Freshers and fantasy fiction – Life as a student novelist

Even in their final year, many students are still unsure of their career plans and ambitions. However, this is not the case for first-year History student Sam Savelli, who is already a published author after independently publishing a series of children’s fantasy books called ‘Creatures of Dawnia’ on Amazon.

Born with a flair for the written word, Sam states that: “I have been writing for as long as I can remember”. Throughout childhood, he wrote hundreds of stories, including 164 of his own Mr Men tales.

However, the concept for ‘Creatures of Dawnia’ was born when he received a drawing book for his 12^th birthday, from which he drew inspiration for characters and stories.

The series of stories, which is primarily aimed at children aged 6-10 years old, follows a cast of animals and supernatural beings who live in the world of Dawnia City and have adventures which range from rescuing baby pigs to visiting the moon. As well as entertaining children, the stories send several important messages.

One Amazon reviewer comments: “Savelli has managed to include moral concepts in the plot: friendship, teamwork, trust, generosity, willingness to help and empathy are the morals that I picked up on”.

After completing his 100^th story, Sam decided that it was time to share his work

The first ‘Creatures of Dawnia’ book, ‘Baby Rescue’, became available on Amazon in September 2016 when, after completing his 100^th story, Sam decided that it was time to share his work. He comments that: “It was only at this point that I stopped to think that it was about time that I did something with these stories”. Previously, his younger sisters, Anna and Maria, now aged 15 and 12, had been his only readers, and biggest fans.

Currently, there are 8 books available on Amazon’s Kindle Store, each of which contain approximately 5 short stories, as well as a paperback book which includes 20 stories. And Sam has no plans to end the series any time soon, with up to 50 ‘Creatures of Dawnia’ books planned.

However, it’s not just Creatures of Dawnia stories that Sam writes, he recently completed a stand-alone novel aimed at children aged 8-12 years old. The novel’s title is “Free as a Bird” and follows a group of heroic birds who help rescue their friends from trouble.

Even when swamped with reading and assignments, Sam still makes time to write

Juggling life as a History student and a children’s author may sound like quite the challenge, but Sam insists otherwise as he doesn’t view writing stories as work and in fact believes that it helps him relax.

Even when swamped with reading and assignments, Sam still makes time to write, stating: “I love doing it so I always try and find time”. Last year, he reveals, in the midst of exam season, he wrote a whole chapter after sitting two A-Level exams.

After graduating from Warwick, Sam plans to pursue a career in writing children’s fiction. However, he also hopes to combine his knowledge and passion for history with his talent by branching out into historical fiction.

You can find out more about Sam’s books on the Creatures of Dawnia website.