The Absolute Power of HTTK.

Posted on March 7, 2022 by Rob

I got asked recently, what can be learned from HTTK, and I responded, take a look at the world, and then read the whole series again. Enjoy it, get to know the characters and understand them, and then when you do, consider how much you have in common with them.

Take into account, Kingdom began as an idea in the 1980’s, and I really began to write it in 2006. Honestly, since the writing started, it has become more relevant in my thoughts, as I watch the world today.

Kingdom is written from the point of view of those being oppressed, as they fight their way to freedom. There is a great deal of effort in the writing that places the focus on understanding the freedom and joy all the principal characters share. There is a reason it took 14 years to write the eight books, as they do take a long hard look at the life of mankind. The book is focused on two main characters and their friends, as they take for granted what is all around them. I highlight the success of Lox farm, and its abundance, it is to a degree an idyllic place, of friendship and community, where the goal is almost a utopian ideal of what every reader would want in their own life, which could be why so many readers have identified with the series.

Book one is almost a merry jaunt as the group set off to discover the root of all the evil that is attempting to take all of their abundance away, and in many ways, it does not appear to be that sinister a book. I would say it appears as quite innocent, and yet I would also argue, that when you look past the joy, and the developing love story of Robbie and Runestone, there is a dark sinister presence simmering in the background.

It is easy to miss the most obvious aspect of the Bowman of Loxley, because it is subtle, but if you take a step back, and consider it for a moment, suddenly it is not quite the picturesque picture you first thought it was. I would argue, that there is a very significant warning to be taken from that first innocent feeling book, so let me elaborate.

Early in the book, two things occur that are very important, the first is, that the young Dirk, goes out to hunt for food for his family in a remote and isolated part of middle England. His family have chosen to be isolated, and stay well away from all other communities who are banding together to try and survive, and yet his father chose to hide away, separate from everyone, why?. On Dirks return, his mother, father and little sister, have been brutally murdered and their house burned to the ground. In his heartbreak, he is visited by Opal, who tells him to hide his identity, and take aid in the form of a sword to aide Loxley, and she renames him Rowan of the Woods, why?

Secondly, Rowan is a robust tree, known for its strength and resilience, two qualities needed to resist oppression, it is a very important symbol, and one I may add that made everyone assume he would one day be the leader of the country as a king. Rowan, becomes a vital part of the resistance in later books, at our hero’s side.

The next thing we learn, is that one man, rises out of the destruction, and builds a wall to seal off a part of the nation. He is a hero to his people, who has saved them from a deadly virus… a life-threatening catastrophe, hmm, sound familiar? Out of nowhere, he declares himself by birth right, to be ruler of the land, and he despatches out a ruthless and merciless unit of, for want of a better word, ‘murderers’ to attack and frighten all the survivors. These men are the Cutter Brigade, and they lead by using fear, that sounds familiar too. They rape and kill and take all of the supplies, which are sent back to Cornwall, where the supreme ruler is based. A leader taking all the best for his own needs, with no regard for the people, yep, sounds about right to me.

The man is Mason Knox, a historian of the old world. There is no coincidence he has a past as a history lecturer, it is how he understands dominance, and why he is so organised. Mason means wall, a worker of stone, Knox means vault, think about that for a second. Walls are a symbol of strength, and a vault symbolises wealth, combine money and strength, and you have a recipe for supreme power. If you want an example, look to any dictator of the historical past, they hide in their dwellings behind high walls and security, country’s hide behind walls such as China did, and there is no greater example than the Berlin wall, something that is a stark memory from my youth.

The Cutters are spread far and wide, so much so, they reach the north of England and Robbie come across a small raiding party at Joe’s cabin. Later in the book as the group journey away on a mission to produce the evidence to prove Mason is an illegitimate heir to the throne, they enter a village which has been attacked and devastated by Cutters just north of Loxley. Mason is already trying to surround the town of Loxley. It is a huge surprise for Robbie and Rowan, who question, how did Mason get so far undetected? It is an important question, and one you should ask yourself.

At the Abbey, even further north, a large army is spotted quietly building up strength, and as the group skirt back south, they end up in a small town which is run by organised Marshals, who are confiscating weapons. It is subtle, but look carefully, they are in a town that is organised and operating without any resistance to the Marshals, if anything, they have embraced them for their own security. The path of least resistance does appear right at the time, but it is a dangerous path to walk.

At this point there is a very real plan of action being revealed from Mason Knox, who I deliberately kept out of the book until he was revealed in person at the end. The whole premise of the Bowman of Loxley, was to show the slow subtle build up of Mason’s power, and hope that people would notice a very familiar pattern from the past. Look to the past, and learn for the future, is a line and theme that run through this book, and all the others, and it is not there by chance. It is possibly the most important message of all the books, and a very real warning about allowing others to change our historical concepts of history. In using this line, it does also highlight the very real danger in Mason’s action plan, I would say to be specific, look to Germany 1933.

Okay, so let’s take a moment to understand the plan so far. A self appointed dictator who desires supreme power. A fear driven private military force acting under his personal instruction, and control. The confiscation of weapons from the population, under the guise of protection from the newly imposed state, secret groups attacking at random places whilst slowly building up around its enemy, and a secret police force, in a town that has been compliant and simply accepted their authority without speaking out.

So, so far so good, we have the making of a totalitarian regime by subtle means, and now for the big hint. A rider arrives at Lolxey’s gates demanding entry on the orders of ‘The Duke of Cornwall, and newly elected Governor of England.’ There it is, Mason now sees himself as being completely in control, and all of you have to now do as you are told. It is John Lox who points our the obvious, when he states, “Newly elected, I didn’t vote for him.” Well no, that sort of democracy has gone forever, you now have to blindly obey. If you do not, well that comes at the end of the book, you will be surrounded by an army, and wiped out. There is no coincidence that Loxley and York, the two most organised places had an army on their doorstep, they were in the way, and could foil Mason’s plans, so like every dictator from the past, he was going to silence them, and remove them forever.

Boom! There it is right in your face, no one elected him, he is a self imposed leader, and as you follow the story, you get to see the full power of Mason as he reveals his armies at Tintagel and his weapons creation at Weston Super-mare, and his attempts to quash Caerleon. The end of the book shows the full power of Mason as he finally appears in the book, and tries to take the crown and become supreme ruler of England and all its realms, as the fascist dictator he is.

The simple point is HTTK is written in such a way, you have to look for it, and it is all there in the background quietly building away and actually revealing far more than you would at first realise. Jump to book two, The Lost Sword of Carnac, and yep, it just gets better.

Let’s start with the surrounding area of Canterbury. In an act of temper, Mason labels certain types of people, and sends in his Cutters to destroy them. These people are in no way affiliated to Robbie, and yet Mason labels them, Leaf Lovers, Wood Choppers, and he brutally murders them on mass. Sound familiar? Sadly, this is not fantasy, it happens in our modern world, it is not always as extreme and results in death, but it goes on every day, we just choose to ignore it.

A certain section of society is seen as inferior, and as taking up space, and so they are wiped out completely, look to the past? How may regimes since 1945 have seen their own people wiped out by fascist dictators under the guise of their creed, culture, or religion? A section of their own society is labelled by its government as unfit, and then slaughtered and labelled as inferior, second class, unworthy of the same rights.

Think this is a fantasy, look back at the UK, we may not have wiped them out, but it happens. Back in the seventies, it was the hippies, and the drop outs who had no rights, and were targeted as unfit by the government. Margret Thatcher’s government labelled and stigmatised single parents. Under Tony Blair’s government anyone opposing immigration was a white supremacist or racist. When David Cameron was in power, it was the unemployed, and today with Boris Johnson’ it has recently been the un-vaxxed. It happens every day and we all choose to ignore it, or go happily along with it as the media backs up the government narrative. It is subtle, but it happens, and all it takes is one man to make a stand and seize power, and suddenly, a whole section of society that may even have once been a hero to the people, becomes the enemy, and has to be silenced and beaten into submission. You think this is fantasy, try being a peaceful trucker in a certain part of the world at the moment?

