I began as most fresh-eyed fantasy writers do, creating a 330,000-word behemoth (the first in a series of even longer books) that no agent or publisher would even look at. Upon learning that the typical length of a debut novel has absolutely no relationship to the length of a novel I would want to read, I lost much of my motivation to continue, and I was forced to table the epic story I had been crafting for so long. This unfortunate realization led to approximately six years of writer’s block, compounded by the stresses of preparing for–and completing–my doctorate.

Then came the pandemic. Having tried over and over to write a shorter book in the hopes of publishing traditionally, my frequent long furloughs from work allowed me the time to really get going on something I enjoyed. From January 2020 to December 2021, I wrote a novel of respectable debut length for an adult fantasy novel (around 113k). It is a dark fantasy story with elements of horror, and I hope I can find representation for it soon. For now, I am in the editing stages.

In the meantime, I am querying a grimdark fantasy short story and editing a novella that I will self-publish sometime this year to build my readership.

On this website you can expect to encounter short stories that could not find a perfect fit in the brutal, specific world of traditional publishing, as well as impending links to self-published works, such as my upcoming novella Webs and Iron.

Until then, find me on Twitter @PaulRMonarch.

All the best,

Paul R Monarch