Introduction
I have met a number of fellow authors on my journey as an Indie. It surprised me when I discovered a person I had become acquainted with in passing in a gaming community.
Neverwinter Nights is a Dungeons and Dragons rpg (roleplaying game) I got into back in 2005. It enables the player to use its toolset to create game modules. I think it surprised a lot of people when the modules being put out were even better than the original campaign of the game.
One of those builders is Stephen L. Nowland. His Aielund Saga is one of the most highly acclaimed series of modules in Neverwinter Nights and has won awards and achieved the Hall of Fame.
He is turning that excellent saga into a brilliant series of books, the first of which I am introducing to you now.
For Aiden Wainwright, a short trip to the nearby town of Bracksfordshire was supposed to be an opportunity for continuing his research into the arcane. But unfortunate circumstances see the town gates closed for weeks, and with supplies running low, Aiden finds himself thrust into the role of town saviour. Together with an old friend of dubious character, a drunken ranger on the edge, and a church acolyte out of her depth, he sets out to fill the vacuum of power left by the absent King’s army, and deal with a rapidly escalating situation that threatens the security of the entire land, while uncovering the mysteries behind his own past.
From Stephen
Embarking upon a task to write a novel is a dream I’ve had since the early 90’s, but despite my above average efforts at creative writing in high school, my first attempts were not met with enthusiasm from those unfortunate enough to be my test readers. I recall reading somewhere that most writers have to do it for 10 years before their work gets to a professional level, but I had hoped to circumvent this restriction and become awesome within a few months.
This, of course, didn’t pan out either, and by the mid 90’s I’d just about given up on the whole thing. In 1999, I decided to try again with an interesting story idea I had based on a D&D campaign I’d run a few years earlier. It took me three years to get it done, but the end result was something that most people were pretty impressed with.
I felt there was still room for growth, however, but further efforts were sidelined when I was sucked into the world of Neverwinter Nights, and set about creating stories for that instead. I finished up my epic saga for that in 2009, and the results were pretty spectacular – many players said that my characters and story were brilliant, and so when it came time to try my hand at novel writing once more, I decided to do a novelization of my NWN story, so that people who hadn’t (and wouldn’t) play the game could enjoy it.
And so, the first novel was completed in August 2011, and the feedback has been incredibly positive. As I continue to write the 2nd novel in the saga, I feel that my style is continuing to mature, along with my character building, world building, and story expanding endeavors. I weave the creative fabric of my universe in more complex ways, with far more gratifying results. The 2nd book is going to be my finest work yet, and there is much more to come.
My web page covers a lot of related work, and one can follow my progress on facebook too, if one is so inclined (all the cool kids are doing it!)
You can find it in eBook form at these locations:
Smashwords
Amazon
Apple
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Sony
Diesel
For those of you who have Neverwinter Nights and are looking for an excellent module to play:
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=3920
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