Heirs to the Kingdom may feel like an innocent romp through the woodlands with a bad man after you, but it is a very subtle warning about absolute power. I know, I was facing a localised one when I first began to write this series, and it is really frightening to face alone, or with a few dedicated friends.

The second book reveals the rest of the plan of Mason, with enforced labour camps, where you own nothing, but will be happy. Orphanages that force women into birth to breed a population, rows and rows and grey dull dwellings, suppression of decent, and endless slaughter of those who resist. It is all there, and the most frightening thing about this, is in this modern world of today, it has, and is still happening. Do you think slavery has been abolished? Try looking towards the middle east, open your eyes and it is there right in front of you. One global power, or one person who feels entitled to dominate are always there, and not always who you think, it is the curse of man, and the lessons we refuse to learn from our past.

Book three creates monsters from experimentation, drugs are used to enhance human abilities, and the race for more modern weapons to outsmart the enemy is always on the forefront, as the power and dominance grows as fast as the slavery, as people are controlled with fear to do the bidding of their self imposed masters. Heirs to the Kingdom is a dystopian series, but it hits a hell of a lot closer to home than many have realised.

So how do we win, well we fight, okay, so what with?

There is no coincidence that the swords of power are named such. Truth, Justice, Knowledge, Courage, Honour. These are the ingredients of ‘Democracy, and Freedom.’ They are cherished as they allow for freedom of thought, and the freedom to speak, and through the union of these ideals, we create a world that is fair to all, and that is the message to all the readers of HTTK. Take these qualities into your heart and into your life, and if you do so, they will unite in one union with others, and that my friends, is ‘Destiny.’

The modern world today is not quite as black and white as it first appears, and I would say, that we are all stood on the edge of a woodland glade watching, surrounded by those we love, but Mason is out there, and he is not alone. Behind the scenes he is at work, and it is as clear as day if you open your eyes fully, and stop blindly obeying everything you are told.

You will never get the truth from social media, you will never be able to fully trust the legacy media, they are driven by a controlled system of subtle people of power. Just because everyone else believes it to be true, does not mean it is. At times like this, like Robbie and Runestone, we have to stand alone and take a step back, and look with the eyes of destiny, because if you blink and lose focus, we all will end up in a world ruled by the likes of Mason. The human race stands on the edge, and it is the task of all of us to pay attention, and stop blindly following with our virtue signalling and politically correct adherence. Just because everyone else is doing it, does not make it moral or right.

Be a leaf lover, embrace the role of woodsmen, and fight those who are bringers of stone.

Absolute power, is far more corrosive than rust. Never forget that.

Heirs to the Kingdom by Robin John Morgan, is available in Digital and Print formats from all leading online retailers of books and apps.

Zandra’s Revenge

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Rob

the first book in the series heirs to the Kingdom by Robin John Morgan.

A few days ago, whilst I was out with my wife driving, she asked quite out of nowhere if she could ask me about an element of HTTK. This is quite normal for us, we often pull apart the story in order to ensure there are no holes that may be picked up on by a reader, so as always, with possibly the one reader who knows more about this series of stories than any other living soul, I told her ask away.

There are one or two questions I do expect from her, (Literally because I know how much effort she puts in to looking at every layer within these stories), but there is one area of this story where I have done a lot of layering, and if I am honest, I don’t expect many to question me about it, today was one of those days where she spotted a very significant point, and for a moment, I think she felt she caught me out.

My wife began, “You know how power is passed down through the female lines?”

I gave a nod as I was driving, “Yeah what of it?”

I could feel her eyes on me as I looked forward out of the windscreen. “Well I have been thinking.”

“Ok.” I know how her mind works, and her tone of voice told me, she had figured something out, and I suspect she thought she had found a gaping hole in the story.She asked.

“If Mason has all these orphanages, then knowing female heirs will be powerful, why has he and his children not just taken any women they wish, and created a new powerful line?”

It is a great question, and one I have wondered if someone will find. My response was simply, “Zandra Hargreaves.” And I gave a smile; I knew that would confuse her.

So the reason I am writing this is I wondered how many more of you have looked this deep in the seven books that are already available. In explanation to her confused stare at me, I shall present the following, which is a loosely translated version of my response as I drove.

Mason did not really think when he married Zandra, he knew he needed an heir, and preferably a female one. At that point in his life he was developing his plans, but even he did not know that the Red Death was coming. I have always thought that when the Red Death struck, he suddenly realised that firstly, he could achieve his plans for domination much quicker. Secondly, he could do far more, and so began to expand his plans and work on a much larger scale than he had previously planned.

At that point he had married and expected children, and along came William, followed by Lance, and then his most precious prize, he gained a girl in Judith. In my mind he must have felt he had achieved his goal, and so when he did begin to establish his orphan program, he really had no need to use them himself, and at that point his children were too young to procreate.

I think with a man like Mason, who you have to understand he is ruthless and single minded, he may have considered that maybe one day he would be able to secure more heirs using his male children, but by this point, he had Judith, and so I think he would have been satisfied that he had an heir to Morgan le Fey, who he sees as his mother, but we are now aware (As Steph discovers) she is actually his grandmother.

His plan fell apart as the relationship with Zandra deteriorated; she became in his eyes, weak. Zandra became difficult, she complained and cried, and he grew very unhappy with her behaviour. I think his placing of William into Loxley would have shown how cruel and cold he could be, and that was the start of the end of any care between him and Zandra. She never forgave him for giving away her first child, and as a result she smothered her other two children with affection, and Mason began to suspect she was deliberately making her children weak, in order to ensure they did not grow to be monsters like their father.

It failed for Zandra, because as Mason and her argued constantly, I think it is certain that his wild tempers became a more frequent part of home life for Lance and Judith, and as a result, his children feared him. Zandra was not weak in my eyes, but she was mistreated, even though she lived in luxury. Lance appeared weak and feeble because he started to fear his father, but if you read between the lines, and have read all the books to date, you will clearly see that he formed a close bond with Mark Richard Dale, one of Mason’s closest friends, and a man even Mason admired.

Zandra in the final minutes of her life, made what is actually a very brave sacrifice, she leaped up in front of her husband to shield him in the cathedral, and it cost her life, as she was hit by the Hooded man’s arrow. This has been a big talking point with readers, so just to catch up let me say this. Zandra was deeply unhappy, and in that final moment I think she realised that Mason was probably the only chance her children would have for survival. She knew that she would never be able to escape his clutch, and if she did, the price she would pay would be to lose her two other children. Giving her life to save him, she ensured her children had the chance to grow and live, and I feel she hoped her loving care would show up in them, and through that they would fail to be the children he desired. In many ways it was a massively calculated risk, but one she was willing to test.

In the case of Judith, she was proved right. Judith at the loss of her mother fled from Mason to her uncle’s house, and ultimately ended up falling into the hands of Robbie via the House of Good Hope. It was a massive blow to Mason, who realised he no longer had a female heir, and he needed to find a way to create another, nevertheless he had learned much from his experience of Zandra.

the Third book in the series Heirs to the Kingdom by Robin John Morgan

Dana was one of his team, who played a large role in the orphanage organisation. She was tough, cold, and commanded a great deal of authority, something Zandra was not. Mason chose to pick a new wife who had most of the qualities he required in a child, and because she was actually quite emotionless, he knew the bond would not be as deep and loving as it had been with Zandra.

It’s a pretty cold act if you think about it, he basically used her for her womb, but as I worked out the plot, I gave it a great deal of thought, and finally I began to wonder who in this new relationship was actually colder. I think Dana is a smart woman, she is certainly no fool, and I think she was more than aware of what she was getting into. Dana craved power, and as the mother of Mason’s new heir she certainly got plenty, it was a win, win for both of them.

Raven Merle was always destined to be more like his grandmother, but with greater power, and in Mason’s eyes she would ultimately replace her. In truth he could have picked any woman, but having realised, he decided to look to his own ranks, and I think the fundamental reason for that, was very simply that he had a full profile of the behaviour of all his lead team. To use a random woman from the orphanage, could have resulted with a repeat of his experience with Zandra, so he picked from a list of woman he knew would have every aspect of the personality he desired for the mother of his child.

