Where did it come from?

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So you might be wondering where exactly this whole thing came from? It certainly just didn't drop out of thin air. A strange concept like this has its roots in the particularly over-watered plant that is my brain.

It started when I decided to take part in NaNoWriMo 2014. I'd been writing for a few years but couldn't make much progress in what I wanted to do. In October as I thought about what to do next I suddenly thought about the stories I liked growing up. The climate is much different now when it comes to not only YA books, but for comics, manga, and television.

Knights of the End started as a throwback. I just wanted to write the type of story that 13 year old me would have swallowed up-- a story of action, adventure, and magic, with a heavy dose of fun. I wrote the entire story in less than a month without an outline by the seat of my pants. It was probably the most difficult and yet easy thing I've written so far.

When I was a kid I watched a lot of cartoons and read a lot of comics. I read books too, but those only really fueled my imagination when I was older.

Fantasy has always been my wheelhouse. It's always been the most fascinating genre to me, but I've never been enthused by the Tolkien aping that went on while I was growing up. Much as The Hobbit was my favorite book as a boy, I never felt compelled to rewrite it. I enjoyed the wonder of new places and situations, the magic hidden just out of sight in the corners of our world, and the fierce loyalty and courage of warriors who stood against the darkness. That was where my inspiration lies.

Knights came together from all my inspirations to make the sort of story I'd always imagined should have existed somewhere. But of course that doesn't mean it would be simple. The first draft came easy, but ironing it out took significantly longer.

I spent 2015 ironing out the story and writing backstory, even planning out sequels (still no outlines), while simultaneously writing other stories (I'm pretty sure those have all been scrapped) before 2016 came around. That was when I learned to edit properly, and began to click in my head how to write with focus.

And now it's out.

Knights is important to me not just as a book, but because it helped me understand so much about writing. You see, there is no library where I live. There are no writing groups or courses I can take. It was basically about learning from books and the good advice I got from others that I managed to finish this at all. I'd written stories before but Knights is the one that got me on track.

While finishing up Knights of the End I've also begun several other projects building on what I've learned here. So if you liked it and want more, rest assured that what comes next will be even better!

And leave a review! That's the best way I can know where I succeeded and how to build on it in the future.

Check it out here!