It is a great achievement for a local writer.
Derek Grant of Humboldt's first book "Cold Fear" was published in October 2012.
Grant has been writing since he was a child.
"As soon as I learned to write, I was writing stories," said Grant.
At first, it was a form of entertainment.
"I would sooner lock myself away in my room and make up stories than watch TV," said Grant. "I liked the control of making up my own stories because when you write a story, you are like a god and you control the lives of everybody in it and there is nothing that you can't do in the story."
In high school, Grant was encouraged to continue writing by his Grade 11 teacher.
"She thought I was talented so she told me to use it," said Grant. "I tried and I got a couple short stories published. Then I started branching out into longer stuff like novels."
He explained he made the transition from short stories to novels as he got older.
"When I got ideas for stories when I was younger, they were shorter," said Grant. "As I got older and more worldly, my ideas began to get a little more sophisticated and a little longer. Suddenly I noticed they were becoming novel length."
His book, "Cold Fear," is set in Churchill, Manitoba, where Grant lived in the 1990s.
"It is a twist on the werewolf mythology but it is involving an ancient polar bear spirit from (the First Nations) culture," said Grant.
He explained the myth is not actually part of the First Nations culture, but felt the culture had to be represented in the book in order to make it more realistic.
"When you live up north, there are First Nations people and it would be kind of disingenuous to tell a story that didn't include them, even though I made that part up," said Grant.
When it comes to writing his stories, Grant said his ideas come from his imagination.
"A lot of times I am just sitting there and a little kernel of an idea springs forward," said Grant. "It builds from that into this bigger thing until I feel comfortable enough to start the outline from it or just start writing."
He usually starts by creating an outline of his story to follow as he is writing.
"I tend to do better when I have it figured out from start to finish," said Grant. "Things can change within that, it is not a set thing."
He currently has a book he has been working on for about five years, because he didn't have a proper outline.
"I outlined it to a certain point and I thought by the time I get here I will know where it is going," said Grant. "By the time I got there, I didn't know where it was going."
He has been excited but nervous since his first book was published.
"The scariest part of it was knowing it was coming," said Grant. "It is a long process and my publisher told me that it would probably be released in late 2012. I signed the contract with him in mid-2011, so it seemed really far off ."
Grant said it didn't seem real until his publisher contacted him to get his opinion on cover designs.
"When you have been writing for as long as I have without a broad audience seeing it... it's a scary prospect because it is personal," said Grant. "It is your baby. It has been your whole world."
He was nervous about the book until he started to get his first bits of positive feedback.
"With social media, I get posts on Facebook from people saying they are enjoying it," said Grant.
He will soon have two formal reviews of his novel - one by horror website horrorworld.org and the other by author Richard Van Camp.
"He was the author who first encouraged me to do something with this book," said Grant about Van Camp. "He read it and enjoyed it and wants to do an official review."
Grant has also joined Good Reads, a website where people can review his book as well.
"This is all very new," said Grant. "People are excited about it and they are excited they know someone who wrote a book."
He explained many people have the dream or desire to write a book but haven't been able to. Many people consider him a role model.
"They seem very pleased that a regular guy like them has done something like that," said Grant.
Grant will be doing a reading of his work at the Reid-Thompson Library in Humboldt this December.
"That is scarier than the thought of people actually reading my stuff," said Grant. "I think most writers write because they don't like to speak in public. I'd rather have time to formulate what I want to say and write it on paper than to stand in front of people and recite things."
Although he is nervous about doing a reading, he is looking forward to generating more interest in his book.
Right now, "Cold Fear" is available in eBook format for Kindle, Kobo and other eReaders. It will soon be available in print at Between the Pages, McNally Robinson in Saskatoon and the University of Saskatchewan bookstore. Copies will also be available at his library reading.
