To say my head is constantly in the clouds would be a drastic understatement. Part of being a creative in any sense is that ones mind tends to do its own thing from time to time. Being a filmmaker and writer, however, oftentimes proves to be both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes it just never stops!
Even so, I love creativity. Having the ability to come up with new worlds, create new characters, weave them into a simple but oftentimes complex story, help them find their way out even though they may be changed when they get to the other side...these are the things I live for. Telling stories is something I never truly thought I'd be this passionate about but once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny...or so the saying goes.
When I released LEGACY DRIVE back in 2019, I thought that was it. I'd written a novel! It was something that was on the bucket list and I'd succeeded in scratching it off. I wrote it as a one-book story and had no plans to write any continuations...or any other books for that matter.
Soon after its release, I had the privilege of talking with a man named A.J. Baime over the phone. A.J. just happens to be a New York Times bestselling author and while I was asking him for advice on how to best promote LEGACY DRIVE, he simply said, "Write another one."
I covered this in the previous post but I guess I didn't realize how profound these words were at the time.
Since then, I've written two Star Wars fan fiction novels—one of which went on to win what's called a Watty Award on a website called Wattpad. It's home to over 90 million users (no joke) and I was one of 55 winners across the various categories from over 37,000 entries. Yeah, you could say I'm proud of that.
I followed that up with a sequel but just as I was about to dive back in and finish up the trilogy, I took a moment to catch my breath (more mentally than anything) and this story named LEGACY DRIVE seemed to call to me once again.
Taking A.J. Baime's advice, I started writing the next story in what is now the LEGACY DRIVE series. As of the time of this writing, I've placed the next book titled THOUGH I FALL up for preorder on Amazon (click here to go see it!). I also had the opportunity to work with some incredible video professionals and create a trailer for the book that I'm proud of. Check it out down below!
THOUGH I FALL became a #1 New Release on Amazon in the Motorsports category as well as the Teen & Young Adult Multigenerational Fiction category. Although I still struggle to get people I know to take an interest in my writing, I'm just happy to be chasing this dream again. It's a story which refuses to leave me alone but I'm grateful for its persistence.
Looking ahead, I can tell you that I'm not quite finished with the first book as I still want to have it (and potentially every book in the series) made into an audiobook. I also need to figure this marketing thing about better. I'm really bad at it!
The journey seems to be beginning again and like always, I'm ready to roll on wherever the adventure takes me.
THOUGH I FALL is set to release on November 24th in ebook, paperback and hardcover formats.
Cheers and enjoy the stories!
Paul Slavonik