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 Heart of HTTK
It would be impossible to write anything in detail about HTTK as a series, without taking a moment to consider what is probably one of the most important ingredients to the story? I would even go so far as to say that in every sense of the word, the topic I have chosen for today is the heart of Heirs to the Kingdom.
I speak of course of the relationship between Robbie and Runestone.
From the point of view of the writer, I have to admit this is perhaps the most complicated, intertwined and complex aspect of everything I have written. Getting the simple relationship of these two to balance and work has never been an easy task, and yet some of the moments that they share, have become some of the greatest moments within this story.
In my eyes Robbie and Runestone are as perfect match, and yet they are similar in so much as they are also very different. In all honesty I knew when I first began they would couple up to create the future lines, I had their whole way of life and relationship scripted out long before I did anything else, but like all things with my writing they were just bullet points. I took the view that as I wrote and filled in all the blanks they would develop as a couple and I would just in a way wing it. I never for one moment considered that their relationship would blossom into the incredible romance that I have now created. What started out as an integral part of what was an action adventure story, has indeed developed a heart that has become a wonderful tale of true love. I get asked all the time, is this really a love story? It is harder and harder to answer, because even I have say now after seven books, it is their love that has become the glue that holds everything together, they are the heart and soul of HTTK.
In order to fully understand these two, I must show you the way in which I created the characters, and then expand on how I then brought them together by using a series of questions. You see my very first steps in writing is that I create as much as I can on paper, so Robbie and Runestone to begin with were two very distinct and different characters. I first of all created their image, and so to begin with I worked with what I already know. Robbie is a taller and more muscular version of myself as teenager, I figured what the hell this look I understand, after all I have lived it, I had the long knotted wavy hair, the dark eyes and tanned skin, I was complex as a teenager and stubborn, and I did observe a great deal in order to understand the world around me. Robbie was quite easy to create because of this, and even now as he has developed away from the person I have become, I still have a very deep understanding of the character. I get asked all the time if I based Robbie on me, and to be honest he is like me in looks only, in everything else he is a very different person.
Runestone was far more complicated. I do have to ashamedly admit that my weakness for the Celtic blues eyes red haired and pale skin female does show a little. I grew up around a few girls like Runestone and did indeed date a few, and so when it came to putting Rune together it was not that difficult task as I had about ten girls I had known in the back of my mind from which to pool the better aspects, and again I always get asked is who is Runestone, did you know her, was she someone special? Well to finally lay the myth to bed, she was special, all ten of them were in one form or another (laughs) I think if she was one person, I would have more than likely married her thirty years ago, however she is the pieces of several old really good old friends/girlfriends rolled into one, and so therefore no she is not based on any one girl.
Robbie was pretty easy to develop; he was a farm lad with a good education, and a rough understanding of most things. His parents showered him with love and treated him like an adult as soon as he was old to fully understand them, so even though when he enters the story he is only 17 almost 18, he is far more advanced than say a normal average 17 year old by today’s standards. Runestone was far harder. Robbie has this extraordinary talent with the long bow, which to him is just something that he has an ability for, he does not question it or even get big headed about it, he just applies it to his life. One of the keys to the Robbie/Runestone equation that is really important is in his understanding and feelings for nature. He loves the natural world and finds a way of existing within it that keeps it safe, protected and balanced. I think it is here we see the true key to his love and understanding of Runestone, although I have never actually written it in the books, I do think in many ways on a subconscious level, Robbie identified those qualities within her, and in doing so combined his love of the wilderness with her without even realising what he had done. It is in my mind a completely natural act that bonds them in ways no other will ever fully understand.
The biggest problem with Runestone was that she lived in a world of secrets, and had been taught in a way to act against her better instincts. This was more as a means of protection than anything else; after all as we now know she is a very exceptional person with many talents and gifts, and a very important future destiny. The other often unseen part of Runestone is that she has all of these gifts that are developing all the time, and so from my point of view there was always going to be a part of her that was far more aware of things that others knew. To get the point across I brought in the line “Trust me I know stuff.” It was a simple way of showing the reader that she understood far deeper than the others realised, we see another great example of this in book four, when Steph shows Leenard the equation of Iona, and he works out that Runestone all along had been trying to influence the events around her, to protect Robbie and ensure that he became the one for her.
