Classified ads inspire author's fantasy novel

Who knows where your next good idea might come from? Mark Forman got his in the classified ads.

It was 2000, and Forman had just been laid off from his job as a systems administrator, so he was looking for a new position.

As he pored over the classified ads day after day, "I got annoyed with reading the same old ads over and over. I thought, wouldn't it be neat to see an ad for a job that's not normal? What if you wanted someone to go slay a dragon, and you advertised for it in the classifieds?"

That's where his idea for "Slathbog's Gold," a young-adult novel recently released by Shadow Mountain, came from.

Forman — who grew up in Bountiful and, after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to England and a stint in Springville, now lives there again — has always liked writing. Even more important, he says, he always loved reading. "When I was growing up, we had a massive library at home. Reading was just a natural part of life. My brother and I were always reading and then going off to have adventures."

So knowing he could write and knowing what was involved in a good fantasy novel, Forman decided to try writing a book.

However, he soon learned what many first-time authors find out.

It's hard to support yourself as a writer right off. He learned that he couldn't write and publish a quality novel fast enough to make ends meet.

He did finally find another job, but he kept writing on the side. And by 2008, when he was again a victim of recession and laid off from his job, he had finished his manuscript and even had a publisher lined up.

It's a little too soon to see whether he will be totally able to switch careers this time, but he's more optimistic.

"Slathbog's Gold" will be the first in a series of "Adventurers Wanted" books for young readers, and he's already working on the next one.