BECKLEY, W.Va. — S.D. “Sam” Smith, a writer from Beckley, has gained attention around the world for his best selling novels on Amazon.
The books are part of “The Green Ember Series”, a children’s adventure fantasy about rabbits. The first book titled “The Green Ember” followed by the prequel “The Black Star of Kingston”. The last book in the serious is “The Green Ember Book II: Ember Falls”, which was released Sept. 13.
Smith had his books top multiple best-seller categories on Amazon, including the best-selling audio book in the world, topping “Game of Thrones” and “The Harry Potter Series.” He was named #51 on Amazon’s Top 100 Bestselling authors after his second book was released.
“The response I’ve received from families and children has been really overwhelming and I’m full off gratitude for that,” Smith said.
Smith, who was raised in Huntington, now lives with his wife and four children in Beckley. He said he would tell his children stories of rabbits before he even wrote “The Green Ember.”
“It was almost like a decade long, bed time story, rough draft,” he laughed. “I told them those stories for years and years and they said ‘Dad, you have to write these down’ and so finally, I wrote them down.”
The author said he shapes a lot of his writing on his connection to the Mountain State. He sees the story as one his family is sharing with other families.
“It was a totally organic, totally natural story telling process with my kids,” he said. “I love writing for this audience.”
Writing for children is different than writing for adults, Smith said.
“I feel like they are in touch with their innocence and imagination in a way that many adults aren’t,” he said.
Smith has traveled to several states to speak with fans in Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina and Ohio. He has events scheduled in Pittsburgh, Pa., Greenville, Nc., Charlotte, Nc., Dallas, Tx., Los Angeles, Ca. and more.
He’s talking with Hollywood filmmakers about the possibility of a creating a movie version of “The Green Ember”.
“It’s a little bit surreal, but it’s also what people do every day. Meeting all these people, I’m hopeful that at some point down the line we’ll have a movie,” he said.
Smith said a fourth book in the serious is in the works.
To view Smith’s novels on Amazon, click here.