Runestone is very difficult to write, she has to be one step ahead at all times and yet holding back. The way in which I developed this is by slowly changing her adult behaviour. In the first book we meet what at first appears to be a typical teenager, she is shy and appears vulnerable, and yet when Harry passes out and Robbie is asleep on the settee, she takes the lead in initiating their first sexual encounter. I must admit at this point I do laugh, as I remember a certain friend reading this and looking at me in horror. Her view was I could not write this because it showed a teenage virgin girl initiating a sexual experience, and also in front of a passed out relative. She was really quite disturbed about something she saw as quite graphic, and as I pointed out to her, this is actually by modern day standards a very normal occurrence, kids today do this stuff it is actually accurate. I also added that I wrote nothing graphic, I simply implied something, and then left the reader to draw their own pictures, at which point she blushed and I laughed and told her, “Wow your mind is filthier than mine.” I still laugh about it now.
Once again this is yet another example of the natural side of her coming to the surface. Teenagers are pretty much raging hormones, and even though in this so called modern society of today we like to think we know it all, we still tend to hide the behaviour of a normal teenager behind a cloak of shame, let us be quite honest and clear, we have all been there and all tried out something equally as naughty. I actually think it is the problem with modern adults, if at times we allowed nature a little more of a natural influence, we would all feel much more at ease and fulfilled.
Runestone is developing far quicker than Robbie, it is the normal rule and as you read through the books and just pay attention to her language and phasing, you will see that she develops much faster and is more mature at times than Robbie. I had set points in each book at which I upped the level of her intellect and her language, and with these small changes Runestone takes the lead and does indeed become the centre of everything. It was a really difficult task at first and I had to really balance things out carefully to get the development at the right rate. You have to understand that her awareness of herself and the rest of the world are constantly expanding, as she becomes more like her mother and Opal even though she is still only young. Runestone is nature personified in a human form, and that brings into play a massive amount of data. This young girls feels every life force and understands everything that is living around her without question, she speaks every language, and senses every emotion. She is still young and yes at times it completely overwhelms her, as it did when Robbie fell into the river, but again at this point you have to understand more of who she is, because in a simple way she is actually two people. We have Runestone the centre of everything and force of nature, but we also have Runestone the teenager who is completely in love, and that creates a clash at times.
Just imagine being so deeply in love and we know from the books she has been in love from the moment she first watched Robbie through the old gate. Here is a young girl with all these intensely powerful hormonal emotions flowing through her, and they rule no matter how much other power or gifts she has, it is the most powerful aspect of who she is, which is why Leenard comments he would like to study it. Even the old wizard can see that her love is actually restraining her true gifts, and that makes for something more powerful than anything the Ruling Council has ever seen.
I developed the two characters as separate individuals, and then by sticking to those characteristics I then brought them together. One of the first things I asked myself was is this possible?
It probably sounds like an odd thing to ask, but I looked at the scenario that would play out and pull them both together in a task and shared destiny, and before I could even write a word, I had to answer the question of if this would actually come across as being a real task and adventure. I looked deeply at the plot and gave it a great of thought because I knew in the back of my mind if this mission was not achievable, then the whole story would fall down before I even began writing. I asked myself several questions, could Robbie and Runestone really take a party of mainly teenagers accompanied by a few adults into what was going to be a combat zone and get the job done?
I spent a lot of time looking at just how they could accomplish all the hurdles they would encounter, and before writing each part of the story, I looked at ways of solving the problems before adding the new chapters. Having been able to find credible answers to the tasks before them, I then began to work on how they would come together to create the union that would eventually bring forth the next queen of Fae.
Being a parent helped, and in a way it was nice to look at back at the birth of my daughter and remember all the panic and feeling I experienced when faced with the prospect of having to raise my own child. Writing does involve using personal experience, so from Robbie’s point of view I could easily add the concerns that I went through, shortly after writing a large section of the parts in book four my wife told me she was pregnant, and so when it came to the editing I used a huge amount of my experience of going through the birth of my second daughter with her as a good guide in adding more to the book, it was amazingly helpful and I think really added weight to that section. For the rest of the theme I used a long list of notes of what I had actually written and my characters had experienced to shape their relationship, spliced with a few things I seen and admired in other very successful relationships. It has always been important that the interactions between Robbie and Runestone are written with care, I knew from day one that the whole series would be based around these two people, and as they learned aspects of the world around them, so would the reader. This became my process of revelation from page one of the first book, this is after all the story of these two people as they experience their home and the fear of an oncoming oppressor.
