Book Five: The Evolution of HTTK.

Robin John Morgan Author of Heirs to the kingdom.

Robin John Morgan Author of Heirs to the kingdom.

I wrote the first full instalment of Heirs to the Kingdom in between May and July of 2007, and having proved to myself that I was indeed capable of getting that first rough manuscript done, I finished the last page of the Bowman of Loxley, opened a new file up on the computer, and began the first page of the second book, The Lost sword of Carnac.  Carnac was finished at the end of August of 2007, and as my Beta group of readers devoured the rough manuscript, I did not hesitate in drafting up the notes to the third book. It was an intensive time for me, as I was still very much embroiled in the campaign to save my business, which was slowly sinking due to the restrictions being placed on it by the local council, who wanted me out so they could flatten the site to build a civic square. I look back now after seven years and find it hard to believe I was able to write with such extreme stress and emotional difficulties, as I had back then compared to now (2015) although I think in many ways it served me well as I could pour the emotions of that desperate time into the pages. Life in early 2008 was at a completely different pace, and as I moved through late January and into February of that year, I lost my business and ended up alone at home with nothing left and no idea of what my future would bring, and yet deep inside I did harbour a little optimism. I was at that time very ill, the market campaign was heart breaking and after two years of fighting, it had taken a very large toll on me, and so I decided I would take a few months off and recover my health as I faced the difficult decision of just what exactly I was going to do to earn a living.
Losing everything has a profound effect on you and it does change you, and so when I announced that after over thirty years of being in Horticulture, I was going to quit and do something else, it blew everyone’s mind, and to be honest, most people around me thought I was completely insane. Looking back I think I saw what had been a missed opportunity in my earlier life, as I had done the settle down, get a job and work hard to earn what it would take to finance my life routine, and yet here I was having had all of it ripped away by a deceitful council, and suddenly I was right back to square one and a hell of a lot older, it was to say the least not what I had been taught as a child that life should be.
The first three books in the Heirs to the Kingdom series reflected the struggle of those times during the writing within my own life, I had faced overwhelming odds fighting the local council, I had taken on the mantle of fighting for something I believed passionately in, but had no idea how I was going to do it, and it was a long drawn out and at times heartbreaking experience, but things had changed, as had my story, and as I began to write the fourth instalment in the series around February 2008, I found my thoughts and view of the world changing and in a way a little hope started to grow within me.
I suppose at that time I was really starting to understand that I had far more to me than even I had realised. I did have a strong sense of who I was and what I could achieve, and as I wrote my characters, it was clear that part of me was reflected within the story. Book four is a good reflection of those times as it shows the grim determination to not back down and use what skills are there to the best of their abilities, something all of the characters do. By April 2009 I had written the first four books back to back, and did a full edit of them, and using a small indie publisher I had the The Bowman of Loxley out for sale. My aim had always been, to see how it went and then decide what to do next, my options at that time were pretty open, I just knew that I was not going to be involved in horticulture anymore as a professional. I knew to become a writer full time was not going to be easy, lets face it, making a living in today’s climate with book sales is about as tough as you can get, but looking at how hard life had been over the last three years, I figured that yes the cash would drop significantly, but there were other incentives, such as no more working out in all weathers, shorter hours and most importantly some life. Horticulture had always been a dawn till dusk profession, bank holidays and weekends had been my busiest time, and so now I actually had the chance to relax and enjoy what was around me, I have to confess with far more time than I had ever had in the last 30 years, it was hugely appealing.
Crystals of the Mirrored Waters By Robin John Morgan.

Crystals of the Mirrored Waters By Robin John Morgan.

When it came to writing Book Five, I decided to take a slightly different approach. I had taken a break after the fourth book to sort out a few things in life, such as my girlfriend moved in, I had promotions to do for the first book and a web site to build, and although at the time I had not realised, I had actually suffered a small stroke. My health was still a huge issue and I needed to take things easy to recover, I still had a lot of stress affecting me from the two year fight with the council, and so as summer began I slowed down, took time out and relaxed as I sifted through my notes and pondered the next book. I knew then that the books had reached an important phase, and so I slowly put together the book with the theme of the Past, Present, and Future in mind. It was a whole new approach, and in many ways a risk, because up until that moment I had stuck to the very strict notes I had written for the first four books. I started to write book five in late September 2008, although at first it was mainly notes that would serve as back stories to what I was going to actually write, I think it must have been at least January 2009 before I actually sat to write page one. My whole idea for the book was to allow the natural evolution of the characters to dictate how the story would develop, and it became a process of writing that would last throughout the whole of 2009 and into 2010. In the first four books I had made references to small parts of the back story which I had written but never used, and so as I began the fifth book with the theme of “look to the past in order to learn for the future,” which had been a popular aspect of the first four books, I made the transition from all the links of the past that would ultimately lead to the conclusion of the story.
Book five is the turning point of this tale. The king is revealed and all the heirs are finally in place and ready to achieve their goal. I like to see it as a roller coaster of a ride, the first four books have been that gut wrenching journey as you move up the incline chugging away in hope of getting to the top, and then book five begins with that moment when you reach the top and look back to see how far you have come, only to realise that there is still some ways to go. You can see the end, but you still have the loop the loops and the hair raising bends to go through as you plummet at high speed into laughter fear and at times sheer terror before coming to a halt and hoping you made it intact, and that is where the next books will take you. Book five entitled “Crystals of the Mirrored Waters” is that one brief moment of looking back (First five chapters) and then the brakes come off and you drop into the story at a good fast pace, and drive into the twists and turns, as you find things you did not expect, and sweep through twists that leave you breathless as you enter the rest of the series. I would like to think that the fifth book will show the readers that everything that was written in the first four is more relevant than the reader first expected, as threads begin to tie up, even more threads fray to reveal deeper aspects of what has truly happened in the past to forge the future they all now face. Even though this book took a long time to write, I really loved putting it together, and such is the momentum that will build up from now onward that I wrote the story in a huge block, which I then cut in half to create the sixth book, which I hope to release towards the end of this year so as to keep the momentum with the releases to match the pace of story. My Deadline for the release of the Crystals of the Mirrored Waters is the end of February 2015, so it is a busy time as we are now into the final stage of proofing and formatting the interior. I have a cover template in the final design stage and I am happy with what has been created as a mock up, so now it is a case of get my head down and get it done as seven years of work come together and this series matures. It should be a good year, and I must admit I am really looking forward to it, I hope all of you who have read the first four will love them as much as I have enjoyed creating them, and hopefully let your friends know about the wonder of the Woodland Realm. As I look back to my days in Denton and what has happened since, it is now very clear that there is indeed a light in the darkness that has brought me to this point in time, and even though the last few years has been hard at times and presented many difficulties, I know now I made the right decision to follow my writing. HTTK has been a wonderful experience, and as I bring it to a close, I think I will look to other projects of which I have a few in the wings and commit them to paper. I hope you enjoy the Crystals of the Mirrored Waters, and as always, let me know what you think as you read it by messaging me from any of the HTTK dedicated sites of FB or other social media.