“I believe we are all called to adventure, whether we answer that call by reading our favorite books or by traveling the world, we are born to explore. I write historical fiction and historical fantasy in the hopes of taking my readers on the adventure of a lifetime.“
Brian John Skillen is an award-winning and Amazon bestselling author who hopes to inspire the adventure of a lifetime through his writing. Brian grew up with dyslexia and a third-grade reading and spelling level in high school. He never in a million years thought he would be an author.
What was a disadvantage in school became an advantage with Brian’s passion for dancing. being dyslexic, he had the ability to turn things around in his head backward, which made learning dance very easy. He started dancing at the age of fifteen, by eighteen he was teaching, by twenty teaching nationally, and by twenty-two internationally. Brian would spend six to nine months out of the year teaching dance around the world. Usually, every week he was in a different city or country. While on dance tour, he took a side trip to walk the Camino de Santiago across Spain, and his life changed forever.
On April 8, 2017, in the small town of Castrojeriz, he was first told about a secret code of the Knights Templar on the Camino de Santiago. This code inspired him to write the Through a Field of Stars series. As he hiked the Camino across Spain, the story for this novel played like a movie in his head. The things he saw, the people he met, and the experiences he had all wove together into the perfect narrative. Since this pilgrimage in 2017, he has walked over 1,000 miles across Spain doing research for the series.
Growing up with Dyslexia and a third-grade reading and spelling level. Brian never thought he would write a book, let alone a series. But, he has found if you have a big enough “Why” any “How” can be overcome.
His “Why” for writing this series is to inspire 1,000,000 people to have a life-changing experience on the Camino de Santiago, and he overcame the “How” with commitment.
He has found that commitment sets you free. When he was writing the first book, he committed himself to write 2,000 words per day no matter what. In the beginning, it was really difficult. He would spend up to 8 hours to achieve this goal. He pretty much had to reteach himself grammar and spelling. But, within fifty working days, he had a 100,000-word book. He’s still not perfect, but he took action and put together a team who could overcome his limitations.
Now, five years later, he has a complete award-winning trilogy that has been an Amazon Best Seller in several categories. The best part is, he is now teaching others how to get their books out into the world as well!