Mason as the only parent of Lance, put all of his effort into creating a smaller version of himself, and he to date has done a very good job, Lance is as cold and emotionless as his father. Book seven shows how Lance has grown like his father intended, but I have often played with the notion that in this there is also a flaw. (Spoiler possibly coming)

Lance is just like his father, and seeks the same kind of power, and in so doing, he is ultimately the greatest danger to Mason. When Mordred’s spirit is brought back from the dead and planted within William with the black blade, Lance takes his chance to prepare his future. When Mordred cruelly beats and rapes the servant Nadia, Lance takes her under his wing and raises her son Victor as his own. Lance is repeating his father, and it is his hope that Victor will one day create a female child that has all the power of the line, but also has the cruelty and cold disposition of Mordred.

In his mind any child born to Victor, should according to the rules of power, (AKA be more powerful) should be stronger than Raven Merle. In his final moments faced with Runestone, in what is now an alternative reality to the current tale, Lance shows a small chink in his makeup, and finally Zandra gets what she always desires, as Lance makes it clear to Runestone, that Nadia and Victor are innocent and have been used by him.

He begs for Runestone to spare them, and his final moment shows an act of compassion by begging for their lives and freely offering his death . Zandra finally got her wish, and her love and compassion showed through to rival the cold and brutal side of Mason.

Zandra’s biggest success is that William (AKA Sage) confronts Mason and asks for him to stop the war. I have to admit it was a wonderful part of the book to write, and all the time I wrote it, I was thinking of how proud Zandra would have been of her son.

the first six books in the series Heirs to the Kingdom by Robin John Morgan

Somehow I never expected anyone to work all this out, but now they have, here it is shared with all of you, I hope it adds to your own enjoyment of Heirs to the Kingdom. Congrats Rin, it took a while, but you did find one of my more elaborate plots hidden within the text. Well done you. ?

The Author’s Kingdom #21

Posted on December 24, 2016 by Rob

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.

Closing the Circle

Today we sit on the edge of Christmas, and the end of another bi annual event for Heirs to the Kingdom.

This year has been a special experience, as I have shared a great many things with those of you who read my work, and from my point of view, it has been a wonderful and also inspiring time. I have looked back over the last thirty years of my own life, and brought back the memories of all those little moments that came together in a wonderful jigsaw, and created the Woodland Realm.

Heirs to the Kingdom has been a joy, if not at times a little pressured to create and write. This last month has indeed shown me something of myself that I do at times take for granted, and that is how I have sat alone here at my desk, and painstakingly created a work of great love. For to me it is, and I have thoroughly enjoyed doing it. As you know I have always stated I was reluctant to publish, it is true, I am very introverted at times and it was actually a very terrifying thing for me to do at the start. This last month of writing, has brought to mind all those little moments that reminded me of the loyalty and dedication of the small group who are the Heirs to the Kingdom fans. I remembered all those moments where I turned to wife whilst writing something and commented things such as, “Julie will hate me for writing this.” Or “Ian is going to love this bit.” And so on, but it does thrill me that this is being shared today with people who have gained a great amount of pleasure from it.

Heirs to the Kingdom is not a best seller, I doubt it ever will be, writing in today’s environment is hard, as over three million books a year are published, and the amount of people reading has fallen dramatically each year, I have to confess that it is something I do not quite understand, books have brought me so much pleasure in my life, and I am now reminded of a comment made on a radio interview I did David Grey, back in 2011.

I had commented on my love of mythology and how I was inspired by those tales, and decided to write a tale of my own based on something that inspired me as a young boy. He commented on how important it is that the line of storytellers is not broken, and how one day having done my bit, it may inspire another person to write, a so called passing of the baton as it were. That comment has always stayed with me, and I think it is the best way to consider the modern writer. Book purchases have fallen globally for many years as the market becomes more and more saturated, but one day, we may see a revival, and when that happens, new writers will take up the baton and continue onward. In many ways this is how I also see Heirs to the Kingdom, the heroes of yesteryear fell and in my story, the new heroes arose to lift up the baton and take the struggle forward into a new age. It is dare I say it, the way of the circle of life?

“2017 will see the final book of the series, but I will continue to add more to the websites and blogs, as I am quite sure I will not end completely, but I do want to walk with new characters, and even if only for a while, I shall let the Woodland Realm rest and develop alone. I will obviously continue to promote this tale, as I would like to increase the readership a little more, and as I write new material for other projects and work alongside new authors as I do in VCP, I will consider this work of the lives of my green loving dwellers back on the farm at Loxley, and look to see if it honestly can be expanded at some future point.

As the new year of 2017 begins, I have a lot of work to do, I have a stack of notes as usual, and I will be continuing to work on the last book. I would love to give a date for which it will be released, but alas the pressure to make this a bigger, faster more exciting book than all the other is phenomenal, and so I am going to take it page by page until it is complete. I will say that this month of looking back has inspired several new twists that I would love to include into the stack of notes I already have, and for now I will say that “The Ravens of Berengar” for that is the title I am set upon, will take you back into the distant past, and open up a picture of how the darkness that has shrouded this story began. I am finally going to show you the entire history of the Dark One, which is a very interesting tale, and something I have already given you hints and clues about in the blog series I have presented you with this month. The story like all things has to go full circle, and so I shall start at the very beginning of that dark and suspicious circle, and bring right around it to the point we are at, and then the circle will finally close as the book reaches the final page.

It will be an adventure worth the wait, well I am hoping so. (Smiles) You will walk under the veil of darkness into a place of deep vile secrets, and you will also walk into the land of Florae and finally see how the Fae of Earth live, which will be two new realms you have not entered before. This is going to be a tough time for all sides, and I am sure you will be as excited to read it as I am to write it.

May you all have a wonderful season of festivities no matter what your faith or belief? May it be safe and peaceful, and may the cheer of the season bless you until we walk on a green path edged with flowers in the coming New Year.

Many thanks to all of you for your loyal support, it does mean everything.

My parting gift this season, is the only picture of this series, as I have deliberately kept these posts free of artwork, so for the time being I shall leave you now to consider the family tree of a certain group of well know Ravens.

May peace be with you all. RJM.

Click on the image to enlarge and then hit the return button to come back to the blog.

Family tree depicting the House of Berengar from the books Heirs to the Kingdom by Robin John Morgan.

The Author’s Kingdom #14

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Rob

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 Face Behind the Evil.

When I first wrote The Bowman of Loxley, I made the decision at the very start that I would intentionally side-line the major villain. One or two at the time commented on this act and thought that it was a strange thing to do, after all in many books and almost all films; you get to see the bad guy long before he enters the fight. With Mason Knox I wanted something a little different, and so I made the choice that I would only refer to his acts of evil, rather than show him doing them.

My second choice for him was to choose a logo for his brutal Cutters that would stamp a hallmark on his reputation, almost like branding, and so whenever you saw or heard any mention of this specific crest, you would feel the evil that was in progress. To add to the intrigue, I made his crest similar to that of a king, I chose the dragon, which long ago had been the crest of all kings, it is only since the time of Richard the first, that a lion was depicted as the kings crest, before that all true kings, and especially the one true king had the crest of a golden dragon. I liked the idea of Mason’s hand being covered in the blood of the innocent, and so for him I picked out a dragon that was long and slender with short legs (Almost Japanese) and coloured it blood red. From that moment on I used the phrase the snake with legs and wings, and those who opposed him referred to him as Snake, I think it paints a very specific picture of a creature that slithers and writhes to get what it wants.

The psychology and the symbolism of it made for a great way to identify the evil of the man, and it was behind this crest that I hid my bad guy, well out of sight until the moment of confrontation. His face would only appear in the very last chapter of the book, and that gave me the space to paint a full picture of his deeds and wrong doings throughout the 24 chapters that came before his face. I think it worked really well, as I was able then to show the face of his son (William/Billy) as a bright happy blue eyed boy, and in a way without realising it I created yet more mystery about who this greedy and cold hearted villain really was.

