A budding author is hoping to make his dream come true by taking the literary world head on.
Stuart Johns has self published a fantasy novel in a bid to become a fully fledged writer.
The 37-year-old amateur novelist is gearing up to release his second book this year after successfully getting his first attempt into stores.
A care worker in Winchester by day, he has entered the publishing world the hard way by doing every step of getting the book to the shelves himself.
Stuart, of Kings Road, South Ham, said: “It has been a steep learning curve getting where I am today. I have enjoyed the whole process but in a way writing the book was the easiest bit.
“It is a dream come true at the moment, I want to see where it takes me, but as it stands it is the sense of achievement which has been reward enough.”
He started his quest in spring 2009 when he penned 136-page novel Ærworuld – a tale set in the modern world but also in a parallel ancient imaginary kingdom, Lorroth.
He said the idea first took shape more than 15 years ago when he wrote his first short story. Since then he has slowly built up his imaginary world, drawing on Anglo Saxon and Viking history.
He said: “I have got quite an active imagination and I need to channel it somewhere. Writing for me is really the best way to do it. I just sit down and lock myself in my room and just write.
“I find it relaxing, especially being a single unit I have no pressure to get it done to a deadline. I can finish all the parts in my own time.”
Since getting his ideas on paper, he started what he described as the hardest part of the process – designing and distributing the book.
Using open source software he taught himself to design the covers and format pages, set up a website and register an ISBN number.
The book was printed and bound at Gloucester printing company Inky Little Fingers.
Since then the book has been scooped up by Blackwell's and Amazon and stocked in the Winchester Discovery Centre library, as well as earning fans in Holland and the USA.
But he said he has his ambitions in check and is happy enough to have something to show for his efforts.
He said: “I am not expecting it to become a best seller. The fantasy fiction market is fiercely competitive.
“But it’s nice to have a published work, seeing it in the library is great for me. It sort of immortalises your hard work.”
Stuart’s New Year’s resolution is to complete his next work, with a series of five linked novels planned. His second book is due out in March.
Ærworuld is available online at Amazon for £6.99.
