USA Today best-selling author J.A. Armitage of Sylvan Lake does more than just write books.
Besides working as a full-time indie author, she also runs her own publishing company, Enchanted Quill Press.
Armitage also gets involved in the community and has done many events at the Sylvan Lake Municipal Library, including a writer's hub in February.
"I loved the event I did at the library. I did one for adults and one for the children. The adult one was quite busy, and I was able to help some of the attendees with their books."
"The kids might've been a little young to be publishing, but it was really cool to see them be energized and excited for what they could do in the future," she added.
For Armitage, there are many perks to being an indie author.
"I like control of my work; I design my covers and do my formatting."
Armitage published her first book when she was in her 30s.
"It took me a year to write my first book, and I published it in 2014," she said.
"My first year of writing I sold a few books to friends. Now, I am a multiple USA Today best-selling author and have sold hundreds of thousands of books."
Since starting to write Armitage's biggest selling series has been her Kingdom of Fairy Tales series.
"It has 52 books in it, and they are about what happened after the original fairy tale ends, after the happily ever after. So, when Cinderella marries Prince Charming and you finish and close that book, that is where my story begins," she said.
"It follows the grown-up children of the original characters."
Now, Armitage is writing about the villains.
"Now I am doing the Villains, and my next book is the story of the evil fairy from Sleeping Beauty."
While Armitage didn't start out writing fairy tale retellings, she asked her fans what they wanted her to write and came out with Charm, a reverse fairy tale of Cinderella.
"It is still one of my best-selling books today," Armitage said.
Things from life can also influence a story, she added.
"I have written books where I have set them in places I have lived, but mostly I write about fantasy worlds."
Through using social media platforms such as TikTok Armitage's books have found a following.
"Within a week of using TikTok, I was getting 700,000 views, and my books took off."
The next event Armitage will be part of is the Mother's Day Market on May 10 at the Havest Centre at Westerner Park in Red Deer from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Individuals interested in finding out more about J.A. Armitage can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Also, people can find out more about her books or her publishing company on her websites, jaarmitage.com and enchantedquillpress.com.
