Soldier, Poet- King.

Author's Notes!

Hi! I hope you enjoyed Soldier Poet King! After a year of writing on and off, it is finally done.

First off, I'd like to thank my wonderful friends that these characters are based off of. Whether or not I still talk to these people everyday, they have still been a big influence on this last year of my life and throughout this whole writing journey. Thank you for being a part of my life :) and just know we'll always be together in this universe of Soldier, Poet-King.

I wrote this book because I got to witness the truly incredible bond that my partner has with his friends. I absolutely admire it and I'm thrilled that he has that. But at the same time, growing up is hard. And even though we both have a lot to do before we can really "grow up," at least we know that you don't need to be something you are not. And you definitely don't need to be alone for it either.

This story was also heavily inspired by Soldier Poet King (song by The Oh Hellos), and Passerine (a sbi fanfiction by blujamas, thcscus on A03). I loved the setting and dynamics in Passerine when I read it a few years back—and I actually have an entire Spotify playlist for this book.

Specifically, I got the idea for SPK from a TikTok trend (as cringy as it may seem). Everyone online was talking about this test (which is also based off of the song) that would tell if you would be a Soldier, a Poet or a King in a fantasy setting. Obviously, I made a couple of my friends take the test, and I was really surprised by the results. And then I made a book out of it.

My goal as a writer is for you to hopefully be able to put yourself in the story. To be able to think "what character would I be?" and "what characters would I be friends with?" I also want to showcase that almost everyone struggles growing up. In the story, obviously Evan struggles with it, but so do Will and Garrett and all of these other characters, but they are better at hiding it than our main protagonist. I want you all to know that you aren't alone. Whatever you are going through, you never have to do it alone. In fact, it is so much better to let your friends or family in than to run from everything.

Originally, this story had a lot of possible endings. There were certain characters that I had no idea how I wanted to merge into the story. William was actually gonna be the narrator for a bit. But then I learned how to plan chapters out from a buddy—and that worked so much better.

I also had a couple favorite parts. All of the flashbacks and early chapters were the easiest to write because I could just visualize it in my brain. But one of my favorite parts to write was probably the introduction of Ben and Lili. Ben's a super fun character to write cause he's so unique and silly :)

Overall, I just loved writing this book (and my little animations that came with it). I really wouldn't have been able to write this without the help from my peers, so thank you again to all of you reading this. And let me know if you have any questions!!! I'll totally write a qna section if there's enough of 'em.

And the big questions. Should I write a sequel? Or should I start a new book?

Thanks everyone and I hope you have a wonderful day/night! <3