On the eve of the release of The Enchantress, the final book in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, I'd like to share some thoughts on what this series has meant to me.
Life long friends
At the request of friends that I met through our love of Harry Potter, I read The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. At the time I did not know how much one book series would mean to me. Through my involvement on the fansite, I have worked with and met so many amazing people that I never would have come into contact with if it wasn't for the series. I've traveled across the country and the ocean to meet some of the wonderful people that share my love for the Flamel story. And I've developed life long friendships that I don't know where or who I'd be today without them.
New experiences
Aside from the travel, I've had so many new eye opening experiences that never would have happened if it weren't for this series. I learned so much about myself and that I can really do anything I put my mind to, even if I know nothing about it from the start. I learned to podcast, I learned to edit, I learned to write and I learned to be adventurous.
A fabulous author
If you've ever had the esteemed pleasure of meeting Michael Scott you are truly a lucky person. He is one of the most fun and down to earth people I have ever met, and the fact that he writes amazing books is a huge bonus. He loves his fans and goes above and beyond to interact and answer questions, even if its just a deviously cryptic response that leaves you with more questions than answers. His books leave me with a something not many authors have done, a want and love of reading.
A love of research
This series has introduced me to new places, new mythology and new characters from history. Its sent me to Google, numerous websites and even the library for countless hours in an effort to learn more about the elements from the books. I've tried and tried to get one step ahead of Michael Scott and figure out what could be coming next, but as those that have read the series know, that's impossible because he's always twenty steps ahead of his readers. For the true love of research for the series starts with him, and I've never in my life seen so many people, young and old, find a similar lust for research and fact finding that this series has brought about.
A love of writing
The first author I ever heard say "If you want to be a writer you have to be a reader first and foremost" was Michael Scott. He said out of the love of reading you will want to tell your own stories or in some cases think you can do better than the words on the page in front of you. At the time of hearing this I did not know how deeply this statement would affect me. In fact I never had aspirations to be a writer. But because of the Flamel series, I started reading, more than I'd ever read in my life. The more I read, the more ideas started to swirl in my head. And one day those ideas completely took over until before I knew it I was writing. Words became sentences, sentences became paragraphs , paragraphs became chapters and then finally a full on manuscript, and then the realization that I didn't want to stop at just one. I had to write more and more. And then a huge transition in my life, I started calling myself a writer.
So after years of following the Flamel story, a huge, enormous thank you Michael Scott for this amazing series and for bringing so many great people together. The words you've created have meant so much to so many people. Congrats on the release of the final book that has been years in the making. I'm looking forward to the next great adventure.
