My Name is Hammerfist Vol. 2 is out now!

There it is! At long last, the sequel to My Name is Hammerfist is out and ready for you.

Not gonna lie, my journey writing this book was a little tough. This is going to be a place where I serve some tea about my process of writing Hammerfist 2, including the thoughts I was having and the expectations I felt.

My Name is Hammerfist is one of my lowest-selling books. It’s ironic, because although it’s one of my lowest sellers, it’s one of my highest rated. It’s like an Edgar Wright film that doesn’t succeed very much in the box office, but has a dedicated fan base and glowing reviews (I’m looking at you, Scott PIlgrim vs. The World).

Although there weren’t a lot of readers for Vol. 1, most of them would ask me when the next book was coming out. They needed to know what happened to some of the characters that they grew to love. After I put a bow on The Wevlian Chronicles during the spring of 2022, I felt it was time to revisit Hammerfist and add that next volume.

Now, a lot of writers will tell you to never write something if you’re not enjoying it. Ray Bradbury was one of those people. And I’m going to be honest with you—a lot of the time, I did not enjoy writing My Name is Hammerfist Vol. 2. I felt like I was doing it out of obligation. I would rather be working on other projects, but I didn’t want to disappoint the people that read the first book and loved it.

But I’ll be damned if I half-ass any book, so I set out to make Vol. 2 an exceptional read.

And guys… I think I nailed it.

Most of the beta readers loved it. My editor gave it five stars. Over time, it actually turned from a book that I was just trying to get out of the way into a book that I was really proud of. I feel like all of the characters reached new depths of emotion, and it manages to be a superhero story that focuses on important questions instead of just the typical find-the-bad-guy-and-stop-him fare. And the opening two pages are also the best opening pages I’ve ever written.

So is there something to be said about only writing things you enjoy? Sure. I think that’s important. But that doesn’t mean you can’t write something great anyway, or grow to love what you’re currently writing. Sometimes, writing is work. It’s work. And work isn’t enjoyable all the time. But if you can stand back at the end of the day and look at your work with a sense of pride, feeling like you’re accomplishing something special, I think that’s what matters. At least that’s what I think for now.

If you haven’t experienced My Name is Hammerfist yet, I hope you do. And if you have, I hope you love the sequel. I know I definitely grew to.