Tag Archives: adventure

The Final Circle.

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When it comes to Heirs to the Kingdom, you have probably noticed that it’s all about Circles. It has become one of the most important aspects of the story, as everyone is interwoven into groups and circles of friendships that all revolve around each other. This is a reflection of my own life, as I have wandered from circle to circle, never really belonging to any one circle, and yet welcomed in many. Life in itself is a circle, and I feel it has shaped and influenced my own life in such a way, that it simply appeared obvious that I would include it in my series, which is based around the life of two families and their circles of influence.

Book Eight "The Circle of DarknessOne circle that has been hidden for most of the books is the one that will be used to title the final book, “The Circle of Darkness.” This is the final circle, which revolves around the family line of Morgan le Fey, and for most of the series has been hidden in plain view from everyone, including the characters, which is why it took seven previous books to arrive at it.

Throughout all the books I have brought snippets of the family of Morgan into the tale and slipped them out, almost as if this whole series has been one circle that the reader would enter for a brief time and then move on to another, and in doing this it has helped me as the Author to show you a glimpse, and then snatch in from view again, so that the reader has never truly understood how the line of Morgan became so powerful, but all of that is about to change.

There is a fascinating backstory here of mystery and devious behaviour, and it is my hope that the final book will cast some light into a very dark place and illuminate the whole story of HTTK in doing so. It has not been the easiest of the books to write, and as with everything I have added to Kingdom, I hope it is enough to really make you want to go back and look through all the books again and seek out those Aha! Moments, as you start to fully understand all those little bits of information woven throughout the first seven. Whenever I have been questioned in the past, I have always responded with “Everything is written for a reason,” and I hope that becomes clear in the final book.

The Circle of Darkness has taken longer than any of the series to write, and yet I have enjoyed putting it together immensely. As I began to write this book, I suddenly started to realise how large a world I had created in my head, and as I sifted through piles of notes to make a start, I must admit I found myself reading something I had written up a note years ago, and simply sat reading, which did somewhat slow the process.

This final book has allowed me to bring in one realm I planned in 2002, Florae, the realm created by Hearne and Eve especially for the Fae of Earth, which could only be accessed from the world of men via the doorway on the Violet Isle. Florae for me is a Utopian dream, a place where one truly is at one with nature, where nothing is wasted and every aspect of life is lived in harmony with nature. It is indeed a place I would live happily to the end of my days, surrounded by green life and beauty, and a place where I could rest my mind and simply relax.

Florae was ruled for ages by Queen Bridget Violet, the equal of Rhiannon and grandmother to Gwendolyn, and was built by her husband Malcolm, and her son Ninian, And considering who Runestone actually is, you will understand the wisdom of Gwendolyn, and her passing of a future Queen of Florae to the care of the Woodland Realm. This book will not reveal all of the life of Bridget, but it will show enough for you to understand her wisdom and care of her people, and yes there is still a good backstory there for later days.

As with all previous books I shall bring forth new characters, a few in particular that I absolutely loved creating for you, two such characters will be Branna and Tila. These two are poles apart in their character and philosophy towards life, and I hope you will all enjoy meeting them. Like all things characters will come and go as the book draws to its conclusion, which again I hope is as unpredictable as the ends of the others have been.

I have to confess I will miss many of these characters I created. The confusion and profound simplicity of Fagan, who Jade understands completely. Those dithering moments of Woody before Una took charge of him, the confidence of Jett and Blades in the thick of the fight. Opal, oh how I will miss her calm and insightful conversations, and also Steph, the voice of reason in the midst of nerves, or her absolute revulsion at the menu. Robbie, Runestone, Rowan and Jade have been the focus of many long nights planning their love and lives, be it woodsman boots under a wedding dress, or Robbie’s endless confusion of the family he married into. It has been so wonderful, like the moment Sapphire kissed Robbie in the cave, and my wife became outraged with her, or the text message I got over one of her favourite characters that simply read,  “If you kill him, I am divorcing you.” And as I reassured her at the time, “keep reading.” It has been a wonderful journey.

Heirs to the Kingdom

Heirs to the Kingdom has always been the story of life, with its loves and pains, and learned wisdom, from all that happens. Much of this tale has been taken from real life and given a fantasy twist, but if you look deep enough, I am sure there is much to take away from it. I never realised when I began to seriously write that first terrible draft back in 2007 that it would grow to be such a detailed and inspiring tale. I do think I greatly underestimated how much I would come to love these characters, and the realms in which they lived. My life since that day has been filled with excited conversations, wonderful emails, and some very long nights working quietly in the darkness, lost in a world that is alive in my head. It has been such a thrill to create it, and if just one person falls in love with my world and lives through a thrilling adventure in their thoughts, I will feel satisfied and a little less insecure about putting it all together, and out in print.

