The Story Behind Search for the Last Realm by Kraig Dafoe

I first became interested in fantasy back in the eighties. During high school when I had free time, I played Dungeons and Dragons on the old apple two computers. The game was strictly a text adventure but it was intriguing. The only other option for gaming back then was the Atari and text adventures were fun, even more so than the incredible graphics of early consoles.

In the nineties, a friend of mine introduced me to role-playing for the first time when I was able to create my own character and I really enjoyed it. Role-playing was a big part of my social interaction and I was able to escape the everyday humdrum life I was living.

I was married and raising children so I had many responsibilities I took seriously so the time I was able to play, I cherished. The friend I had that introduced me to playing made the game enjoyable, fun and thought provoking and after playing for a few years, I decided to write a story instead of just living in the story which someone else created.

I wrote the book using the kind of world I played in, using characters and races I interacted with during my time in the game.

I felt like I wanted to share the experience with others and although I never played the scenario I wrote about, my need to entertain was strong enough to develop the story.

Once I started writing, the story unfolded from a basic concept. The words seemed to flow and when they ran slow, I turned to my friend for inspiration. This man has a mind like I had never encountered and so bouncing ideas off him was a smart move. I would say without a doubt that my friend and game master was my biggest inspiration.

Roll playing through the eighties and early nineties seemed to get a bad rap because people didn’t understand it but know it has become a little more mainstream even being shown in television shows like the Big Bang Theory, one of my favorite shows by the way.

When it came to publishing, the road became ruff and the shoulders were steep. I tried for a couple of years just to get agents to look at my work and that was more difficult than any task I have ever encountered and that’s saying a lot with my military, private security, and law enforcement back ground.

I ended up self-publishing after hundreds of agents and a couple of publishers turned me down. The business of putting a book out as an unknown author is tuff. I would say as near impossible as anything.

I started to investigate what was involved with publishing and the list is lengthy. It took me about a year to go through all the steps and finally the book is available. After putting the book online as an E-book and paper back, I still struggle to get it into the stores and libraries. I never give up though and I would still consider traditional publishing for the future.

I have no regrets and I would encourage anyone wanting to write to follow your dream and do whatever is necessary to garner success.

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Kraig Dafoe was born in Potsdam, New York and grew up in Canton. He played high school football and joined the United States Army Reserves at the age of seventeen.

Kraig married at the age of nineteen and moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia where he worked as a Private Security officer for The Christian Broadcasting Network and also attended the Tidewater Community College for business.

After five years as a security officer, he became a Deputy Sheriff for the city of Chesapeake Virginia.

Kraig left the Sheriff’s office after nine years of service and pursued a couple of different business opportunities before he went on to publishing his debut novel.

Kraig is the father of five children and he currently resides in Kansas, raising his youngest son.

His latest book is the fantasy/adventure, Search for the Lost Realm.

Visit his website at www.kraigdafoebooks.com