Australian author''s road to success through self publishing rivals the trials and triumphs of her fantasy stories.
It is wonderful that her epic fantasy series has found a home with Museitup Publishing.
The story of Australian artist-turned-author Rosalie Skinner is a tale of trials and tribulations to rival those told in the science fiction / fantasy novels she writes. When a back injury several years ago left her unable to work, this resourceful mother of three young adults didn’t give up. Instead, she turned her hand to writing.
Taking her fate in her own hands, Skinner took the bold and innovative path to self-publishing. After some promising early success, her first publisher went out of business! However, Rosalie’s determination prevailed. As a mark of her own perseverance, and the support of her readers, two of Rosalie’s novels are now available online.
The complete series will be available after September as ebooks and later as printed copies. Museitup Publishing has made this possible.
Rosalie’s eight part series “The Chronicles of Caleath” is described as an exciting new fusion of technology and magic. The books tell the tale of hero ‘Caleath’, once a planetary-surveyor on a high-tech world of sky domes, spaceports and virtual reality who is exiled to a more traditional land where nature and sorcery, not technology, are the ruling forces. The stranger Caleath finds himself facing an endless series of battles and challenges where he must use his strength, his skill, his integrity and his intellect to ensure not only his own survival, but the future of his new home.
The ideas for Skinner’s novel emerged as her response to the contemporary themes of reality TV, such as the voyeurism of Big Brother and the challenges of skill and strength set in shows such as Survivor as well as the growing phenomenon of computer game addiction.
Skinner drew inspiration for the endless struggles which Caleath faces from supporting her daughter through chronic illness. “Her strength and courage and her smile in the face of adversity has provided my inspiration,” says Skinner. She goes on to explain the themes behind the novel explore the struggle of young people facing long-term ill health. In a Fantasy setting, she investigates the courage of the chronically ill and how they accept Fate without giving up. Her main character is a metaphor for how her daughter and others in similar situations manage to keep positive despite countless setbacks. She values how they maintain compassion and humour even though their future is problematic and ill health can leave them vulnerable and insecure.
Skinner’s own story also parallels the trials and tribulations faced by her main character Caleath.
Rosalie Skinner, a talented artist since high school, trained for several years under well-known painter Joshua Smith. Rosalie’s drawings and paintings have featured in exhibitions, she has won prizes for her work, she has been commissioned to paint numerous portraits and her work hangs in the homes of many established artists both in Australia and overseas.
It was this creativity which helped Rosalie turn a painful and potentially debilitating back injury into an opportunity. After many years training and breeding dogs and horses, Rosalie was struck by injury and her professional future was in doubt. In 1988, unwilling to give in, she instead embarked on an exciting new career as a writer. Armed only with a laptop and her imagination, Rosalie began her first novel, and the next books in the ‘Chronicles of Caleath’ soon followed. An avid lover of science fiction and fantasy, inspired by writers such as J R Tolkien, Isaac Asimov and Jenny Wurtz, her own books follow in this vein.
As a start, Rosalie posted a few chapters of her work online. The positive feedback this exposure gained, from writers around the world, prompted her to take the next step and self-publish her first book. “Exiled” – the first instalment in the “Chronicles of Caleath” was well received both in Australia and internationally. However, this first attempt led to a dead end when her publisher went out of business! Encouraged by the support of her readers, Rosalie was determined not to let this setback stop her.
So committed were her readers to seeing the rest of the series in print, that two particularly keen supporters provided financial support to re-publish. Skinner has now refined and re-published the original ‘Exiled’ as two books “Exiled: Winter’s Plight” and “Exiled: Summer’s Peril” both of which are on sale at bookshops and over the internet through Amazon.com, Booktopia.com and Booksurge.com
For Skinner, the bold but ultimately rewarding decision to self-publish her work has been a way to make the most of expanding opportunities in the field of contemporary creative writing.
The feedback from both Australian and international readers has been very positive, with reviewers referring to her books as “action-packed”, “enthralling” and “Those who order their bookshelves according to quality, should be prepared to clear space for this exciting and innovative new series.”
Now the whole series has been contracted to Museitup Publishing and Rosalie Skinner's series is set to rock the publishing world.
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