S.W. Lothian – Author

The Long Road to Overnight Success + Goals for 2017

This time every year is a time for reflection. Looking back at the year before and forward to the promises of the next. When I started writing I had visions of best sellers and earning enough to enhance my lifestyle. The reality is that writing isn’t all about best sellers and cash, it’s more about creating and sharing, and hoping that the fruit of your imagination unlocks a positive reaction from the people who read it.

This month marks an amazing milestone for me. It’s been 5 years since I published the first book in my Quest series, The Golden Scarab. It was a major achievement that took me three years to write. Since then I have written and released two more books in that series, The Cursed Nile, and The Fallen Pharaoh. The fourth book, The Missing Link, has been patiently sitting on my hard drive waiting for review and editing etc since the middle of 2015.

Also, during these past few years, I’ve written and released the first two books of my Time Square series, The Shift, and UFO. Both series were aimed at young teen audiences and focussed on thrills, action, mystery, and time travel, with a dash of humor thrown in.

In mid-2015 I decided it was time to have a crack at the Young Adult market. I wanted to write edgier, more thought-provoking subject matter and explore the impact of oppression and control with characters that were relatable to readers.

My new YA series, Subway, has kept me very busy, so my Quest and Time Square series have been bobbing along under their own steam (yes … a tad neglected). The first Subway book, Palliatopia, is close to completion and has taken eighteen months of writing (96000 words, 470+ pages). It’s a page-turner full of suspense, action and thrilling twists that I’m sure readers won’t see coming. I like to think of it as the ‘overnight success‘ that will open the floodgates to a huge number of new readers (and I wouldn’t say no to a ‘best seller’ and cash – who would?).

2017 should be a big year for me, writing-wise. The release of two new books and a recharged series will see me stay very busy. And hopefully, I’ll reap some rewards for all of my hard work. So, in order to move forward, l need goals. It’s these goals that guide and motivate me to keep swimming.

Perseverance is the key to a great future.

If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

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My 2017 will include the following goals:

• Continued remission for my daughter from childhood cancer.
  85% of childhood cancer survivors will have significant future health problems as a result of the chemo/treatment that saved their life – it’s a dark shadow that will never go away.

• Good health for my family and friends
  Without health we have nothing.

• Continue my committee work for the Kids Cancer Support Group
  A non-profit charity in my home city that supports children with cancer and their families.
  Any new paperback donations would be a great start for an Oncology Ward library that we plan to start.

• Release the first book in my new YA series, Subway | Palliatopia, and find lots of new readers.

• Reinvigorate and relaunch my first series (Quest books 1-3).
  Rework to target an older (YA) audience. New covers. New series name.

• Complete and release the fourth book in the relaunched (Quest) series, The Missing Link.

• Overnight success.

2017 is going to be a good year <affirmation>. It seems that in 2016 the world got a little crazy, and there were many things that happened that were beyond belief. I’ll leave it up to you to work out what I’m talking about 😊 Let’s hope that common sense, tolerance, peace, and goodwill rise above the crap that has infected the mainstream of late.

True success is not gained by standing on others to get your own way, it’s measured by the positive impact you have on those around you and the legacy you leave behind. – S.W. Lothian

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