《The Maple Leaf》Foreword
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Sometimes, when we experience a good story, it lingers in our minds for a long time. A few of them stick around in there forever. When I was growing up during my school years, I was much more interested in the stories that were told through life itself, not in required reading. Oftentimes, it seemed as though life was too busy and hectic for me to sit down and divulge all of my attention into a book. There were a few books I read in elementary school that really caught my attention, though. I remember one called Fever that was about an outbreak of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in the 1700s. It's classified as historical fiction but it felt so real to me; one of those books I just couldn't put down.
Besides R.L. Stine's work with the Goosebumps series, it was basically my first introduction to the horror genre in literature. But it wasn't the typical horror one would expect - no monsters, no aliens, no ghosts haunting a mansion. It was a deep, personal fear of a young girl in an unfortunate, terrible circumstance. It was her fight for survival while everything and everyone she knew changed for the worst. It resonated with me but I don't think I knew why until much later in life. Change is constant for everyone but sometimes it's how we perceive and package those changes in our brain that produce how we deal with it. Not to mention, it depends on the change itself. Was it good? Bad? Indifferent?
There was a video game I played when I was younger as well called Hotel Dusk on the Nintendo DS. It was another fictional story but grounded in reality with a very unique art style. I must have played it for days just to experience the murder mystery story that made up most of its runtime. The game was played by holding the two-screen handheld like you would hold a book, which added to the noir aesthetic and mystery novel feel of the experience. I guess it was one of the many steps I unwittingly took towards my fascination with grounded fiction, mystery, and horror stories.
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I say this because sometimes I try to stop and take a look back at what led me to pursue a certain project in my life. What compelled me to do one thing and sacrifice the infinitesimal array of other choices I could have made? I believe it starts with the stories that stick in our minds. Those choices we make stem from the impressions made on us when we were the most impressionable. The hardest part is deciding to go for one thing instead of all of them.
It wasn't until my late teens that I was exposed to Stephen King's work. I had seen the movies yet I'd never taken the daunting leap into reading one of his many, often very long, books. But once I began to read them, I had a sensation come over me that was so strong, it was hard to set aside.
"Write a novel of your own."
English class was always one of my favorite classes in school. Not the parts where I had to complete essay-style documents or learn the reason and meaning behind every facet of the process. It was the creative writing projects where I excelled, both in the actual work and with my engagement in the idea of creating my own stories. I wrote one such story for a final project my senior year.
The premise was that of a man who was stuck in the home of abusive parents who wouldn't let him leave. But, one night, he was finally able to sneak out of the house through his window that was left unlocked and he ran for his life into the forest, hoping for a better life ahead of him. In short, my teacher loved it - and so did I. She asked me if she could keep the story to share with future classmates and I happily said yes. It made me proud to think that it was such an interesting tale that people who I may never know might actually read it. Would it stick with them? Would it leave an impression or linger in their minds as a story they loved?
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That's one of the greatest feelings for me as a writer. Sure, writing a book was on my bucket list in life, but as I grew up and took the time to reflect, I realized that it means much more to me than checking off a box on a list. So, in 2018, I decided to sit down and write. The story I had written in high school lingered in my head and begged to be written with a new perspective. After all, I had become a new person by that point. More life, more loss, and more courage had been gathered since my days of moving school to school, not knowing what my future held, and being terrified of the fact.
The story you will read now is almost nothing, as far as I can tell, like the story I had written so long ago now. I assume that it's much better and quite a bit more fleshed out over the last four years than when I wrote it before in a single night. I wanted the story to be grounded but with the unknown tension that comes from the style of fiction. We all drive inspiration from somewhere and I always encourage people to find out what they are. Don't be afraid to lean into what inspires you. Once you start writing, let the real you begin to type the words. Unless you're copying and pasting the words from Pet Semetary, you will find that your mind has its way of doing things.
