I've done quite a few Tru-Stone pens and (despite their somewhat finicky nature) I always look forward to doing more. My experience says there is potential disaster at each of the 3 stages: drilling, turning and finishing.
Drilling - You gotta use a sharp drill bit and go slow, SLOW, SLOW. If it's for something like a Clicker, you just might want to stop halfway through, get a cup of coffee, drink it and then finish drilling. I don't use a lubricant or water to cool.
Turning - Tru-Stone has a tendency to dull your tooling pretty quick. I normally use a carbide tool to turn but when I use steel, I can resharpen once or twice for a single blank. Interesting observation: While it can be hard to turn, it is very easy to take off too much material during the sanding process. So excercise caution during that step. Also. while I haven't read of any toxicity, the dust of some minerals is unhealthy (malachite for example). Don't know if they actually use malachite in the Tru-Stone version, but be careful.
Finishing - Tru-Stone does not require CA to get an acceptable gloss finish. However, it does seem to "polish up" with slightly less lustre than CA. Same warning as above regarding sanding. Sure would be awful to get all the way through an expensive blank and then find out it's too small!
Final notes - Tru-Stone materials do not all behave the same. Some are harder or more brittle or less opaque than others. I've found the turning hints for Tru-Stone at Exotic Blanks quite helpful. For example, most do not require painting the blank or tube but a couple do (case in point "Mother of Pearl"). I've also heard here (but not experienced) that some Tru-Stone is not intended/suitable for pen turning. Run a search to find a thread.
By the way, real nice job on your first Tru-Stone. Love the banded Malachite!
