It’s no small feat to publish a book — and it’s especially no small feat to publish on your own.
Samantha Glover is a stay-at-home mother in Williams Lake, who is just in the finishing stages of publishing her first book The Path of Adonai, set to hit bookshelves, and amazon.ca on March 2.
The fantasy novel follows the story of Shani, a young woman who has lost faith that the benevolent ruler of her country even exists following her sister’s death.
The resulting events take Shani on an adventure where she discovers the truth and sets out to restore a king to his kingdom, a path that tests her faith and will change her life forever.
Glover says she started writing as a creative outlet, after discovering music and art weren’t for her.
“I figured I can describe a picture just as well as someone can photograph it, so that’s how it started way back in school.”
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The book has been over a year in the making, during which Glover had her second child.
The book, while being a fantasy novel, is also inspired by her own faith, she says.
“It focuses a lot on faith and a lot on that struggle between light and darkness and how even when the darkness seems overwhelming there is always a way out.”
Glover’s grandparents were missionaries in Kenya, she says, and helped found the Full Gospel church in Mackenzie, where Glover was born.
The magic in the story was also inspired by the TV show, Once Upon a Time.
“I loved the way the magic looked in that show,” she says. “Someone who has a pure heart can do certain things verses somebody who has blackness in their heart.”
She took that idea and mixed it with imagining what spiritual powers would look like, if they were visible.
The struggles the main characters go through are also relatable, she says — both to those who struggle with their own faith, and others who may have other challenges in their life, like addictions.
“I really like the adventure that happens and it was one of the things that Shani ends up struggling with: fear. A paralyzing fear. I myself have struggled with panic attacks so it was really easy for me to throw myself into the book.”
Glover is the mother of a three-year-old daughter and a seven-month-old son, who was born during her writing process.
Still, she says, it hasn’t been too difficult to balance her writing time with parenting.
“Once my kids are in bed for the night that’s when I do my writing,” she says. “What was really hard with writing this one is sometimes I would get inspiration in the middle of the day so I (would) have to make a quick note on a sticky note or my phone and then just set it aside.”
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Often, she says, she would discover what was happening to her characters at the same time she was writing it.
“It was interesting because I often didn’t get the next step until I was actually sitting down and writing it so I just had to go with the flow of things and see where the story was going to end up, so I was going for the ride too as I was writing it.”
Glover is self-publishing her book, so she has a few things yet to finish before her release date on March 2. Her husband will read the book, she’ll read it one last time for errors, and he has yet to finish what she calls the hardest part: the back blurb.
The book will be available on amazon.ca and some initial outlets, and Glover is also looking for places where she can retail the book in town.
“Oh my goodness, I am so excited. It’s a little nerve-wracking too because I have poured a lot into it too, but it is definitely exciting. I want to encourage people with the book as well,” she says.
“The biggest thing that I hope people take away from it is that there is always hope. It is never too late to make the change no matter how deep you get in.”
