I often get asked what my series of stories Heirs to the Kingdom is really about, especially when confronted with a potential new reader, and in many ways the answer can be so complex I am not always certain I can give a direct answer.
The problem I think is actually a very simple one, and that is that there are two real ways to describe the books to another person. The first answer and the most simplest being that of the many stories I have read since youth, I have found many tales end with the rumour that the hero is not really dead and will return one day when the world needs them. It is true of King Arthur and Robin Hood and many more folk tales from our ancient past, I love the idea of this, and I think it is theme that runs through life, we even see it in religions, especially Christianity where we are told one day Christ will return to save us all, and so with that in mind, I chose to return a king, but as in all things there is a twist.
Rather than bring back the one true king to a Britain tore apart after a deadly virus wipes out the larger majority of the population, I looked to a hidden heir. I took the blood line of those heroes of old and zipped through time to the year of 2038 and presented their heir to confront the injustice that was rising in the land in hope that the blood in the veins of the heir would have what it takes to match the honour and courage of those ancients, and fight for was right and moral. Ok so I throw in a lot more just to spice things up, and I give all the characters their own personalities and doubts and worries to boot just to keep it all paced and interesting. In a nut shell I have a reminder of a glorious past mixed with the difficulties of life after a world torn apart; it feels to me like a good recipe for fantasy and adventure.
For anyone who wants a deep and inclusive read, I think and hope it works, but as for myself, the series is far deeper and more interwoven, after all this is me writing the kind of book I want to read, and I think it is quite safe to say, I can be somewhat rebellious and complicated, so what does HTTK represent to me?
In the easiest possible terms HTTK is a Slice of a Life.
Confusing I know, but that is how I see it, and it is for myself the reason I have always wanted to write it all down. Not only is it a slice of life taken from a struggling community who are doing their best to avoid what is seen as their inevitable destruction at the hands of the tyrant Mason Knox, it is and here is the important bit, the experience of my own life of experience’s and observations.
Recently I published the fourth book in the series entitled Queen of the Violet Isle, and at the start of the book I write the equation of Runestone Sapphire, (The lead heroine character of the story). It is a simple theory of a symbol which represents Life, Circle, Line. It is a main theme of the books and also has been the main theme of my life as this simple equation which I have tailored into the theme of the books is how I see what is important in my life. Ok so it does not fit everyone, but don’t forget I am the author and have the joy of knowing I can do anything I want as this is my story.
Life: I have questioned and pondered life for most of my own, which I think is not that unusual as most of the world has at some point probably asked why are we here, and what is the purpose of life? We all do it, and I certainly have done it a great deal. I love nothing better than to watch the world and talk to others about what they feel is the answer and even what they feel should be the answer. We are all basically carbon based life forms made of stardust, and whether or not you believe there is some unseen entity who brought it all together, or you believe in the big bang theory is actually irrelevant as all of us hold some unique personal insight deep within us that guides us in an almost spiritual way through life. I have read much on religious feelings on this and the science, and in my own way which is possibly influenced by Tolkien or even Wyndham, I thought it would be a wonderful fantasy to create my own, and so I began to write a tale that would run behind the story of HTTK that recreated the world in a completely different way to the way in which we all perceive the world today. I added mystery and hidden meanings within the story, and layered my ideas of multiple powerful spirits beings known as the Ruling Council within the story. It was a most delightful experience as I got to play with a few Celtic legends and myths, and in doing so I slipped in some of my own beliefs about the world and what comes after. It is all done I hope in a quite subtle way, but it does slip right into the fantasy deep end, and I hope create thought and discussion amongst those who eventually read the series. I will add at this point I do not like blatant direction in writing; hence I weave it slowly through the series of books and wait to see who picks up on it.
Another strongly held feeling of my own is how very precious and important life is. For myself, I feel all life is of the greatest value, unlike much of the world at the moment which is being swallowed by greed, oppression, and conflict. It pains me that the value of a life has become less as I have aged, and it is something that I find really hard to come to terms with, something I know is reflected in my writing, especially with my lead male hero. I actually like that even though he has to take life; he feels the pain of it and does not take it with such ease. I understand survival, and as a vegetarian of almost 35 years, I know if I was thrown into a world wide disaster, I would have no choice but to take life in order to survive and protect those around me, but I can say without any doubt, I would not do it quickly or easily, and having done it, I would never feel at ease or comfortable doing it.
