Cochranite Shelly Campbell has just launched her debut fantasy novel Under The Lesser Moon and it is quickly gaining popularity in the Canadian fantasy community. 

Campbell explains what readers can expect when entering the world in Under The Lesser Moon. “It’s a grimdark fantasy set in a fantasy world where our main character, Akrist discovers that he's the firstborn son, being raised to be sacrificed to win back people's tribes, their goddess and her dragon.”

“The people in this culture, it's a world that’s set in the Stone Age. They're hunter-gatherers, they don't have much for agriculture, so kind of a tribal feel to it. I have had it compared to Game of Thrones and it's not really set in like in a kingdom culture setting, but it does have the same struggle. You've got people that are fighting their way to live, to a world that's pretty brutal and unforgiving and there's something a little bigger than themselves going on.”

Under The Lesser Moon did not come together overnight Campbell explains. “It took a long time and I'm told that that's not uncommon for the first time. I've been probably playing with this idea since high school. Put it down when my kids were born and picked it up again when they're older and it took far too long to write.” 

“I would say it's like anything else you need to practice, it's a skill. I would say for young writers that are starting out, just be okay with that. It's going to take a year or two, at least in practice to get good at it, and eventually, that gap is going to close and you're going to get better at it and your writing skills will be more to what your tastes are, and I would say the other part of that is. Find yourself a writers group, some critique partners that you can bounce ideas off of that they can give you feedback because you're gonna have to learn how to take critique if you want to get published.”

Campbell is already well on her way with the follow-up to Under The Lesser Moon and if you would like to buy a copy, it is available here.