Throughout the book we see the deeds of the Cutters and hear of the maiming and slaughter they create as they moved slowly into the north to seek out Loxley and York. There is rumour of orphanages and factories that treat the workers like slaves, using them as they will and killing them for no reason at all, and all the time Billy is happy and joking and dare I say even likeable, it was a wonderful way to cast a shadow across the book, as the readers tried to work out if this guy really was as horrible as everyone said. Hiding his face left the reader in suspense, because there really was no way to fully gauge the man until he appeared in the book, and for that moment, everyone had to wait to the last chapter.

It took a long time to write the scene in the cathedral, I had floor plans and maps, and had to watch every move each member of the story made as I carefully noted things down to ensure I kept the pace fast enough to thrill, but the tension ready to break at any moment. I had chess pieces on a large board that I marked out with the floor plan, and as I wrote each line I moved the pieces. The balcony was chosen for Robbie’s stand for one reason only, I wanted him to see only Mason’s back as he approached the high altar. When Mason finally turned, he was hidden behind the clergy who were performing the crowning ceremony, and then I added in Robbie’s frustrations as he spoke to Rune of how he could not see him to get a clear shot.

It was difficult to write it, as I had to make every arrow count, but in the back of mind the words “Sacred Ground” thumped through it. Neither Runestone nor her sisters of the circle could kill in this sacred place, something I had not revealed yet, their arrows could only wound, which is why at the moment of crisis, Robbie asks Rune to create a wind and lift the crown. Rowan, Martin and Alice provide the deadly shots that take out the vicars around Mason, and then finally after waiting for 24 chapters, his eyes meet Robbie’s, and for a moment there are gasps. It was great stuff to write, every reader was convinced Mason could not possibly have long curly blonde hair, but he did, he was almost the double of Billy, only a great deal older with the same pale cold blue eyes. Here was the villain finally unmasked in the light of day, and it fuelled even more speculation about him, and just to add yet more suspense, he got away and Robbie failed to kill him. Every member of the readers group expected him to die, and that was the twist that caught out every reader, the hero failed and the villain got away.

Just to add a little more shock, Robbie shoots his last arrow and instead of hitting Mason, his wife Zandra leaps in front of the arrow and is instantly killed. The shock was intense, how could the hero of the book kill an innocent woman? Out of all the vile and evil people gathered there that day, Robbie kills the only one who did not deserve to die, I have to admit I enjoyed watching the ripples of surprise as they emitted out of those first early readers, it was great fun and it just inspired me to look for yet more twists to really up the pace for the second book.

In the final moment of the book we see Mason sat with his son as he casually announces to him that his mother is dead. The reaction for Billy is equally as cold, and this I think goes right to the heart of the story, for it is here we realise that Billy no longer regarded Zandra (The mother that gave him up) as anyone significant. This was my first moment to set the stage for future books where the love of Jess, who he considered his mum, would come into play at the heart of the plot.

When it came to book two, I had already shown the readers the villain, and so at first I placed him in the very opening of the first chapter. It is here we see Mason as he ridicules the Bishop, and you get your first glimpse of how calculating Mason can be. He laughs out loud as he suggests hiring a woodsman, and it is here you can get your first glimpse of how Mason uses the church as one of his pawns. His anger at Robbie is there to be seen, and suddenly we see how his anger rises very quickly and the sadistic side of him is revealed. A little later in the book we read of the retaliation as entire villages around Kingsdown are slaughtered and butchered by his Cutters to pay for the actions of Robbie.

This was my setting for book two, where Mason once again would strike and strike hard from the shadows, and although I slipped in small moments of him, they were seldom more than two pages like the moment he discovers Judith has run away, and his first reaction is to shoot the man who should have been on watch. It’s an instant reaction with no warning that even leaves Billy a little shaken and Lance is terrified by it. This shows the ruthlessness of the man mixed with a cold unemotional personality.

Later in book two we truly get to experience the brutality of the Cutters, on the motorway we see them looting the escaping villagers of the south, followed by an attempted rape of a young girl, which is halted by Runestone with her arrow. Once again we see that the Cutters feel that thier leader is invincible, and so they are free to do as they wish, this is the way Mason had planned to rule, he wanted to utterly dominate all of the people and control them with fear as he has already in his cities of stone. His Cutters are his preferred tool of use, and it all paints a very vivid picture of his ambitions, and even though I keep him out of the book as much as I can, the result of his actions is clearly seen, none more than the village of trees where everyone is slaughtered and hung from the branches as a warning to those who pass through. I had two books to show the kind of man Mason was at heart, as this would set a backdrop for the whole series of books. I must admit at times I gave a shudder as I wrote scenes, and I soon realised that writing the actions of the Cutters actually made me a little uncomfortable. I almost edited the attempted rape out as I was not sure if I was going too far, talking to the readers group who had read the first draft, gave me the assurance that I had not been too graphic, and had written it more to imply what was to come rather than actually write a graphic description. They convinced me it should be OK and so the scene stayed in the book.

Writing the first book with a readers group taught me a massive amount, and so when it came to preparing the end of book two, I already knew the value of a good twist in the story. Once again Robbie travels out to disrupt Mason’s plans at Liverpool. The set up for the last pages had to be at least as tense as the first book, I wanted it better and I felt confident I could do it.

Harry was brought in for heart breaking comedic additions, and slowly woven into the plot more as a distraction from what was coming. Just as Robbie finally reaches the top of the building where it is rumoured that Mason is holding up, Jade runs laughing into the road and bang!!! She is shot in the back, it is almost a repeat of Zandra, and the book takes a turn that was not expected. Rune leaves Robbie alone, something no one expects and as he shouts out at her for going through a wall, boom there is an explosion that rocks the building throwing him off his feet. The small frightened figure of Lance comes round the corner, and Lance faces his biggest fear, he is face to face with the Hooded Man. Once again this was just another way of building the tension and hiding Mason until the very last second. I spent quite some time working out what was to come, and it had to be woven into the Jade and Runestone scenario of the life for a life choice perfectly to create that seat hugging moment where Mason is revealed and looks up to see the angry eyes of Robbie.

Because of Book One, no one expects Mason to die, and this is where I go into reverse and the twist kicked in. The fight is long and drawn out as I cut back to a broken hearted Runestone, it is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but finally the moment comes where Mason loses his temper at the calm and collected Robbie, and pounds him with his sword. It’s a merciless attack and at first the concern goes to hoping Robbie can withstand it. It is just the two men alone in a fight to the death, and as I pull the action back and forth, I wanted to make the readers worry a little as I hoped there would be no way of predicting the outcome. Finally Mason’s goading of Robbie pays off, and he yells with rage and unleashes an onslaught at Mason that results in the killing of Mason Knox.

The cards are suddenly all up in the air at what is one of the most emotionally tense chapters I think I have written. The questions flow, how can Mason be dead? Will Billy replace him, or the Dark One? What really has happened to Billy with the black blade? Will Runestone ignore Una’s advice and tell Robbie of the life for life choice? As you start to ask the questions, the book ends and suddenly all the chips are in the air, and there really are no answers as the man who was the symbol of all things evil is suddenly no longer a part of the tale, once again he slips back into obscurity, but this time he is not coming back.

For those of you who have read further than Book Two, well you now know the answers. The thing is that in my own little way I wanted to show that the villain of a story does not necessarily have to be a main central character. By showing the results of the orders he has given, I was able to paint the full picture of the man without having him present, and I actually think having read through the books again in the run up to this series of articles, just implying what he is capable of and not showing him in person, actually creates a far more sinister figure than he would have been if I had written more of him into the books. Actually hiding his face creates a picture that each and every readers draws for themselves, and they have to use their own imagination, which let’s be honest is a lot more frightening, because it plays directly to the emotions of those who read it. In a way you create a personal sense of the man as viewed by yourself alone, and I actually think it was a much better way to present Mason.