It is a mark of the human being and the arrogance of mankind that life is defined in terms of their lives. In my world life is everything, and everything is dependant upon each other in order to survive. One of the strongest themes that marks myself as the author and is strewn throughout my story is that of Balance. I feel very deeply that we have lost control of the balance of life as we put what man wants for greed far ahead of all other living things. My life which shows a certain theme of defending life especially that of animals and nature, and it is clear where my mind is on the world today. I have dedicated my whole working life to the preservation of life, either by protecting it via campaigns, or as a horticulturalist creating new life from seeds cuttings and various other techniques, often at the expense of being seen as a crack pot or old hippie tree hugger, for deep within me is that love of this our most precious gift and surprisingly it was never scripted to be any of the stories, it just flowed naturally out as I wrote.
Circle: The circle is such a wonderful symbol, and I love symbolism, so it was only natural I would use it within my stories. The circle is represented in my books mainly via the connections of Runestone Sapphire and her tables of power, and this is not a chance addition to the story. I thought for a very long time about it, years actually. Circles are something every single human being on earth has in common, for we form them naturally around us without thought or consideration. I speak of those bonds we make through life with everyone we meet and know, and if you want to see a glowing example jump over to Google plus and set up a profile, you will soon see those circles forming as you sort through who is who, and who is most important to you. From the moment we are born we are placed into a circle of our own life, be it, immediate family, extended family, in laws, friends, class mates, workmates, drinking buddies, we are surrounded by interlocking circles that defines our life and who we are. When I first scripted out HTTK is was the very first task I set myself so that I could create as a real a replication of life as possible. The books are littered with them, Specialists, Villagers, Lox family members, Fae, Cutters, Generals, as in life you could spend a week drawing the circles and adding them to charts to show how they are all interlinked in one way or another, and it is my hope by defining these circles, again I create a realistic and life like story which will appear almost as real as the readers own life and draw them deeper into the tale.
Line: Have you ever sat and thought very deeply about how you ended up here reading this on your computer? The simple fact is that most people haven’t, they just take for granted the fact that they exist. I use a line within HTTK that states “Look to the past, for it will guide you in the future” and it is something I believe is deeply important to all of us, for we are at the end of the day the sum total of all that have walked before us. It is a glorious thing to behold when you take a moment and begin to understand the actions of every person that has led you to the point of who you are and where we come from. You can travel back thousands of years and be absolute in the knowledge that there is a relative there of yours somewhere. It is something that fascinates me as you begin to see how thousands of chance encounters brought about the partnerships through wars, and depressions, and times of great trials to result in what you see in the mirror everyday.
My grandfather was at the Somme in 1914 during WW1 and got shot in the head. He was lucky as the German army found him on the battlefield and took him to hospital where he received treatment and was nursed back to health. Have you ever been asked the question if you could travel back in time in a time machine where would you go? I have and my answer would be this. I would go back to that hospital and find those who nursed my Grandfather to health, and I would thank them with all that I have, because my family could very easily have been ended at the moment when the bullet hit him. It was a one in one million chance that he lived, and thanks to the enemy he did, and came home at the end of the war having been a prisoner of the Germans and he created my father, and later on along I came with my brothers to grace the world, and who would have thought it, I became a writer.
Like my story there are threads of chance weaving throughout our own lives that stretch back for thousands of years, and whether or not you choose to accept it, they are deeply significant and important, and we should never forget them. Like the circles they define who we are from the moment we are born, and as a result they should be respected, as we are the living heirs carrying the bloodline of all who have stood before us, we are all heirs to a kingdom.
Life, Circle, Line is the sum total of everyone’s life history, it is your slice of life story and it is the reason why I write Heirs to the Kingdom, for hidden deeply within the circles and lines are my own personal history and the pride I feel in my family line and the circles I have walked through in my life to date. I wanted to write the kind of book that would appeal to me, and in doing so I wove myself through it to bring it to life. So if you ever feel the need to ask what is HTTK really about, well you now know.
Live well and honour those who came before you always.