Student publishes fantasy novel
Missy Jensen
Staff Writer
Aaron M. Hall, a junior at UVU majoring in public relations, has recently self-published a novel entitled Foreordained. Completing a process that started seven years ago, Hall has accomplished a lifelong dream.
Hall grew up in St. George, Utah, and attended Dixie State University for two and a half years, where he majored in communication and motion picture production. Hall then left on an LDS mission to Boston, Mass. After his return, he transferred to UVU in August of 2015 and has been enjoying his time at UVU since. Hall’s hobbies include longboarding and going to the movies, as well as photography.
The plotline of Foreordained depicts a young boy named Jason who was foreordained by a sacred dragon king to save the kingdom of Nezmyth. The Kingdom is in shambles after a relentless king has run it into poverty. The plot follows Jason’s journey from boy to man as he decides whether or not he wants to take on the responsibilities of the kingdom.
Hall’s inspiration for his novel came from a church video he viewed in the ninth grade, which depicted robbers kidnapping a prince who tried to make the prince succumb to a riotous lifestyle. The idea of a government leader choosing to remain in a more righteous lifestyle rather than succumb to the ways of the world was one that Hall thought would make a fantastic plotline for a book.
The novel was published independently through CreateSpace, a site that Amazon sponsors for authors who want to keep the independent rights to their own book. Hall said the whole publication process was really easy. The only steps he had to take were formatting the manuscript, and creating the cover, which a friend designed for him.
Writing Foreordained was something that Hall related to reading a book that he couldn’t put down because it sucks him into the writer’s world. Being able to build a whole new world that no one had ever been a part of before, and going on such an amazing journey with his character was satisfying for him. Hall also loved being able to create something for readers to be a part of and enjoy wherever they may be.
The feedback that Hall has received from his readers has been overwhelmingly positive. This reaction is something he attributes, not only to his hard work in writing the book, but also to the message that he hoped to send with the book. Hall’s hope is that his readers will try to become better people through the novel’s characters.
Hall is currently in the process of writing the sequel to Foreordained, and hopes to have it released sometime next year. In the meantime, he is also working on a blog that is an episodic spinoff from his novel with new episodes being released every couple of weeks.
Hall’s blog can be found at www.kingdomofnezmyth.blogspot.com