It is hard to believe, this is my 100th post on this blog.
How the time has flown. This year marks the fifteen year marker of starting to write Heirs to the Kingdom. It feels a little surreal, especially when I look back at all those nights sat alone coming up with ideas, and making notes, that actually led up to me starting to seriously attempt to write a first book in 2007.
Before that fateful May of 2007, I had spent many hours, drawing symbols, writing short back stories, and working out family trees. I even researched the powerful properties of certain gems and stones, all to add extra qualities to each of the characters, and yet at that time prior to 2007, I was not even considering writing something I would publish. HTTK was a little like Dungeons and Dragons, it was simply something I did in my spare time, it was just a little fun, it was never meant to be a serious thing. Being realistic about things, Heirs to the Kingdom has been a work in progress for at least thirty five years of my life, and it still is.
Over the last two months of my life, I have been working some very long hours, as finally, I have the chance to convert everything to digital. If truth be known, I have wanted to do this for a long time, but me and computers are not a good mix. I wanted the eBooks to be as well formatted as the Print books, it is not a hidden secret that I hate the three books put out with a different publisher back 2009 and 10, which was why VCP came about. I wanted more control over the way the books looked, and so when it came to the digital copies, I wanted the same or better. Actually, I wanted better, and so behind the scenes I have been spending some very long hours working on all the books, to create what I am referring to as the 2021 updates.
It is my aim to get out all the digitals, and then when that is done, to update the prints to match. Fifteen years ago, I was new to writing, and I made some pretty rookie formatting and writing mistakes, and so with that in mind, I have made quite a few subtle changes to the books. What I could change was limited, but for those of you who have read these books several times, I am sure you will spot the differences in the digital copies. There are a few substituted words, those missing commas have been added, and a few various other little tweaks have been made, and as a result I think they are without doubt much better copies. None of the story has changed, it is exactly as was, but the flow of the text, and the reading I think is massively better.
I have been none stop writing for fifteen years, and as I picked up the master copies of the manuscripts to start to edit the books from the first to the last, it was very clear how much my writing has changed and improved. As I look at everything I have written, which also includes the Curio Chronicles, as well as some other stuff I have been working on, the one thing I really am overjoyed with, is how my characters have really come to life on the page. Looking back at those early Robbie and Alice moments and certainly the Robbie, Rune relationship, I am thrilled with how through the eight books they developed, and as a result, gave me the confidence to create such wonderful characters as Deadly and Birch in the Curio series.
Kingdom was not an easy series to write, I struggled at times with all the strings that needed to be added and tied together, as the plot had to come together in a way that was simple to the reader. It was so complex at times, just knowing when to end one thread and start another, and yet it was a wonderful learning curve for me as a writer.
I sat in thought a few nights ago and pondered if I could write these eight books better, and in many ways, I think if I wrote them now, they would be a little better than they were fifteen years ago, but maybe that is part of the charm of them. As I look back at other writers, and some of the series I have read over the years, I think maybe it is a right of passage, the first book always feels over time a little less than the others, and I feel with Kingdom that is maybe the case. The Bowman of Loxley is a wonderful book, Carnac and Dunnottar are a real step up, and as for the rest of the series, I feel they improve page by page.
Fifteen years is quite a chunk of time to be learning, and I have learned a great deal, which I feel is evident in what will become another addition to the HTTK journey, as I look to the birthday of Runestone, and Samhain this year, and celebrate the woodland New Year, as I release a new part of this story, and go back to the roots of Heirs to the Kingdom.
I am thrilled with the Rise of the Raven, it is the book everyone expected, and yet this book will be nothing like the reader expects. It is an important part of the Kingdom story, but do not think that what I revealed in the Circle of Darkness will in any way predict what is to come, it won’t. (He smiles) I did a lot of very clever editing in book eight.
The Circle of Darkness, gave tiny little insights, and to be honest it painted a picture to HTTK fans of one way of looking at what this story will be, but trust me when I say, I really think this book will be a huge surprise to many. Again, Branna and Ariel are wonderful characters, and I have loved writing their story, which in itself is such great platform for the start of HTTK, and like all things in my work, there is a good back story to really add depths to each of the characters. This book will be only one part of a story that will take the journey through the darkness, and beyond the eight books, so yes, there will be others, but this is not a series of books like HTTK.
Each book that I have been working on will pick up threads of each other, and also threads of HTTK, and it is my hope they will weave a tapestry that will make all of the books one big and complete adventure. This book marks the start of an adventure that will take you through two books prior to HTTK, and then take you past the eighth book and into Loxley after the final war and beyond. A book to follow Rise of the Raven is my current project, and is half written, and a book to pick up after HTTK is planned out, with a few small parts written parallel to Raven, so there is much more to come.
It does feel a little strange, as for the last few months, I have started on page one of the first book, and gone through each book reading the story for the first time in a long while, and it has surprised me how much I have written, and also reminded me of the joy of writing this story, that evolves around the love of Robbie and Runestone. I have felt very nostalgic of late, but having this story come back to life in all its glorious detail, has been an inspiring process, that has helped with the editing of Raven, and in writing other books that will be part of the Kingdom world.
I guess at the end of the day my obsession with this story is still very alive and healthy, and I am very excited to get on with it, although I am still updating the digitals at the moment, and have my work cut out for me. Each book has landed one per week, and as you have all seen they have moved through the summer and into Autumn. Like all magic, it weaves in strange ways, as does technology, and just as Runestone collected her powers as she learned more, I have shared a similar journey into digital, and advanced programs to write with.
I have much more advanced programs to work with these days, although, I do miss my Windows XP computer, which was where I started, but new technology has been a huge part of advancing and updating these stories, and so hopefully there will be less need for updates in the future.
The Curio Chronicles, will continue to surprise people, there is a great story behind it over the series, and I hope you all follow it, and Heirs to the Kingdom will grow, and who knows what other tales I can manage to bring forth to delight readers? I simply know that I will never stop writing, until I stop breathing, and hopefully there will be enough done, for my wife to keep the tales flowing for long after that.
Never forget, every line was written for a reason, and that is the wonder that is reading and writing.
Rise of the Raven is set for release in October 2021.