Although Robbie and Runestone are scripted out at the start of each book, I do find that because of the way they have naturally evolved, I find myself writing in little special moments. In an odd way I have reached a point where even I see them as a real living couple in my mind, and as I write them together I can see them in my thoughts, and this again really does help as I imagine the scenario of them together, and I think it creates a deeper bond not only between them, but between the them and the readers as they follow the progress of their lives. I have asked myself many times, would the story be as successful if these two special people were not as close and bonded as they are? I think I can only answer no, because after all this is their journey that is being shared with those who read it.
Like all of us they do have their ups and downs, Runestone because of who she is has to keep some secrets from Robbie and you feel the tension she feels, especially considering the life for life scenario, which could have easily brought about their end. Robbie does not always quite understand the life she has to live that encompasses all the strange aspects of her family and their tasks, and it does at times cause friction, after all both of them are human at their core. His lack of understanding does breed some frustrations, but likewise so does his life as a lord in Loxley, which does put massive demands on his life, which is something that Runestone at times has to understand and accept, even though she feels a little insecure at times and wants him closer to her.
I think that this is what creates the unshakeable bond of trust they hold between them, and they do believe in other 1000%, in the fact that no matter what happens, they know they will find their way through it and back to each other. I magnified this when Robbie was lost in the river, after a week everyone had lost hope and was starting to slip into the acceptance he was gone forever, it is Runestone who wakes form her collapsed state after a week with the resolute belief he is not dead. Even though every single fact points to his death along with Sapphire, Runestone feels the bond between and refuses to accept it at all, even to the point where she is prepared to stand against what is possibly the most powerful and influential figure in Robbie’s life, his mother. She screams at Jess, “he is not dead.”
No one wants to believe her, and yet they underestimate the power that is contained within her, and as Runestone flees in search of her one true love, all they can do is hug each other and try not to hope. I thought a lot about this part of book two, as at the time it appeared to me that actually no one really understood what had happened between Robbie and Runestone. No one really could see the true depths of the bond they shared and the scenes that followed with Runestone’s unshakeable belief he was still alive was yet another way I tried to open up to the readers what was really coming in the future books. This was the one way I could really illustrate the power between them that would create the Violet Lines, and as we saw Runestone proved to be right, and her determination even whilst fearful everyone else was right, gave her the power to finally find him and bring him home. This powerful drama was played out in the second book to pave the way for what was to come, and as the books developed we move into the wedding, the loss of Robert where again Runestone fights to hold her love for Robbie and her coming family together, the birth of their children, and her loss into the hidden realm. From that first powerful drama Runestone rises as the power behind the both of them, and even Robbie has to admit that she has grown to become the centre of his world and everything else, his simple acceptance of this is yet another tribute to the power of this couple.
I often get asked if I will write more on HTTK after the initial series is finished, or will I like so many other authors write something completely different? Obviously this is something I do give a great deal of thought to, can I really walk away from HTTK and not look back? I honestly have no idea, I would like to write some other things I do not deny, I already having several unrelated stories that I would very much like to put together, my mind is always working on something, and as I approach the final book in the Heirs to the Kingdom series I already have the foot notes for several unrelated stories. I am not sure what my future holds, I do after all have to balance my real life with my writing life, and that is not always easy when bills have to be paid. I will say this, that as long as I have life, I am after all 52 years old and almost into my 53rd year, and ten years into the process of preparing and writing HTTK, I will continue to write. But if I never write another word for publication I can honestly say that out of the amazing things I have done in my life, the creation of Runestone and Robbie has been one of the most satisfying and most rewards aspects of my life so far. I do feel very proud of this story, it is still pretty much undiscovered, but maybe one day many others will walk with this special couple through the trees and love them as much as I do.
There will be no shortage of lose leads when I finally complete book eight, and if the demand grows for more of this couple and their story, I would love to return to it at some future point, because emotionally I am very invested in this story, and I am also sure I want to know what will become of them all, but for now the tale will end on the last page of book eight. I have so much already written on the back story and even some speculative bits for future use, and I am sure that between other projects I will find time to add more detail to the tale, whether or not they appear as full stories I have not decided, but that is simply because I want the last book out so I know where I stand with everything. The books do change for their original scripting as the story evolves, and so for now nothing is set in stone until the last book hits the shelves.
Robbie and Runestone will live on in their world, and I will always walk with them occasionally, as they have been a huge part of my life. I have the web site and the blog, and so I am sure more will come in one form or another, so I will end here with a confident. “We will see what evolves?”