To make the story far more interesting Mason did not appear in the third book, here I replaced him with his even more sinister mother, and not forgetting Billy who has been possessed by Mordred through the Black Blade. I knew this would confirm to all the readers that Mason was indeed gone forever, and yet the twist was, before you in the book was the resurrected soul of Morgana’s first child to prove she had the power to bring back the dead. No one noticed this fact in reference to Mason, and so by Book Four, I felt it was the right to bring him back looking a little younger and with more stamina than before, it made for very interesting writing and reading.

I won’t add more spoilers for those who have not discovered more of this tale, except to say that those first two books really do set up the character of the whole family of Knox. Through Mason, I paint the scene to allow myself to single out each character through the following editions, and open up their lives a lot more to show all of you the inner workings of this cold and brutal family. There is so much more to come, and even for those who have made it right through to the last page of book seven. I still have a lot more to write on this devious family who come from the heart of a Saxony tribe. I still think I have a shock or two that are unseen to come, and I can only hope that the first two books provided enough insight to draw you deeper into this brutal clan and have made you want to continue to the last page of the last book, because I can assure you, it will take that long to truly reveal the evil that lurks hidden from view.

Provoking Thought.

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Rob

When I first began to seriously write Heirs to the Kingdom, I thought I would take the story that I had built up in my mind over what had been a long period of time and get it down on paper without really thinking about the words I was committing to the file. I know that sounds a little odd for someone writing a book, but at the time I was just doing an exercise to see if I could actually achieve it. There wasn’t any thought of publishing, or even having to talk to other readers of a finished work, it was simply me alone with my thoughts and feelings, letting everything I had kept deep inside me flow into my fingertips. It is still like that today, I cannot allow the thoughts of what others may think to even enter my mind, it has to be plain and simply that deep inner voice guiding my words, and although most of the people reading my work do not see it, it is probably some of the most deeply held parts of myself that come to the surface.

Sometimes a bike ride can help reduce carbon, so each trip you make will help in a small way

Personally it can be quite a surprising experience, as things I never actually intend to share come out in the words I put down, of which I would say the most obvious has been the power that is contained in my love for the plant world and the whole of the planet on which we live. Shortly after writing the first two thirds of the Bowman of Loxley, I let a few very close friends read what I had done, and then waited with baited breath for their comments, it was to say the least quite a nervous point in time. I suppose having been surprised myself at what had come out on the paper my insecurity did increase a little, because I had made some bold statements about how we all live within this world, and pointed out a great deal of my private disillusion with the world.

One of my market trading friends Pru was actually the very first person to read HTTK, and she surprised me a great deal when she informed me that it was indeed very thought provoking, and she had thought a great deal about what was written for quite some time after reading it, and that became a bit of theme, as I allowed others to read the first drafts of the first book. I have never forgotten that time, and even though I still do not allow the opinion of others to cloud my writing of the books, I have begun to open up and share a lot of what I feel passionately about in my Blog posts.

The blogs are for me, another way of expressing my thoughts in a none story environment, it’s a place when I can be a little more direct about my point of view, yet remain within the confines of the HTTK themes. I have found that there are quite a few readers who have not read the books, who still read the blog posts, and as a writer it’s another wonderful way of allowing all the thoughts tumbling through my mind to tumble out for another audience.

The story of HTTK is very much the representation of my struggle through life with various issues, especially that of a green campaigner and supporter. I do see the world as two separate sides in these days, and to be honest at the moment I think the side of stone builders is winning. I see a lot of the ways of Mason Knox in the world today, especially in our Governments across the world as they are seduced and corrupted by big large multinational corporations, I think if Mason was indeed a real living person in today’s world he and his evil mother would very much be the people behind the scenes pushing government’s into raping all of the natural resources of the planet on a road that can only lead to the eventual destruction of everything.

I am and always will be a member of the Woodland Realm, like young Robbie in my own early teens I sought to fight those of power to change the world, and even today I still try to educate people in a way that opens them up to what is really going on globally. I have been ridiculed for a great many years for being the Hippie type campaigning for trees and life, and to be honest what felt like insults in my youth, I wear today as my badge of honour. I have campaigned for petitions and protested and even at times employed a few Specialist tactics under cover of darkness to strike one for the green cause, although these days I am getting a little too long in the tooth for covert activity, and my mind has turned to thinking about other solutions.

Writing is certainly one of them, it’s a little warmer sat at the computer than walking the cold streets handing out leaflets, and I also look at today and the way the world has changed so much since my youth, and ponder as to whether there is a better way for all of us to live together in a more balanced way.

In the UK this week, we have been told that over the coming years we will see our bills rise to an unprecedented level because as our natural gas supply runs out, and old coal power stations are taken offline, we will need to import more gas from the continent. It’s a reality that in a world where those like the Knox family, have corrupted every system, and brought the global economic climate crashing down to the benefit of themselves. Once again the poor of this country and countless others, will be forced into the hardship of bearing the costs, and the costs are not just financial, they are also a cost to the world we live in, a cost that will punish our future generations.

The biggest argument I face is that in this world of technology, people will not support an environmental point of view, because even though they are not calling the government’s into question over their lack of effort on the environment, they have embraced all the new technology so much that to take an environmental road will deprive them of the little joy they have in life these days. When you look at the wide range of products we have available to us, it is a valid point, let’s face it communication and labour saving devices have never been so good, and our lives have been transformed by all of them, but surely there has to be a way forward for all of us to do our bit.

It can appear like a double edge sword, either we change drastically and give up everything, or we continue on the road towards destruction, but really do the choices need to be so stark?

I think not. Why is so impossible to see that the environment and technology can walk hand in hand. In my books I take the best from the old

We can make a choice that uses the best technology to balance our lives, with very little change to the wat we all live

We can make a choice that uses the best technology to balance our lives, with very little change to the way we all live

world and add it to the natural world, in a way that benefits people and yet has little impact on the world, why is so hard for the UK and other countries to follow the same lead? Oil does not have to be the future of everything and neither does Gas powered, I am very anti-nuclear, simply because it’s just too expensive and as we have seen in Japan, it’s not quite as safe as we thought it was. Britain is considering fracking as a gas alternative, but that is actually banned in many European countries because it has been proven to be far more harmful to the water table than our Government are admitting. We have already had one large scale earthquake caused across Yorkshire and Lancashire because of the early drilling; do we really want to destroy and poison the North West of England?

We need jobs to get the economy growing again and take the pressure off the benefits system, as well as move away from the old fossil fuels, so why are we not looking towards Germany for inspiration? Literally on our doorstep, we have so many solutions that are good for everyone that it must provide a way that leads to jobs and cheaper fuels for all. In Germany they invest heavily in green technology, not only do they encourage solar power plates on homes, they have solar farms, which they combine with wind power to create a substantial amount of clean green energy. Ok the costs for setting it up have been high, but let’s be honest, it has to be better to pay UK citizens a good wage and build and install these systems rather than just paying our money to an Eastern European country for extra gas. Wind power across the globe rose by 20% in 2012, Ok so there are a great deal who hate the sight of windmills; personally I think they look a lot better than the gaping holes we create for strip mining, or the sight of large Fracking drills. I love windmills I have to confess, I want a small one on my house, I will probably paint it to look better than just plain white, but yes as soon I can afford it, I will get one simply because it will drop my household bills over time, which means I can invest in more fun tech for me and the kids.

The environment and technology can work as partners, and benefit all of us, but it takes a slight change of thought before we can implement it. Governments can change their view when they see that votes will not go their way, and it is up to all of us to finally make that stand and point them in the right direction. The future of this planet can only come with the will of the people, and it is up to everyone to share the information that will eventually force governments to change their mind. We have to abandon our complacency and apathy towards the way we choose to vote. It can be done as we have seen with the banking industry recently; as it was the public’s opinions that forced the government to make changes that are finally bringing them into line, and caused some very high profile job dismissals.