It will categorize and structure parts of your story in its own way. The wording will become unique to you and everything else will follow. It doesn't always work right away and that's when people tend to give up. But I think that working through that roadblock will be the most growth you can obtain. At the very least, your creative muscles will begin to work out the kinks and the knots. You'll discover parts of yourself that you didn't know existed, or that you buried years before. In any case, I am happy that my novel, The Maple Leaf, is complete and available for you to read. It was a pleasure to live in the unsettling world I had created, as odd as that sentiment may sound. I hope my story lingers, inspires, and entertains you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for giving it a chance.
Sincerely,
Kevin D. Phillips
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Reincarnation, the beginning.
After a sudden death, a butcher is given a second chance. Reincarnated in another world as a Saurian, a reptilian race, he sees here an opportunity to live his life to the fullest. Using his past life's knowledge, will he become the most powerful man among his race or will he choose to stay in the shadow, living quietly? --- English is NOT my native language. Any form of criticism is welcome as long as it will help me in writing. Update: {HIATUS} [Cover was found on the internet]
8 114Can't a Girl be a Fearsome Demon Lord?
Thinking about all the female Demon Lords in her memory, Alex thought to herself. Should a Demon Lord be a tiny loli? No! Shoud a Demon Lord be the servant to some guy? No! Should a Demon Lord simply be waifu material? No! A Demon Lord is supposed to inspire fear and awe, not just pander to otaku! Thus, having died and forcibly summoned to another world, Alex decided that she would become the ideal version of a demon lord that she envisioned in her mind.
8 111Recovery: Ignis
My Name is Keiren. Keiren Ignis. At least that was what IT told me. Now all I have to do is figure out everything else. No simple task when you're an amnesiac. Honestly, why do I know these words and what they mean, but I have no idea who or even what I am. Except for what IT told me. IT is whatever is causing the wierd pop-up screens that appear in my vision when I think about certain things. Seems like I'm going to have to play by ITs rules until I get a better understanding of everything else. This is my first attempt at writing anything. To be honest I'm not 100% sure as to what direction this will take. GLHF It became sci-fi. There will probably be a romantic subplot at some point. There will be some implied sexual content, but nothing more explicit than kissing will be written. Will try to release at least one chapter a week, but there could be none, or possibly 3 or 4.
8 135Pokemon Untold
A hidden enemy, an ancient order and a war across time and space! What has Atiqo, just a huge Pokemon Fan, gotten himself into?! Our MC shall uncover the hidden mysteries and secrets untold in the Pokemon Lore! Explore this World which has a huge potential yet to be excavated, and re-discover aspects of Pokemon never seen before or ever heard of! "I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was!" .......................................................................... This FanFic is dual hosted on WebNovel. I will update this every now and then on RR. If you want to stay up to date or read ahead, follow my Fan-Fic on webnovel.com:https://www.webnovel.com/book/10993611506227205/Pokemon-Untold Pokemon is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures Inc. I have no connections with Satoshi Tajiri or Ken Sugimori and I am a normal fan of their works. Please support the Official Release. please enjoy and leave constructive criticism and reviews behind so I can improve the story further ;)
8 167Green Raven, a Running with Devils LitRPG
One minute Ronald McGreen was thinking about how he would get out of the cleaning closet his new classmates had thrown him in. The next he is transferred to something of a waiting room for a new game world. Giving him two hard choices. Not that he wasn’t used to hard choices since his fathers death and his mothers depression, where he chose to step up and do everything in his power to get his mother back up on her two feet. This is a story of a young man around 16-17 years growing up and making choices for himself, that sometimes affects others. This story is a slow burn, the MC will become stronger but he has insecurities that he needs to overcome and so on. I've read plenty of books over the years and lately fallen hard for the LitRPG genre of Fantasy, and this is my first attempt to write a book.
8 206Acclimation
- HIATUS - One chilly spring morning, the world begins to shift. Suddenly, five individuals find themselves in possession of more potential than they can imagine, and are left trying to find their place in a rapidly changing world. The world is changing, but into what? This story follows Chris and four other humans as they reenter the world as harbringers of the system, dragging chaos in their wake. Edit: I wrote myself into a corner with this one, and its only after taking a writing class that I realize where I went wrong, and it needs a complete rewrite from the top. I considered taking it down, but i'm going to leave it up as a reminder to myself to plan out my magic systems a little better.
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