A Brock University Humanities grad has put his English literature degree to work, becoming a top ranked science fiction author.

Michael Chatfield says his time at Brock made him a better, more productive writer.

It also taught him to go after what he wants, rather than waiting for good things to happen.

“It gave me the push to start publishing instead of just waiting,” he says.

Chatfield self publishes his books, which gives him more creative flexibility and control over his own release schedule.

The Burlington resident has penned seven books, which are available on Amazon as e-books or in print.

His book The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet is the No. 1 bestseller on Amazon UK in the aliens section of the science fiction genre.

There are six books in the Free Fleet series, with the final book – War’s Reward: Free Fleet 6 ­­- released earlier this month.

By the end of August, he will publish three more books.

Michael Chatfield

Chatfield estimates he’s sold more than 70,000 copies of his works. Judging by sales so far, he says the new series Harmony War will be more popular than Free Fleet.

“Brock gave me the confidence to go and pursue this,” he says, noting he recently left his job with the Canadian military to write full time.

Aside from helping develop his writing skills and understanding of publishing, Chatfield says university helped him become a faster and disciplined author. Writing papers and assignments prepared him for a career in writing. He says he writes about 6,000 words a day.

The science fiction genre suits Chatfield’s writing style and imagination.

“You are allowed a lot more creativity,” he says. “It’s about the what ifs? There are so many possibilities.”

Chatfield says the characters come first and live in his head before he starts writing.
“Half the time I don’t know what is going to happen until I write it,” he says.

For more information about Chatfield’s work, visit his website by clicking here.