ESTEVAN — Taylor R. Kelly's debut novel was a decade in the making.
The Estevan author participated in a question-and-answer session for her debut novel, The Legatus Prophecy: Book One, on Thursday evening at the Estevan Public Library in front of a contingent of family, friends and book lovers. The first book in a trilogy, she described it as a romance fantasy that is meant for adult readers.
"It took me a long time to write, and I'm still absolutely obsessed with it. I love it still, even after I've read it a million times," she said in an interview with the Mercury and SaskToday. "I love the storyline. I love the characters. I just hope everyone else does, too."
Kelly told the audience she started working on the book when she was in college 10 years ago, and penned much of it right away, but then only worked on it sparingly. Now she dedicates a few hours a day to writing.
The Legatus Prophecy was released on Sept. 28. The story is about two brothers and a young woman who is kidnapped and winds up being part of a prophecy. She has to stay alive or she could be sacrificed to raise the devil's son, which in turn could unleash monsters.
"One day I just saw it in my head, and I thought 'This would be a really cool movie', and then I figured that nobody's going to see the movie unless I write the script," said Kelly.
The woman and one of the brothers wind up having a romantic relationship.
Becoming an author has been nerve-wracking, she said, because it's like "putting a piece of your soul out there for everyone to see and judge." It's been difficult for her when people haven't enjoyed the novel like she hoped they would, because she put so much time and effort into it.
"But then you have the soaring [feeling] of someone telling you it was great, they didn't see the ending coming and they absolutely loved the characters," said Kelly. "It makes you feel great inside."
She used an artificial intelligence generator to create the front cover, sorting through a variety of options before coming up with the final look she wanted.
The second book in the trilogy is nearly finished. She is just wrapping up the final editing process, and then she will have beta proofreaders go through the story to ensure she didn't miss any errors.
The third book is about a third of the way complete.
"Depending on how well or if this one takes off, it will determine when I release the second one. I want to give this one time to get some traction before I throw another one at readers," she said.
Kelly has constantly been writing stories, song lyrics and anything else she could try since she was a child.
"I wrote a lot as a kid, and I found that it really helped me get through childhood, and so when I have an idea, I put it down on paper and see where it goes," she said.
The genre for The Legatus Prophecy is not something she was initially interested in. It started as a paranormal fantasy and shifted to a romance with adult themes.
Kelly moved to Estevan in 2015 and has been trying to get to know local people. She will be selling her book at A Miracle on Fourth Street later this year and at other events.
The novel can be found at Eos Vape Shop and Art Concepts Custom Framing, and also on Amazon. She went the self-publishing route through Amazon.
