Authors’ Lounge
It’s been really insightful reading the posts from other writers in Authors’ Lounge. The confidence boost of knowing there are aspects of an author’s journey we all share is an important aspect to remember.
My journey started almost exactly a year ago when my first book, “It’s A Stray Dog’s Life”, was published. I couldn’t have imagined I’d end the year with awards for “Best Children’s Book”, “Best Book Cover”, and “Best Comedy Book”. It also made self-publishing the second book, “It’s A Stray Dog’s Life 2”, a straightforward decision. There have been so many highlights, including the first book being used as the text for a school reading competition. Even I’m not sure how that happened.
The idea for the books came about in a strange way. I was having a lazy day when there was a knock on the door. It was a neighbour who told me my beloved Princess (the stray with her own bed in my house) had been hit by a car and killed. I was distraught. My way of coping with the grief was to go to the beach café and write a long letter to her. It was becoming so long the idea struck me to share her adventures with a far wider audience. The good news is she’d survived and was soon back living with me until she, sadly, passed away last summer at the ripe old age of 17. Thankfully, she did get to see herself become famous with the launch of the first book.
The books follow the adventures of the small army of stray dogs who seem to have adopted me. It tells their stories through their own eyes. The first book follows Princess the matriarch, Buster the self-appointed Chief Of Police, and Snowy the crazy one. The second introduces us to Mumsy and her two puppies, Jasper, who moves to a new city with his forever family, and Toby, the great detective (or so he thinks).
Each book is broken down into three parts (one for each dog) comprising 7 chapters each. It’s perfect for a parent and child to share a chapter before bedtime. Although the books are aimed at children who want more than picture books, but aren’t yet ready for the Harry Potter world, it was important adults enjoyed them too. There’s nothing worse than trying to read a book with a child when the adult isn’t enjoying it. When that happens, the kids don’t enjoy it either.
Writing the stories seems to have triggered a response I didn’t think of. One review sums it up best when it says, “there are life lessons for both dogs and humans of all ages”. I must have got something right. In truth, I hadn’t tried to put anything in the books other than highlighting the life of the strays. For people to find some important lessons in the stories was a very pleasant surprise for me.
I’ve learned a lot from my journey so far, but there’s still a long way to go, especially if a certain social media site keeps making it harder for authors to highlight their work. Marketing any book is the hardest part of all. I have put together a website (www.maximiliansam.com) and a regular blog which undoubtably helps. A career in PR has also helped with local newspaper coverage. A lack of budget to increase the marketing campaign is always the hard part, but there are the opportunities out there to help us all with no cost attached if we look hard enough (Authors’ Lounge is a great example).
Have the bumps in the road stopped my journey? Not at all. The pandemic lockdown has probably changed my career forever. I used it to get all my ideas down on paper and now have a 10-year plan! (ouch, that means I have to write them all!). The next book is already finished. It will come out towards the end of March/beginning of April. I can even give readers of Authors’ Lounge an exclusive at this point by revealing the title. “Stories From A Stray” is a compilation of adult fiction short stories covering a wide variety of topics. Some are even true! You’ll have to visit my website nearer the time to find out more. There will be several more stray dog books, as I have an army of dogs and cats to choose from. I even went for a walk on the beach yesterday and ended up wandering around with 10 very well-behaved dogs. I think they’ve adopted me into their ever-expanding family.
There’s only one thing I’ve found frustrating about my journey. Why did it take me so long to actually start focussing on writing books? It’s been a lifelong dream, so there’s no excuse. Then again, a career in PR has allowed me to live in 10 countries so far ranging from the UK, through the Middle East, to South East Asia. Travelling the world has given me more material to base stories on than any author really deserves. Maybe I needed a life seeing the world to follow my dreams.
If you’d like to know more, or to keep up with my regular blog, or even to buy the books, please visit my website (www.maximiliansam.com). It also has all my social media links and plenty more besides. I’m currently adding to it, and there are plenty of surprises coming over the next few months.