You make not like the way they look, but its a hell of lot nicer than drilling platforms of a devastated landscape

Just imagine this small point. This country has a huge amount of public buildings, what if we all made it clear that the government should fit solar panels to every one of them. Have you any idea how many jobs that would create in fitting and manufacturing them? Do you know how much pressure that would take off our old and rapidly decaying oil and gas burning power stations? New technology can be environmental, and a shift such as this would not change the life of anyone, but it would do a massive amount towards reducing carbon emissions in this country, let alone globally. There is a very important lesson to be learned from some of HTTK, and it shows that we can share the best of every world and create a sustainable future for our children and our grandchildren’s generation, it just takes a few moments to think about it, and then voice your opinion, which funnily enough was what the hippies were saying forty years ago, It kinds makes you wonder why we didn’t listen?

There is always another way forward if you take the time to think about it, and then get out of your seat and do something about it. If you look hard enough there are so many other ways to improve our lives and the planet we all share, and whether you believe it or not, it does not belong to those like Mason Knox, it actually belongs to all of us, its home to seven billion people.

In Search of Hooded Men

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Rob

A more theatrical view of Robin Hood given us through early 1950’s Film

I have harboured a fascination with the legend of Robin Hood and his merry men since I was very young, I think being named Robin helped, as it provided me with a wonderful chance to identify with the hero of the people, and fuelled many sessions of play as a child. I remember when I was young being shown an old walking stick carved from the branch of a tree by my grandmother, who told me this was the stick Robin Hood used when he was injured, and had been passed down through her family line since. As you can possibly imagine, I have spent a lifetime looking for that link that placed me in the family line of my hero, but today having come to a dead end, I can only surmise that my grandmother was stringing me on, and doing her bit to add to the magic of my childhood games.My search for a family connection did however lead me to some family connections in Chapel on le Frith in Derbyshire, which placed me on the old road that ran through the village towards Castleton, and then across the valley towards Loxley, and on to York. This was a road well used by the king and the church alike, a place that back in the eleventh century would have been densely wooded, and most suitable for ambushes and robbery. I think that back in those times, the talk would have centred a great deal around the actions of the hooded man, and maybe some of it has been passed down, and with time the story got altered and like so many others across this land, a claim to Robin Hood was made and romanticised over the years until it was told to myself by my grandmother.

Whatever the truth there is no doubt that it has become a sort of preoccupation with me over the years, and when my daughter was young I continued to tell my own tale of Robin, albeit a very different story. Robin Hood formed the background of my tale as I made up a story to tell her at bedtime, and in my version of events, a young boy who was the direct descendant of Robin Hood became the focus of attention in the country as his distant ancestor had. Looking back I can see that the reason the story I made up for my daughter stuck with me, was it was all a big part of my preoccupation with the hooded man, and maybe that is why I laboured for so long until I finally published my first book, which I entitled the “Bowman of Loxley.”

Everyone is aware of Nottingham’s claim to Robin Hood, and it is true that in those times the city was surrounded by Sherwood Forest, a forest that was huge and would indeed have provided many places for Robin to hide. The thing I have always had difficulty with was why would he have been named Loxley? Most people in those times were named after their place of birth, and Loxley is miles away from Nottingham. There is in fact two, the first close to Stratford upon Avon (Place A), which is easily found on a large map of the country, and Loxley near Sheffield in Barnsley (Place B), which is only marked on the more local maps. Neither of them relate to Nottingham, and as I found out in my travels, Place A does not have too many connections with Huntingdon, which after all is very significant, as Robin Hood was reportedly the son of the Earl of Huntingdon.

It did not take too long to work out that the Loxley I needed to focus on was in the Bradfield area of Sheffield, right on the edge of Derbyshire and Yorkshire, and situated very close to Hathersage and Castleton which are both very relevant to the legend of the Hooded Man. Hathersage is the birth place of John Little, and to this day his grave can been seen in the church yard there, and Castleton hosts the ruins of Peveril Castle, a castle built by William Peveril who was a Sheriff of Nottingham, and it was also a Castle that served as a hunting lodge for the king.

A Map dipicting the area of Hallamshire (Today named as part of Barnsly in Yorkshire

This map shows how closely related Loxley, Hathersage and Peveril castle at Castleton are, giving credibilty to the connection of Loxley to the legend

Rodger Dodsworth the famous historian quotes around 1600-1640AD “Robert Lockesley, born in Bradfeild parish of Hallamshire (Loxley)” which for myself was proof enough I was on the right track. He goes on to describe how Robin injured his father at the plough and ran into the woodlands to hide. He later was forgiven by his mother and returned to Clifton upon Calder, ( Barnsdale or Bansley as it is known today) and there he became acquainted with John Little. The Sloane manuscript in the British Museum contains the entry, “Robin Hood was borne at Locksley in Yorkshire.” These discoveries gave me great heart, after all I wanted to know the truth of my hero, and if I was as I have, used the background of the hooded man in my writing, I wanted to have it as factually correct as possible.

The picture was starting to form as I searched, but the frustrating thing was I found it hard to link Robin of Loxley with the earldom of Huntingdon. My big break came when I found a wonderful website http://robinhoodloxley.net in 2007. A surviving member of the Loxley family built this site, and it is filled with some extensive research about the legend of the hooded man. For me it was like a eureka moment having invested years of following wrong leads out of Nottingham, and with a great deal of joy I read a passage that mentions Robert of Loxley agreeing to support a Henry de Leke for the rest of his life in 1245AD. The man at least really existed.

Further into the site it mentions that Robert de Loxley was a close friend with William de Lovetot, Lord of the manor of Sheffield, and both of them held “Possessions in Huntingdon” It appears that that Williams’s brother was the Sheriff of Nottingham, and his land in Huntingdon bordered the land of Robert de Loxley, which was the missing link I had been searching for as it placed Loxley, Peveril Castle and Huntingdon together in a circle of connection. David, King of Scots was the Earl of Huntingdon and he was the tenant in chief of Loxley in Hallamshire (Barnsley) so I now had an Earl in the forest of Loxley. I have not been able to formally provide a concrete family connection with the Earl and Robert of Loxley, but I found several leads from a Robert Fitzooth, who was son of the Earl and related back to William the Conqueror, and took up residency in Peveril Castle as game keeper to the kings forest, which contains Loxley. Maybe this would explain why Robert of Loxley was such a defender of the king and opposed the crowning of Prince John, as he had a direct family connection to the king, in this I cannot be sure, but it does help strengthen the case for a link between Robin and Huntingdon.

I have spent years looking into Robin Hood and I am convinced he was a Yorkshire man and had very little to do with Nottingham, apart from his very well documented dispute with the sheriff. My biggest hurdle of course has always been Sherwood, the vast forest, which surrounded the city and is still present in a much-depleted form today. To find an answer I began to search through as many maps as possible, so I could get a clearer picture of the lay of the land in medieval times, and I was quite surprised at what I found. We forget how much has been destroyed over the years and none more so than the great forests of the past. Looking at old maps I think I much prefer Britain as it was back then, for there were a lot less roads and more wide-open and forested spaces. Most of Britain in medieval times was wild unspoilt natural countryside and woodland that believe or not covered two thirds of the country.

The Kings Forest as I have mentioned is what we today call the peak district. It’s hard to fully comprehend at first because that in itself covers most of Derbyshire and a little of Yorkshire. It was indeed a vast forest, and from what I have read it was the largest breeding ground of Sparrow Hawks, and has tales of there being so many deer, that some people were killed when they stampeded. To say the least it was one of the most important areas of wild game in the country, and was a very important asset to the king who shared a passion for hunting with Hawks. The Kings forest and Sherwood bordered each other, in fact there are many documented disputes over the boundaries of the forests and who had jurisdiction. We know that the Sheriff of Nottingham lived at Peveril Castle, which is at Castleton in Derbyshire, but it appears to me that back then it was held as territory of Nottingham, so maybe the borders of the City of Nottingham have shrunk away over time and with it the borders of Sherwood. I think that the two were in fact one large forest that were fought over by the lords who governed it, and like all things in medieval times the borders shifted with the fights for supremacy. I think it is clear that to an outlaw it would not make that much difference whether they were in Sherwood or the Kings Forest (Peak District), it would pretty much feel the same and so maybe most of that area was known as Sherwood.

