Stefan Mailoux

I have been a soldier, archaeologist, journalist, graphic designer, programmer, and communications leader. I've had the fortune to travel throughout the world, serving in Central America, the Middle East, hiking in West Africa and Amazonian Peru, sailing the Leeward Islands, sea kayaking much of the American east coast, earning a black belt in Okinawan Seidokan. I've had some great adventures and have touched close to death a few times, malaria, dysentery, a near drowning. Even settling down has been an adventure of its own as we had four children, which was a continuous stream of wonderful mayhem through our lives.

I never intended on writing a novel, or a series of novels. I was content in coaching and watching my kids play sports, prepping them to launch off to college and their lives, transitioning careers. Then COVID happened. I suddenly found myself with time on my hands and looked for something to fill that void. I've always liked to read and I've always groused on how writers, particularly of television series could rarely end their works as strongly as they started. There was this idea for a story rolling around in my head for over a decade, something I'd tell myself while doing yard chores or hiking by myself.

One night I decided to begin typing it out and to challenge myself to end my story as strongly as I started it. Two and a half years later I had a thousand page novel. I can't count how many revisions and editing sessions it went through. I am sure there are still some grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors in it but I am not an editor and this is a vanity project so I was not going to expend thousands of dollars on a service. Besides, I like imperfections, old things, with their patina and silent history have always appealed to me.

On the advice of a friend and the physics of book binding I split the book into two. My writing is set in a fantasy world but heavily influenced by this one and my experiences in it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.