
• Revision: Working on a second draft. Once that’s done, I’ll be adding non-1/7 81s stories. 

Erebus

The working title for my first science fiction novel is Erebus. It’s basically my take on Halo: Combat Evolved told from the viewpoint of a Lance Corporal. The first draft was finished last month, and I’ll be working on the second draft later this month.

Newletter is up!

 

Photo: NASA

Newsletter is up! You can subscribe here to get monthly updates about upcoming books. 

I picked beehiiv because it's free up to a certain amount of subscribers. If I should happen to pass that threshold, I might move to Ghost. But that means I get to stay here on Blogger because that's also free.

Consider this a soft launch. Since the books won't be ready for publication for a hot minute, I won't be "advertising" the newsletter or blog as much. But if you want to stay up to date this early, consider yourself an early fan.

Writing Update: May 20, 2026

1/7 Wpns Co., 3rd Platoon, Helmand 2014

Just a little update today.

I'm finally done with the very, very rough draft of my second Afghan deployment. Both Sangin 2012 and Helmand 2014 are complete. 

So, what's next? Besides revising and cleaning up those memories, I'll be reaching out to others for their perspective on events. I'll be doing interviews and working with them to get their stories right. That's the hard part. Because I really want to nail that part. 

This book is far from being complete but this is a big step forward. 

Writing Update: May 11 2026

Over the weekend I reached a milestone: I finished the first draft of my first novel.

This book is my first step into the science fiction world. Basically, I took Halo CE's story and made it a bit more realistic from the Marine's point of view. This is still far away from being completed, looking to hopefully have this thing out sometime next year at the earliest. Working title is Erebus. 

More details to come and I'll be working on other smaller projects in between drafts (to include my Afghan memoir). 

What am I reading?

Halo Edge of Dawn—I finished this last week. If you're a fan of the Halo: Infinite, this is a solid book. What was meant to be a DLC and continuation of the campaign was turned into a book. Kelly Gay is an excellent writer. That said, I have a lot of issues with the direction of the plot (or lack thereof) within the book. This is a reflection of Halo Studios decision making and not Gay's. 

Starhammer—This has been a fantastic read.

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?

As much of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as I can (which hasn't been much recently) and Aliens (1986).

Writing Updates: April 2026

Happy Monday, 

I've recently moved the blog from Ghost to Blogger. The reason is simple—cost. While Ghost has a lot of pretty features and I love the newsletter feature, I don't have that large of a following to make it make sense. So, we're going free. 

Depending on how things go, I might move back to Ghost one day, but until then, you can't beat free. 

In the meantime, here's some updates.

Books

Afghan Memoir

Still in the works! I've paused this project while I'm working on the one below. I'm pretty much through the first draft of my memories. Working on this is pretty taxing on the mind, so I'm taking a little break while I let things rest.

Sci-Fi Book

In the meantime, I started a project: a sci-fi novel. Working title is Erebus, and it's basically Halo but my version of it (no, there's no giant green masked giant). I'm 50% through the first draft, and I'm looking to have this bad boy at about 300-something pages. Ideally, I'd like to have this out next year. 

More on this later.

Non-Books

Blackhawks

Working on an article about Artyom Levshunov for Second City Hockey. That should be out soon. 

Working on some other random articles for the blog. Just thoughts on stuff.