The important fact is that the whole area from Loxley to Nottingham was forested, and patrolled by the Sheriffs bailiffs who enforced the laws and collected the taxes. Derbyshire certainly has a great many areas that carry the name of Robin Hood and have many legends relating to him, so much so that I do think it is more than just coincidence that so many places carry his name and in a greater concentration than anywhere else in the country. The legend and a search for facts is still an ongoing thing for me, and so hopefully over time I will add to the endless piles of paper I have collected to piece together yet more parts of my puzzle, of which only the basics are contained here. This land is filled with tales, and finding any grain of truth is not an easy task. For my own enjoyment and pleasure I do hold to the idea of him being a real live hero of the people, and in many ways I suppose, I like thousands before me, have carried on the tradition of keeping his name alive, even if it is the few facts contained within my books of a young boy in the future who finds out he has a link to him from the past.

We live in times where all of us see and feel the injustice of those who misuse power for their own gain, and in that I think is the wonder of this man of legend. All of us can identify with someone who fights for us and defends us when we cannot defend ourselves, it is a tale filled with the romance of a past time, yet very much applicable to our time now. I think it shows that even though we have progressed forward as a race into this world of ever changing technology, that some things will always remain the same, and no matter what happens in the future, there will always be those who steal for greed and power, and hopefully there will be those who will make a stand and fight for us. Long live the tales of the past and tales to come; the Hooded Man is an important part of our heritage as a nation, and I for one want to see it remain so.

When I feel I have finished my search, I may even put it all together in a small book, although there again, I may leave it all for my children to do, and thus continue the legacy of passing on the tale.

Nature moans into the sky?

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Rob

As anyone who knows me well knows, I do love the weird and the strange, after all I am the creator of Harry and Maggs, but recently around the world there has been a series of phenomena that has well and truly caught my imagination, and it is more relevant to me personally considering it’s the year of 2012.

For those of you new to my writing, I am currently in the middle of a series of fantasy adventures named Heirs to the Kingdom, which are based in the year of 2038, set against the background of a deadly virus (Red Death) that was unleashed by Nature 26 years earlier (2012) to curb the destruction of the world by man. So yes as the world stands fuddled and tries to work out the recent phenomena of strange sounds in the sky, I am delighted that it is being referred to as the sounds of Nature moaning in distress.

I will add that at the time of setting up my story which was in the late 1980’s I had not at that time heard of the Mayan calendar and the so called end of the world in 2012. I just chose the date as it fitted in nicely with the exhaustive list of generations I had followed for my hero, to link in well with his past, I was a little chilled to the bone when a good friend of mine handed me an article many years later that gave the prediction for the end of the world in this same year, and considering the time it has taken in between working self employed for many years, I never thought I would reach this year whilst in the middle of publishing the story.

I now feel somewhat delighted to find the many videos on Youtube of people stood frozen and unnerved as they hear the strange moans and wails coming down from the sky, and although I have absolutely no idea of what is causing it, all I can say is “Look to the coming of a Bowman,” and “prepare for death, for it is coming and its colour is red.”

I am delighted, but also curious, as I have been out in the woodland in all weather, and at all times of day and night, and I thought I knew pretty much every sound made by Nature, but even for myself, this is a very new experience and I am rather enjoying it, although if you are some of the few who have not heard it yet, then click the link below and have a listen, this article which has many serious and comical answers on it, also contains some of the best clips of this strange unearthly sound, and I will say when you first hear it, it is indeed quite eerie and unnerving.

I know I should not really exploit it, but I have to admit this is a little bit more of a coincidence than I ever expected.

Click the link and see what you think

http://dorsi.hubpages.com/hub/Strange-sounds-in-the-sky-from-around-the-world

Modern Life

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Rob

In my series of books ‘Heirs to the kingdom’ I create a way of life that is new and developing, built from the ashes of the hectic modern life we all know today. In moments throughout the entire series my characters look back and question the past, which for us is the life we know now. The picture I paint is not a rosy one, and in my discussions with those who have read the books, it is often the main topic that is discussed, and there are a few who feel my picture of life today is far more gloomy than it needs to be, and it never surprises me that those who question my view, are actually aged under 35 years of age.

I was born in the early sixties and grew up into my teenage years throughout the seventies, a decade I still think was the best for being a teenager. I have very deep and happy memories of those times, and I remember Britain as it was back then, and I am not simply being nostalgic, compared to the way we live today, it does feel like it was a completely different way of living, and I have to confess, I feel saddened that we no longer hold dear the values that we shared back then. Times were very different in My England, because to me, back then it felt like My England, simply because I actually felt like I was involved in it.

It is impossible to get those who were born after to fully understand, because living in a community and around people who genuinely looked out for each other is an experience you have to have lived in order to fully comprehend it. Britain in the seventies had its faults and its problems, yet below the surface people were very different than they are now. Its sounds so silly, and yet when I walked with my mother down the road, people who were often strangers would greet her, with a polite hello, or take the time to ask how she was, so unlike today, where the few who are on foot, rush past you without so much as looking at you, in their pressing need to accomplish the tasks of their busy day.

Life for everyone was a struggle, no one really had a huge amount of money, we all budgeted and saved for the few things we owned, we treasured and cared for our possessions, and we worked very hard for the little we had. Life was simple and straight forward, crime was nothing like it is today, and even the local few criminals actually worked with their own code of honour, its almost comical to think of now. If I had to pinpoint one specific point that stands out more than any other to mark life as it was back then, (and I have given this many years of thought,) I would say more than anything else, the one thing that stands out clearest of all from those times in my youth, would have to be the very simple use of showing respect. It is something I find lacking in today’s culture ,and I feel the decay of the eighties and nineties has simply rotted it from our daily life. I often smile as I am served in a busy local shop, when I present myself with a courteous approach as I request my items and pay with a bright cheerful thank you. It does stop people in their tracks, and I see how much of difference it makes, maybe it reminds them like it does me, of a time long gone.

Britain changed in the eighties and nineties, personally I think the love of money and wealth has got a little bit out of control, although it should not entirely be given the blame. There was a time when every English man was proud of the country he lived in, and he served his community with pride. Playing a role at a local level was something to take pride in, but as we modernised and changed to larger regional councils and authorities, I think we all got lost at a local level and became confused about where our loyalties lay. Our high streets have disappeared as we took the car to the one large supermarket, leaving line after line of estate agents, tanning salons and empty shops on our main streets, and somewhere along the lines we have stopped talking to our neighbours. We use to buy and cook our own food, but now it is cooked and packed in plastic for us to heat up in our microwaves, there has been a revolution in sex, and its orientation, bringing more changes and confusion to our daily lives, religions have sprouted everywhere, confusing the masses more of where their beliefs should lie, and marriage has slipped to the point where it now matches the numbers of common law unions. Corporations have grown into giants, eating up all the competition, and the prices of cheap imports have devalued everything, including how we view each other. The banks have been de regulated to a point where they have brought this country to its knees, and all of this has been done in the name of making life easier for the masses, but honestly, has it?

Call me a sceptic, but personally I think we have all been conned. The craving for power and influence has overtaken everything, and we have become drones trudging along to the beat of an industry geared up to make you feel so worthless, you buy more with your shrinking purse to feel better about yourself. Well that is my view of England today, innocence has been murdered and respect banished forever, and life I feel is anything but simple. I would gladly travel back to the past of my youth and live a simple life where I had choice and understood my place in the world, sadly with all of high tech wizardry of modern life I cannot, and so I visit the life that appeals to me between the pages of the books I write, and funnily enough, I do find there are a quite a few others out there who have chosen to walk with me.

