Oh, how time flies. On this day five years ago, I self-published my first book, Drifting in a Dream, on Amazon. On one hand, it’s hard to believe it’s been five years, but on the other, a lot has changed since 2021.
My day job has changed twice (not for the better), I started solo travelling and developed an obsession with it, and I’ve been rejected from various endeavours more times than I can be bothered counting. I passed my driving test and still refuse to stray from my tried-and-true routes. Writing-wise, I published two more Power Wielders books in 2024 and 2026 respectively and developed an audiobook of Drifting in a Dream. I published my first children’s book, The Many Tales of Ollie Webs. The hours I’ve spent on my laptop building websites, experimenting with marketing and trying to develop passive income from other ventures can’t be underestimated and will surely haunt me in my old age.
Looking at that lengthy five-year list of experiments, successes and failures, it’s hard not to get emotional. Honestly, I’m torn between crying in the shower or laughing like the Joker. I think I’ve gone mad.
Perhaps the strangest part is that people think I don’t do anything. I don’t talk about my books with family or friends very often, but when I publish a new one and people find out, they act amazed. What did you think I was doing on my laptop for hours? Or typing away on my tablet every evening? I suppose that’s part of any creative process – people don’t see the work it takes to get there.
Going back to Drifting in a Dream, I’d toyed with the idea for a while and made a few attempts to get going with it. At first, I hoped to emulate my favourite author, Anthony Horowitz, and write the first draft by hand. Several pages in, I realised my mind moves quicker than my hand, making my handwriting atrocious, and that I would have to type it all out at some point anyway.
Eventually, I used NaNoWriMo to start writing properly, and the COVID lockdowns meant I had few other distractions. What really pushed me to get Drifting in a Dream published in September 2021, though, was quite unusual for me.
I don’t take much notice of celebrities, actors, etc. I just don’t care enough to follow most of them or be interested in their lives outside of whatever I see them in. I was watching a show at the time and loved one of the characters, so I looked the actor up online. This led me to a late-night YouTube session (obviously), where I saw this actor giving a speech. It was actually an edited highlights version I watched – one of those motivational ones – and it really connected with me. It was honest, slightly relatable and not full of empty motivational messages.
I came away with one thing stuck in my head – don’t wait until you’re 27.
I was 26 when I watched that video and decided then that I wasn’t going to wait any more. Life was on hold with COVID anyway. Driving lessons were on hold, graduate jobs had dried up and I was stuck in retail. So, when I properly threw myself into Drifting in a Dream, it was with one goal in mind – to publish before I turned 27.
I think the Amazon publication date is 30th September, but I’m pretty sure I uploaded it a day or two before. Nevertheless, my birthday is 1st October and I achieved my goal.
On my 27th birthday, I watched the video again and realised two things.
Firstly, the actor had actually said 29, not 27.
Secondly, self-publishing a book wasn’t a magic ticket to a better life.
Don’t ask me why I got 27 stuck in my head rather than 29. The number still haunts me to this day and I notice it everywhere.
Anyway, the point of this ramble was to reflect on five years since I launched the Power Wielders series. Life as a self-published author isn’t markedly different from life before. I’m just permanently attached to a keyboard now, or imagining what happens next in my books.
I’m glad I didn’t wait until I was older, wiser or financially stable. I suppose none of those things are guaranteed and, at the ripe age of 31, they’re still a pipe dream. Writing and self-publishing are part of my life now, and in my list of failures and experiments, being an author is the one thing I’m proud of. The day job, driving and adult life might be disappointing, but books and planes are an excellent way to escape.
If you’ve read this far, be reassured that I plan to write many more books and will certainly finish the Power Wielders series. I’m too attached to Kaiya’s story to let it go untold.
I’m certain the next five years will contain many more experiments, rejections and failures, but I’m hopeful there’ll be progress too. Not every door is closed, right? In every great tale of daring adventure, there has to be at least a glimmer of hope left. One door or path left open when everything else fails.
If I find the right door, I’ll let you know.
