The Author’s Kingdom is a series of articles, where the Author explains his perception of Heirs to the Kingdom. It is written to cover the festive season of Christmas 2016.

The science behind the fantasy

Some time ago I was asked by a reader if I believed in Aliens. Now I must admit at the time it felt like the oddest question ever in relation to HTTK. What followed was actually a very interesting conversation, and whereas the questioner had actually asked a question with some merit, I found in the conversation that followed some plus and some negative points to their thinking.

I am a writer, and an avid reader, and I think that one of the things that reading allows us to do is open our minds to the possibility of anything and everything. Before I give an explanation to the question and my answer, I will explain a little about my own view point when writing.

I do see myself as being very open minded, I am at heart a liberal person who believes in personal freedoms, which I do not deny conflicts with a few peoples closed view of the world. I like science, I am by far no expert, but I read a huge amount of all sorts of unusual and different subjects. Like most people some things I can accept, and there are a few things even I find a little too weird for even myself.

So back to the question. Do I believe in Aliens?

After some discussion with my questioner, I began to realise that their principle premise for asking was the Ruling Council. It suddenly made sense, as in the books I do indeed refer to them arriving in our solar system and discovering the Earth, on which half of them set up house on this planet and then start creating things such as humans and Fae. Ok now it made for a very good question, and I had to admit it was not at all how I had first thought of it. In all truth the Ruling Council was my way of building a creation that was an alternative to the whole God created the world in seven days event, you see I had set a line of people on the earth (White Circle/ Green Circle) that were not exactly the same as us, and so in my way this was one way of explaining their race and the powers they had. I suppose I was looking for a way to introduce the magic that is used throughout HTTK, but I must admit the alien theory did intrigue me, as in a way my idea of the Ruling Council did indeed point to the fact that they were not of this planet, and so therefore they could actually be perceived as alien lifeforms.

The questioner then went on to explain that they believed aliens walked amongst us and that the human race was actually manufactured by aliens, Ok so suddenly mid conversation I found myself walking into what I consider to be conspiracy theory territory, and so I began to tread lightly. The thing here is that the questioner made some really good points that I had never actually considered, and this indeed is one of the greatest things about talking to the readership, because it does provide that window on their thoughts. Do I think we are a product of alien creation, well having read the origin of species by Darwin, and garnering an understanding of his Theory of Evolution, I would possibly say that currently I think the world view (Darwin’s Theory) has more merit and is more believable, but again I am open to a good theory, so show me credible evidence and I will give it some thought.

I think the conversation remained with me for quite some time; well obviously it did because here I am some time later still pondering the question. How do you explain Runestone? Well actually the most simplistic way would be ‘well actually this is a fantasy,’ so I need no defined explanation, but in a way that would be wrong, because even though this is a fictitious tale, I do try on every level to create a believable scenario.

Ok so here goes…. Did you know there is a tribe living on an island in the South Pacific named Melanesia? Most people don’t. I read an article in a magazine many years ago that actually had the theory that the people who lived there have a type of DNA that includes the involvement of a third species. Now I have to admit at the time I thought it was pretty interesting, I mean we all know the story of the human development being a mixture of the Neanderthal and the Denisovans. Science points to the fact that these two distinct types of being were the initial man/ape like forms that at some point met and interbred to create what we all know today as the Homo Erectus or human being. The thing that fascinated me was that firstly science is exploring what they believe to be a third kind of species of man, and the second thing which really grabbed my attention was that these people all had sapphire blue or jade green eyes. Hmmm see where I went with that?

My questioner when given these facts was a little disappointed, and sort of elated at the same time, they announced maybe the third DNA from these people was alien, which ok suited their need to believe and who was I to kill their joy? I just was not ready to buy into the whole lizard Martian type theory just at that moment in time. The good news is since reading that article scientists have indeed isolated a third type of DNA in these people who previously we had no knowledge of, as to its origins, well science still has a long way to go so stay tuned.

The important point which my questioner missed was the very simple fact that here was an interesting and science based fact that I was able to take and manipulate to work for my story. It’s what I do, and to be honest they were a little disappointed in me because of it and clung to their aliens are invading us script, which to be honest I have no issue with, for all I know they may well have done, one thing I have always believed is that looking at the millions of solar systems we see through Hubble, I think only fool would think we are the only life form in the entire galaxy, I just have not met anything other than human beings yet to confirm my own private theory.

I use all sorts of facts to create my story, I do indeed allow my imagination to run wild, but I always try to find a logical explanation. So at this point I will turn away from ET and his supporters and try to explain my answer as to why I made the first Ruling Council the way I did.