Having looked at the world today, I can only feel that we are moving too fast, and I think that the average person is getting left behind, and we seem to be caught in a trap of not being able to understand or choose the direction we should as human beings go in, at the expense of losing something that most people regard as precious. If a modern future is to be had at the expense of losing those all important values from our heritage, isn’t now the time to seriously look at where we are all going to end up? For years now we have changed things simply for the sake of progress, and yet we appear to benefit less. Technology has taken giant strides, and I cannot deny we have all had areas of our life improved as a result, but is the technology now reaching beyond that of our grasp as a simple human beings? I think it is, and as we surround ourselves with more and more possessions, I can only ask do we really need all this simply to exist and be happy?

England and the British Isles are now a multi national and multi faith society, and I have no problems with tolerance and diversity, after all we are all human beneath our clothing, but a great deal has come at the sacrifice of our identity within this country, and linked with the introduction of so many different changes to our lifestyle, I think people in general have become lost and confused, swallowed into the daily routine that dictates who we are and what we should become. Surely there has to be some point where we can no longer continue as we are, after all the one thing we do know from history is that all Empires eventually fall. Recent days within the banking industry has highlighted the signs of strain on our way of life, are the days of Modern Man numbered? I can only speculate about the future, and one direction the world could take, I have highlighted that in my writing, and I do believe that only a catastrophic disaster will end the world as we know it and give us the chance to rebuild in a way more fitting for the community based way of life we once knew in the past. If it does happen, lets hope we use more common sense and less political correctness, and greed to address the way we live, and treat each other more respectfully, so that everyone will understand the importance of those around them, as we all once did.

I am labelled ‘Dreamer’ for my views, and in many ways I am, after all I have chosen the path of a writer, but it was once said that the dreamers of the world chose to take the giant steps that inspire man to move forward, and if making another person think about our world influences a change, surely that must be a good thing. I have created a world in which I would feel very much at home, and if I am honest, because I chose to write about it, I do spend a great deal of my time living within it, I just think it would be wonderful to put down my pen, turn around, and find I am still there.

Simple Symbolism (Writing depth)

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Rob

The butterfly

When I first began to write The Heirs to the kingdom, I wanted the story to be a simple tale that would captivate and inspire the reader. But being the person I am, and a lover of tales with many meanings, I also wanted to create a story, which could have many layers that if the reader so wished, they could strip them away to look deeper into the story and the characters.

In the heirs to the kingdom, I have employed many different techniques to add greater depth, such as word play, name meanings, and cryptic rhymes, although in most cases I have kept them very simple, but in one area more than most I have used a great deal of symbolism. The Character of Runestone comes across in the books as being a simple living, deeply caring, attractive young woman, in whom my lead character is very much in love with, and yet she is without doubt, the hardest character to write as she is the most complex of all the characters in the books.

For Runestone I have employed a huge amount of simple symbolism around her, to help reinforce whom she is as the complex woman learning to deal with the many talents for magic and life buried deep within her. I spent a long time putting her character together as I took small parts of many people with whom I had interacted over the years, and then looked for a symbol that would encompass of the qualities that fitted her. The symbol I chose was one that at its most basic level, everyone could identify with, and as I began to work on the second book, I started to weave it into her story and created the union of Runestone with the Butterfly.

I love butterflies, I am sure you do too, for me and many ancient civilizations, it is the ultimate symbol of freedom and the beauty of the wild countryside, and also the most identified symbol of Nature, all of which are important in linking in with Runestone. The butterfly can be seen almost on a daily basis in today’s modern life, as it is used in a million different ways in our culture today, such is the power of this insect for which many of us only manage to get a fleeting glimpse each year.

For thousands of years it has been heralded as the ultimate natural symbol of women, and it has been linked with the qualities of serene beauty and feminine demure. It was once thought of as the carrier of knowledge, due to the fact that it possessed the ability to travel freely within the world and evade the watchful eye of man. Runestone use it to carry messages and also her magical power of life to her grandfather, and also the high lord of the woodland. The Celts linked it with the power to transcend this world and visit other realms to explain its fleeting sightings in the summer, mainly due to the fact that its life was so short lived and therefore it was absent from the landscape for the majority of the year, and explained away as being in another world.

The most important link with Runestone and the butterfly is that of the transformation from one being into another. As the story of HTTK begins, Rune is a young girl approaching womanhood (A physical transformation) and as the story proceeds throughout the entire series, she embarks on a change from the young woman into the female magical entity her destiny has preordained for her. Nothing symbolises this more than the transformation of a plain nondescript caterpillar, into the creature of abject beauty and wonder that it becomes when it emerges from the chrysalis. It paints a potent image, and helps explain what is really going on mentally, physically and spiritually with Runestone.

One thing that has always appealed to me, is this transformation from one state of being into another, helps mankind understand that change is always possible. No matter what we do, or where we end up, we have this wonderful symbol to inspire us, and yes, we can all change if we want to.

Alternative venues for Authors.

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Rob

For most writers the experience of actually writing is a very solitary one, and that is very much the case for myself. I find that I need a certain amount of isolation when writing just so that I can fully concentrate on the story and nothing else, after all writers want to do their very best for their readers.

Having said that, it is a wonderful and in many ways liberating experience to switch off the computer and head outdoors, to meet and greet those who are actively interested in what I write about. Such was the case last weekend where I packed up my computer and a box or two of stock, and headed to Bolton in the northwest of the UK to participate in the Autumn Festival, a medieval based markets event.

Bolton has a rich medieval past and was once my home, so for myself it is a place that is close to my heart. I have been involved with this festival for some time now as a trader, I began by selling my plant stocks there, and as my horticultural business dwindled, I continued by using the event to help publicise my HTTK books. I share a modest stand with my fiancée who has her Jaded Opals jewellery business, and we don our costumes and join in to help make the event fun for everyone. It is a wonderful family event and our two children join in, and in many ways I suppose it is an odd sort of place to find an author and his work, but for me that is part of the appeal.

With two books on display and a third being heavily advertised for release in the coming month, I am now in a position where I can talk to people who have read the first two books, and it is without doubt a rich and very enlightening experience. One particular member of the public already comes to mind as I write this, I think it was the way that her eyes sparkled, and her smile as she spoke to me about my second book, which has kept the memory of her visit so prominent in my thoughts. Seeing the enjoyment of someone who has read the books is simply wonderful to behold, to hear another person actually talk with great affection for those characters I have spent so many hours creating, really does warm my heart.

In many ways it reminds me so much of my youth, and when I read some of my favourite books, and I do feel a little cheated, as I have never had the opportunity to talk to those great authors who I admire so much about their own work. I must confess I would have loved nothing more than to sit with Tolkein, or Harper Lee and let them know of the excitement I felt stir deep inside me as I ingested every line of their stories, and so as a new author especially, I feel that being available to those who wish to share their thoughts of the books is particularly important. I have never expected to be the biggest selling author, but to those few of you who have read the books and come along to support me, I am happy that you have enjoyed them, and it was delightful to have had the experience of meeting you all at such a wonderful event.

Today’s publishing industry is in a state of flux, and many authors like myself are experiencing the wastelands, as publishing houses shrink their lists of authors and focus on household names. Self publishing is becoming the fastest growing area of publishing as more and more of us find it impossible to get a foot in the door, events such as the Autumn Festival may seem like an odd place to promote, yet more and more authors are now being forced to go it alone, and seek out places that they can meet and sell directly to the public. With large online and chain store retailers slashing the prices of books, it does look like it is a good deal for the public, but it is getting harder for authors to make a living, and our only means of survival will be to find other venues. I think this will become a fairly standard practice for authors, especially new one like myself, as it is our only means of being able to earn enough money to continue writing. On a more personal note I actually think it is better for us, listening and responding to the readers is the life blood of a writer, and that public engagement is actually immensely inspiring. I have really enjoyed my chance to get out there and be seen, and I hope there will be many more events in the future to set up my pitch alongside my family, and let all of you see what I have done and maybe give you a few hints about what I am about to do.

To have your support is very humbling, and it adds to the joy of writing, and I feel very grateful for it, until we meet at yet another event I wish you well, and send you my deepest thanks, and look forward to our next encounter.

heirstothekingdom.com blog

Robin John Morgan shares his thoughts on Life, Writing, Publishing and his published works

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