We recently connected with SL Harby and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, SL thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When I was very young, my father introduced me to reading. As an only child, and a latch key kid to boot, I was often alone for stretches of time. I spent that time with Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Robin Hood and the Ct Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The characters in these great works of fiction became by friends and through them, I was able to see a world beyond my limited experience.

As I grew, my tastes refined from classics of fiction to more science fiction / fantasy. I cut my teeth on some of the masters of the genre: Fritz Leiber, RE Howard, Michael Moorcock and HP Lovecraft. Through these authors, I learned that there were stories to tell that had nothing to do with the mundane world around us, but could still be relatable to everyone who picked them up.

At the age of 9, I began playing Dungeons & Dragons; very quickly after that, I began running games for my friends during the summers. Storytelling those games led to my wanting to write down some of the adventures that my comrades and I experienced. These notes became the basis for the world of Taerh that is prominently featured in my Well of Shadows series today.

More than thirty years passed. Every story I wrote found its way in the trash as my interest waned and my severe imposter syndrome flared. When I met my wife, I was almost at the point of tossing Shadows of a Dream in the same refuse bin as its earlier brethren.
After reading it, my wife told me that I had to finish it. The adventures of Stephen and Hollis was a story that people wanted to read, needed to read. It was that moment, when I took the first frightening step into indie publishing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The world of independent publishing is a scary one. You are responsible for every step of the process, from writing to securing editors and formators to finding a publishing route. That being said, I’m not sure I would want to do it any other way.

As a sci-fi / fantasy author, I am especially aware of the almost infinite gradations within the genre. From hard science fiction to fantasy romance, there are differences so profound that one often doesn’t resemble the other. My Well of Shadows series is written in the sub-genre of portal fantasy, that is it has a real world element mingled with that of a fantastical ‘other’ realm. The series has been called ‘Neverending Story all grown up’ and I believe it to be an apt description.

My writing style is heavily influenced by the reading of my youth as well as my life-long desire to relate to the world around me. At its most basic level, my work is a study of ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstance. As such, I believe even those not accustomed to reading the less grounded genres of fiction can find things they recognize and thus relate to the characters as people first and then protagonists.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As I mentioned, the path of the indie author is a challenging, and often lonely one. Being responsible for every aspect of the product you are selling means that there is no one to blame if an edit is missed or a chapter is mis-formatted. When I published the earliest version of Shadows of a Dream, I still hadn’t completely grasped that lesson. The first edition of the book was formatted improperly and it ballooned to almost six hundred pages. With the small margins of large, paperback books via small print runs, my profit on each book was less than fifty cents. Even when I sold well for a month, I was unable to put a sizable dent in the cost of publishing my next book.

Filled with frustration and dejection, I was tempted to lay down my pen and stop writing. Fortunately, I have a fantastic support system that helped me through the initial shock. I found a formatting program and stayed up nights learning to use it from You Tube videos and written tutorials. In formating my own work, I not only saved on the cost of paying a formattor, but also cut the page count down to just over three hundred pages, allowing me to fund the sequel and, more importantly, continue doing the thing I love: writing.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being an author is seeing people excited about reading my books. No amount of money can replace the broad smile on the face of a reader whom my work has touched in some way. I have received texts and emails late at night from fans wanting to celebrate, and sometimes vent their frustrations.

To see my words impact someone, even for a moment, is the greatest gift I can receive.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ReadSLHarby.com
• Instagram: @SLHarby
• Facebook: @ReadSLHarby
• Twitter: @ReadSLHarby