Book Update: First Steps

As some of you know, I'm writing a book. Consider this a semi-formal announcement of sorts, and we'll start this update about the book.

The Book

I've been writing mostly about hockey the past couple of years. Eventually, I started writing about Afghanistan for my Substack (Helmand Valley Archive). That turned into me writing various memories and researching 1/7's deployment. Things have taken shape, and I have the skeleton of what I hope turns into a book.

It's a memoir about my first two deployments with 1/7: Sangin in 2012 and Helmand in 2014. The focus will be on those two deployments and about 1/7's involvement as a whole. That means it's not so much just about my experience as it is 1/7's story in Afghanistan.

This isn't a personal military memoir or anything like that. I'm not writing about what I went through in boot camp and when I commissioned. Trust me, no one needs to know what it was like being the Adj for 1/7 (which I was from 2020-22). I'll spare you the details. But it's 1/7's story through the eyes of a grunt. There will be personal things I experienced and stories from the battalion as a whole. At least, that's the idea.

I'll be reaching out to those I served with to ask permission for names and try to get other perspectives included.

This is just the first steps and I have no idea when this book will be completed. You can follow along on the journey here. Which brings me to my next topic, my website.

This Website

For those who have followed me in my writing journey, recently I've joined Second City Hockey to cover the Blackhawks. I had actually intended to take a step back from hockey writing, but I was approached to join their team. Their website is quite literally my inspiration for writing about hockey (specifically, the guy who started it, Sam Fels). I'm not turning that offer down.

I created this website to consolidate all of the stuff I write and to eventually keep this as a home for my books that I plan on publishing.

Yes, I do have ideas for other books. Details will come out when they are ready to emerge into the world.

In the meantime, I'll share updates about the current book (we'll just call that the Afghan book for now), post various essays, and share my sports thoughts. Why? Because I can.

You can sign up for email updates down below:

You'll get updates on my book and anything else that I write, like the hockey stuff I write over at Second City Hockey. Don't feel obligated, though; you can get updates on the socials.

On Instagram, I have my author page (@steve.k.writes) and my page where I share footage about Helmand Province (@helmand.province.archive). Feel free to give those a follow.

Again, thanks to those who have been here since day one and watched me navigate the weird online writing world. I know I've bothered you all with my many Substacks and writing ventures. This will be it for now. Just a consolidated place while I work on writing about a story that needs to be told.