Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. In Lloyd Devereux Richards case, he had no idea that a passion project he started nearly two decades ago would become a viral sensation and earn him the title of Amazon Best Seller author for Stone Maidens, his very first novel.
It all started when his caring daughter, Marguerite Richards, published a TikTok video in February of her father sitting in front of an older model computer in his at-home office space as he scoured through what appeared to be letters to promote his book.
Richards originally self-published Stone Maidens, a thriller about a FBI agent’s hunt for a serial killer on the loose in southern Indiana, in 2012. The novel did not receive much attention at the time and he didn’t make a sell for 11 years, but that did not deter the former senior law clerk from promoting his book, even giving away free copies and writing the sequel Maidens of the Cave.
Marguerite’s sincere TikTok videos unwittingly incited a mobilized effort from viewers to purchase the novel on Amazon while leaving over 6,000 stellar reviews. The TikTok video has amassed 56 million views, to date.
The author had no idea about the power of social media, let alone how to use TikTok. According to his daughter, he was simply just grateful to have published the book. The old saying, “If you build it, they will come,” is all the more real for Richards who has enjoyed a nationwide publicity run on major shows in the last few months.
Lloyd Devereux Richards represents the potential in all of us. He worked for many years to finish his first novel, while simultaneously taking care of his family. Although initially, things didn’t work out as he thought it would, a dream deferred is not a dream denied — as long as the dreamer never gives up. This one person’s belief in himself and the endearing father-daughter relationship that he obviously shares with Marguerite are the reasons why people are inspired by this story of faith and perseverance.
Now, let’s see if a movie producer will adapt his novel into a screenplay. Who knows? In the near future, we might see an entire Stone Maidens series.
Stone Maidens is available now on Amazon.
Inspiring and moving. A dream deferred but not denied.
Miracles still happens.