A Well-Lived Life - Book 1 - Birgit

You are about to enter a marvelous journey which begins in 1977 and continues decades into the future. Historical fiction, though drawn from real-life experiences, and following the historical timeline (no time travelers, no secret technology), it brings to the reader the story of Steve Adams, starting at age thirteen.

The rich, detailed universe, with scores of characters, also extends to another series, ‘Good Medicine’, which is available on SOL, as well as two other major series, ‘Climbing the Ladder’ and ‘From the Files of Doctor Fran Mercer’, both of which are only currently available on Patreon, as neither has a completed book (my criterion for posting to SOL).

This first series takes the reader through Steve’s eventual marriage. A second series, ‘A Well-Lived Life 2’, picks up the story at that point and continues into the future. A third series, ‘A Well-Lived Life 3’ continues where the second series leaves off.

‘Good Medicine’ covers the life and times of Michael Loucks, and numerous characters from ‘A Well-Lived Life’ make cameo appearances. In addition, characters from ‘Good Medicine’ appear in ‘A Well-Lived Life’.

‘Climbing the Ladder’ covers the life and times of Jonathan Kane, and delves into the histories of the Spurgeon, Glass, and Lundgren families, as well as providing backstory for Tom Quinn, Dustin Brady, and others who appear in ‘A Well-Lived Life’.

To enjoy the story to the greatest extent, the following reading order is strongly suggested:

https://a-well-lived-life.net/index.php?title=Suggested_Reading_Order

There is no requirement to read any of the other stories in the universe, though they do help flesh it out. No material important to the main storyline in ‘A Well-Lived Life’ is contained solely in the side stories.

The author has won two very important Clitorides Awards for this work - 2015 Best New Author as well as 2015 and 2017 Author of the Year. Several of the books were nominated for awards, including AWLL 1 - Book 5, which won in its category.

This first series contains ten books, totaling in excess of 3,200,000 words. The second series, now complete, adds an additional 4,200,000 words. A third series is in progress. All the books in all of the series are dialogue-driven, but they contain quite a bit of introspection as well. The characters operate in the real world of the 1970s through the current day, with historical events and people helping to drive the story forward.

As the story unfolds, additional narrators appear, in addition to the main character, Steve Adams, to add depth and color to their stories. The writing style starts as if written by a fourteen-year-old, and changes as Steve matures.

There are many, many characters who appear throughout the story, and if you find it hard to keep track of them, you may find some assistance on our wiki: https://a-well-lived-life.net/

In addition, we operate a Discord server for discussions and updates: https://discord.gg/UE8tAG5

And finally, we have a mailing list for announcements about AWLL: https://mail.penguintopia.net/mailman/admin/awll

The mailing list is very low volume and should never contain spoilers, even if you are just starting out. The Discord server has channels where it is ‘safe’ to discuss the story without spoilers, but there is always a risk.

A special thanks to Steve Smith, my editor, who has done an incredibly fantastic job helping me bring these characters to life. Also, to my proofreaders and the members of the AWLL email group and Discord server who get to read the pre-release chapters and point out the remaining typos and misses.

If you desire to help support my writing, there is additional material available via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MichaelLoucks