In a nut shell I did not want one all seeing all powerful god. That pretty much sums it up; I did not want to get dragged into some form of religious dogma, which then embroiled the whole tale around some all-powerful creationist who set his children free to roam the planet whilst sitting in judgement of everyone. I wanted something slightly believable, but I also wanted something that was a little bit more human. I wanted something no faith could claim, this was to be a work of fantasy, and so I got imaginative and tried to pull something that was unique, but felt comfortable. In many ways I like the theory of the Greek gods, although when it comes to Greek mythology I have to confess I get tired of it, I did so much at school that I think it turned me off it for life, my wife however loves it, and she is the one the children consult, and she is good at rattling it off. The one thing that did always appeal to me was that the Greek gods were human in their approach to life, and yes in a way I pinched a little of it. You see Greek mythology has very human aspects to it, their gods are lovers of the same things and have the same failings as us, and I really do find that appealing. One of the things about most of the other faiths that has always been a little bit of contradiction for me is the whole concept of man being created in the supreme beings image. We are told we all God like, and then you read the books that contain all the words of this supreme God only to find out that pretty much everything that makes us human is banned by the god. The Greeks had one thing going in their favour, Human appetites. They love food, adore wine, they think and study, they are wildly sexual to the point of deviance, and have the power to take life and give life, and most importantly they bred with the humans to create lesser gods. This is a mixture I could use, in the Council we can see the qualities of us all, and that I feel is a much better working theory behind my characters. I adore the fact that Hearne carries his deep love for Eve so deeply within himself, I think we can relate to a ruling council who makes a mistake or can be wounded or killed as Eleanor was. These are the things that build a sense of identity within my Earth Faith, and we see them in Runestone and Jade and all the other members of the circle lines. I find it creates a deeper bond built on similar imperfections and makes them more believable as a result.

The example of the people of Melanesia helped me to realise that I could create lines that fitted into the human form and appeared human whilst still wielding unusual powers, and having created my first real line of different peoples, it was not long before I could use the same believability to create more. The Fae, a race of two distinct lines all based in the same theory of creation, and that led me to then take one of those lines and morph it into another as the Dark One does to create Houlen or Darkmares. I found a way to go into a complete realm of total fantasy but still had that small set of believable facts behind it all to back it up, and that made for better writing which leads the reader into a much deeper and more fascinating tale.

I like to create questions in everything I write, I think it is important that books make the readers think. Runestone and her families ability to communicate via their thoughts is yet another example. We all have that deep inner sense of being, and call it what you will as science still cannot fully answer it, but we do have an uncanny ability to suspect something only to find out we are right. That one human quality helps me explore the deep inner workings of Runestone and her family line, it’s almost like the old tale of someone after they discover their partner has been cheating, I have certainly been there in the past. You know something is not right, there is no evidence at all, and yet deep down inside you just know, and so you look and look hard. Most of the time being right and discovering the truth is not satisfying, and yet something deep and primal within you had set you on the right path to discovery. It is still something science cannot explain, and yet we all know it to be true, and again it is one of the most fascinating things about the human condition, we believe it to be true with no evidence to prove it all because we have felt it and we have experienced it. These are the simple aspects of human life that allow me to take a thin thread of fact and weave it into a believable story line, and let’s be honest no one questions Runestone’s abilities because of it. She just turns to Robbie, smiles and says. “Trust me I know stuff,” and bang I have you caught in the web of believability, for no other reason than at some point in your life you have been there, and experienced the very same thing.

I don’t need Mars, Saturn, Venus or Buddha, I have no need for a Christian or Islamic God figure, I have five entities of energy, who create a lifeform from what was the primordial soup of life and they inhabited it with all their human qualities. They learned from their own experiences and created other life forms the same way that were likened to them, and their creations held all the same qualities, and those are the very same qualities as you and me, and that creates a situation where they become more believable, because we can all identify with them because we all have made the same errors of judgement.

My Grandfather was a head teacher, or head master as the position was known back then, he became the inspiration behind Albanlin. He once said to me when I was commenting on a book, if the facts support how believable the character is, and if they have something in common with you, then you will identify with them quicker, and as a result you will understand them better. He must have seen the writer in me long before I did, but I find today many years after he is gone, because he died when I was just 17 years old, he gave me some of the best advice ever in that small statement for writing. I must admit I have also passed it on to other writers as a really good way of expressing how I create and write my characters. You only need the smallest seed to germinate, and then you have a story worth telling based on that one grain of truth, everything that follows is built on that foundation, and as I think about it whilst writing this particular piece, I realise that my habit of sewing science, history, mythology and human behaviour into my tale, has actually brought it to life better than I ever expected it to. Is it based on aliens, well to be honest none that I am currently aware of, although I must admit, at the time it was indeed a very fascinating and well thought out theory.