M.L. Olmstead

February 2026 was my last event before the launch of The Knights Lost Stories, and honestly I was feeling quite anxious. What if people lost interest in The Knights Lost in the Void and didn’t care about its sequel? For the first ten minutes, my friend patiently listened to my various fears. And then the doors opened up…and almost immediately, a man and his daughter whom I knew very well came looking for the sequel.

Despite owning several copies of the first edition, he decisively bought a bundle which include the second edition of The Knights Lost in the Void and The Knights Lost Stories. Twenty minutes later, he came back for another bundle. The continued on like this. People would come by on their first lap through and later return because the books were on their mind. Many remembered talking with us at several conventions, and we also met many new people who loved the premise of the books and eagerly bought. Every time a purchase was made, my thoughts went to “We did it.”

An interesting sentiment that I have always had regarding the books. I have never thought “I did it.” Because its simply not possible for a book to really live without an audience. I mentioned this in one of my emails, but I was rejected by a lot of the big names in publishing. No shock there. It’s the way of the world, but what does it really mean to receive that rejection?

Does that rejection mean that the story is bad? Does it mean that no one would want to read it? Or does it mean something else? Every author finds themself in this position and has to decide, what’s next for me? In my case, I refused to give up and self published the first edition of The Knights Lost in the Void. I made the choice to go to events, and let the audience decide. For the last three years, you did. You decided to try the book because you thought it sounded good. You didn’t care that I had no reputation or big company behind me. You wanted to read something that sounded cool to you. And then you came back, and you let me know that you really did like it. You told me you wanted the sequel. I listened, and I worked the hardest I have ever worked on a story in my life. Because I wanted to give back to the readers who loved the story, who believed in it. I won’t know until you tell me at the next event how well I did but know how hard I tried. The finale “The Knights Lost Hope” is in the works.

And so this accomplishment of publishing these books will never be my accomplishment alone. It will always be ours.

Never an “I”. Always a “We”.