English teacher Stuart Smith’s most recent writing project, a full length novel, is a departure from his previous experience writing plays. The book, titled Sell My Soul, covers the story of three kids and their journey through the foster care system.

Smith began writing his novel several years ago. It took a long time before he was satisfied with the direction it was going, which forced him to take a year-long break from the book. Eventually, he found the motivation to continue.

“I started this piece a couple of years ago,” Smith said. “I wrote it, then I walked away from it, then I eventually came back to it.”

According to Smith, he first attempted to write the book as if it was a play, but was unsuccessful.

“It wouldn’t turn into a script for me no matter how hard I tried,” Smith said. “It was a funny learning curve to go from a play writer of many years to start all over as a writer.

Fellow English teacher Jamie Handling has plenty of novel-writing experience, so she understands the frustrations that may arise during the writing process. She is happy for her coworker and his achievement, especially considering the many difficulties of writing a novel.

“I’m really impressed and proud to say that I work with a fellow novelist, and I think that it’s a huge accomplishment,” Handling said.

Smith noticed quite a few differences between the novel and play writing process.

“In a play, you get the illusion of a dollhouse, where there is action and you are peeking in on that action,” Smith said. “Whereas in a novel, if you have a character in the story telling the reader what’s happening, you are inside the head of a character.”

Smith has submitted his book on Amazon for a 30 day trial, at the end of which his book may be available for purchase on Kindle. Smith’s success depends on the amount of books he is able to sell.

“If Amazon picks it up for a full contract, they will have the e-book and the audiobook,” Smith said.

The route an author needs to take to get their book published has changed significantly from the past, according to Smith.

“The publishing world is really fragmented right now,” Smith said. “This particular method of getting the book out there in one form first and then another [form] later is where the book business is at nowadays.”

Smith’s wife, Jennifer Smith, was happy for her husband and felt incredibly excited about his newest work.

“I was very excited when he finished Sell My Soul,” Jennifer said. “It’s such a great story that is quite personal with our family.”

Jennifer believes in her husband’s quality of work and thinks that he is an excellent writer.

“Stuart has been writing since before we met,” Jennifer said. “It is such a huge part of who he is and one of the things I really admire about him.”