P.L. STUART REFLECTS ON TWO YEARS AS AN INDEPENDENT AUTHOR

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog post for the month of March.

Wow! What happened? It's been a whirlwind!

At the time of this writing, at the end of February 2023, my debut novel, "A Drowned Kingdom" will be more than two years old, and my follow-up novel, "The Last of the Atalanteans", will have its one-year anniversary in March of 2023!

So, I felt it was time to sit back, reflect, and take stock of my two-year old writing career, as an officially published author! I've enjoyed so many amazing moments with activities surrounding actually writing, such as blogging, podcasting, and of course all of the incredible writing community friends I've made along the way, and the enduring relationships I've built, and more. 

But I want to focus on the heart of it all, and that's being published.

The past two years have certainly been filled with many more highs than lows. I want to keep things positive, and focus on the peaks, rather than the valleys.

The main high: the accomplishment of successfully publishing two novels in a long series, and being about to publish a third, and feverishly writing the fourth. I am very cognizant that it is an extreme privilege that many aspire to, but perhaps not as many enjoy.

For the gift of being a published author, I am grateful, first and foremost to God. I am also extremely grateful to my lovely and astoundingly supportive wife, my life and business partner extraordinaire, the incomparable Deb (love you Babes, with all my heart). 

I am eternally grateful to my wonderful mother Carmen. As well, I am grateful to my lovely surrogate parents such as Aunty June, Uncle Maurice, dear departed Aunt Lillian, our incredible children, their amazing spouses, our beautiful grandchildren, and all the many friends and supporters who have made my journey possible. 

I am also grateful for the fabulous folk at FriesenPress, my Indie publishing assist company, including publishing manager Anna Claros, design specialist Geoff Soch, and promotional specialist James Stewart, for all their hard work in helping me publish my novels. I am grateful as well for my brilliant current editor Christine Bode, and my awesome past editor Janet Mayberrry.

Finally, I am indebted to the readers who have spent their hard earned time and money to buy my books, and have been kind enough to provide feedback through reviews and messages, letting me know how much they've enjoyed reading my work. You are a huge part of the reason why I write, and I cannot thank you enough for all you have done to encourage me to keep going. 

One definite thing I've noticed about the past two years, is the swift and relentless passage of time!

When you aim to write a seven-book series, it can seem very daunting, and the completion of the series seems very far away. Then when you realize you're about to publish the third book of "The Drowned Kingdom Saga" - "Lord and King" - and thus the ending of the series is only four books away, it seems as if time has flown by too fast.

I am truly learning to savour every moment of writing every book, every cover reveal, every book launch, every review, and any other of the wonderful highlights of writing a novel. 

And there's been lots to savour. There's been some real critical success along the way. "A Drowned Kingdom" is mentioned in the esteemed Kirkus Magazine’s 2021 Indie Issue among “Four Great Examples of the Genre” of fantasy and won the 2022 Picky Bookworm Award for Best Indie Book Based on Mythology. 

https://thepickybookworm.com/book-awards/2022-2/

https://issuu.com/kirkus-reviews/docs/kirkus_reviews_041521_indie_issue_online 

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My debut novel has also made top fantasy books of the year lists, such as from wonderful bloggers such as Mihir Wanchoo from Fantasy Book Critic, Luke Winch, and Michael Delaney of Wolfmantula. Both "A Drowned Kingdom" and "The Last of the Atalanteans" (book two of "The Drowned Kingdom Saga") have been honoured with selection as FriesenPress Staff picks. Both of my published books so far ( and early feedback for "Lord and King") have been met with overall very favourable reviews.

https://lukewinch.com/2022/12/27/my-top-5-books-of-2022/

https://wolfmantula.com/2022/12/29/michaels-top-10-reads-of-2022/

https://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2023/01/mihirs-top-reads-of-2022.html

https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000161648314/P.L.-Stuart-A-Drowned-Kingdom

https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000211681211/P.L.-Stuart-The-Last-of-the-Atalanteans

There have also been achievements in the sales front, as "A Drowned Kingdom" has been a FriesenPress Number One Bestseller and enjoyed FriesenPress' biggest launch month for a fantasy book in their history. Both "A Drowned Kingdom" and its sequel "The Last of the Atalanteans" continue to enjoy strong and consistent sales. 

The accolades and the sales are not things I take for granted, at all. I will continue to strive for sustained improvement as an author, and hopefully get better as a writer, with each book. 

2023 is shaping up to be my best year yet as a writer, as the publication of "Lord and King" is imminent, and I work to complete book four of The Drowned Kingdom Saga, entitled "A Lion's Pride". This book will surface in early 2024!

So overall, I'm very excited about where I've been these past two years as a writer, and looking forward to what's to come!

Please feel free to comment on this and future blogs and I will be sure to get back to you.