The ink is drying on Mark Sanders’ finished fantasy trilogy, a project decades in the making.
Sanders is a longtime teacher and professor of philosophy at Three Rivers College. He began his first book, “Dylan’s Treasure,” in his 20s, thinking he thought he was jotting down a short story about a reluctant prince and a lady knight.
“It was meant to be a short story, maybe 25 or 30 pages, but then it just grew from that point,” he said.
“Dylan’s Treasure,” “The Spring of Llanfyllin” and “Siannon’s Promise” are set in a fictional version of 14th century Wales — the titular Llanfyllin of book two. The first book is an adventure and romance, the second becomes a war story and the third expands into an epic fantasy with influences from his real-world career.
“I’ve taught English and literature, I teach classical mythology, I teach world religions, I teach philosophy and ethics, and all of these influences come together, especially in this third book,” he said.
Sanders’ writing process has evolved over the years. The first draft of the first book was slow going. The story carefully followed an outline and his sentences were painstakingly written and rewritten before he moved to the next scene. Then Sanders reached a major plot point and realized the characters were not playing along.
“By the time I got to the turning point in the plot, I was like, ‘I can’t do this, none of these characters would actually behave in this way.’ So I just threw it away, and followed the characters and saw what they would do.”
As the books progressed his strategy became “just get the story on the page,” he said. He saved revising for later drafts and kept track of plots and timelines on an Excel spreadsheet. Reading Stephen King’s autobiographical “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” motivated him to keep writing a little every day.
“I finished the first draft in a little over a year, which is light speed for me,” he said when speaking on the third book.
Sanders said a structured job and light family responsibilities — his youngest child is a senior in high school — give him the leeway to write every day. But beyond circumstances, writing takes diligence. He urges beginning writers to start wherever and however they can and commit to writing a little every day.
“Just start wherever you find the beginning, whether that ends up being the actual beginning or not, just start to get ideas down on the page,” he explained. “I find for me, writing is about momentum. If I’m not writing I will tend to not write, but if I’m writing every day it gets to the point where I just expect it of myself.”
Like many writers today, Sanders published digitally. He uses Kindle Direct Publishing through Amazon and his works are available in ebook and paperback forms. Ultimately, whether his trilogy garners fame or not is irrelevant to Sanders’ attitude toward writing.
“I enjoy the process of writing. But I also like to go back and read the stories. I appreciate when readers connect with the books but...if no one else other than my immediate family read these things, I would still write them, because just the joy of creation is what always draws me back,” he said.
Wrapping up the trilogy is bittersweet. Sanders intends to write more books set in the kingdom of Llanfyllin, though, saying he feels “a bit of sadness to say goodbye to (this) group of characters, but also hopeful as I plan for future novels in the world that I created.”