The wait will not be much longer as the final manuscript is edited and formatted, and soon you will hold it in print, and it is my hope, you enjoy it as much as I have creating it. Heirs to the Kingdom is not the biggest seller, or the most popular, but the love shown it by such a dedicated few, made it feel like the world’s biggest best seller to me, and I am so deeply grateful for the love you have shown to it. Thank you.

Time to leave the Woodland.

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The Circle of Darkness : heirs to the Kingdom Book Eight, By Robin John Morgan

In December 2017 I sat alone with a pad, and made 10 bullet points of what were the most important aspects of my fantasy adventure story, Heirs to the Kingdom. Once done, I opened my computer and started to write what was to become the final book in this series. It has been a long journey through woodlands and forests, mountains and lakes, and it has been an epic adventure that has occupied my thoughts since way back in 1987, when I first made up a short tale so as not to end a bed time story too soon.

On March 3rd 2020, I handed my wife a USB stick with the completed and edited manuscript having decided the book was complete, and she is now currently reading the full draft for the first time. She has read a rough version, which was back in November 2019, but I wanted her to be the first to read it as I intend to present it to every other reader. This version is much more polished and has a further 15 thousand words.

The couple of years have been a trying time for my family, we have faced problems and health issues throughout all of our close friends and family, and I cannot deny there has been a few times where the stress levels reached a peak, and it made writing impossible, and so this book has taken more time than any of the other Kingdom series, and I have been acutely aware throughout all the writing that the readers of this tale were becoming impatient. It has not been easy, but I am so delighted to finally say it’s done, and it’s coming, as it is no longer in my control as it has now entered the Publishers for formatting into the book.

The time has come for me to leave the woodland, in many ways it is a bitter sweet experience, as I began the first real attempt of writing this tale back in 2007, and so I have grown to know these characters as well as my family and friends, and walking away is not that easy, as I still get ideas and pencil them down of adventures they could still have. I will not say this is it, I am done, because as I have learned over the years, my mind controls the stories I write, and if a great idea arises, I will sit and write it, it is who I have become.

Cover : The Circle of Darkness. HTTK Book 8

Part of writing this book involved looking backwards, and in order to fill in those important blanks, I have written more of the back story, one part in particular which had many new characters, has had an extensive work up and is in itself a small book, some of it will appear in the last book, as I literally copied and pasted sections of the past into book eight. I do think I will finish it and polish it, and I will probably at some future date put it out there, as I think it can be read as a standalone book, or an addition to Kingdom. Which is why when you open the cover of book 8, you will see under the title on the first page, “Of the Ravens of Berengar” in italics.

The kingdom will continue, in so much as I have more to blog and plenty to add to the web pages, which have been a little neglected due to life and the pressure of getting this last book out, no doubt there is more to come, and maybe there are one or two lose strings that have yet to be tied up.

No one knows what the future may bring, and sadly people like Sapphire are not around to guide me, so for the future what I can say without any doubt, is I will keep looking into interesting things, talking to open minded people, and enjoy them sharing their ideas and experiences of life, and throughout all of that, maybe I will find another group of characters, who are simply so interesting, I will have no choice but to write about them.

Heirs to the Kingdom Book Eight : The Circle of Darkness will be here shortly, and I hope I have lived up to your expectations.

Zandra’s Revenge

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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. ?

March 21st 1918

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“Too many good men have been wounded or lost in battle. Too many mothers have wept at the loss of their sons, those left standing this day will call themselves the victors, but no one has won here, for if the price to be paid is the spilled blood of good men, then there can be no victory for anyone. War is caused by those few who yearn for greed or power, and their blood is always too precious to spill on the grass, so innocent men die in their place. Those that start wars always survive them with greater riches or power, and many families weep for the loss of their young. Tell me Rowan, where is the honour or victory in that?”
Robert of Loxley “Heirs to the Kingdom Book Eight.”

 

 

On the thirteenth of April 2018, I travelled with my father to a service at Manchester Cathedral.

 

Manchester Hill Remembered was a tribute to those who were wounded or killed during World War One, on a small hill just outside the town of Saint-Quentin in Northern France, on March 21st 1918.

 

For myself it was a chance to fit yet more pieces into the puzzle of my family history, and learn a little more about a man I never met, as he died before I was born, my grandfather. For my father, it meant a great deal more, for he remembered the man who returned from war and conceived a male child, who he would grow to love and then lose by age nine. I cannot imagine how my dad felt watching the show, all I could think of was how awful it was that one day after his ninth birthday, he would lose his own father, due mainly to his wounds that he received in service to his country on that cold stark hill in Northern France.

My grandfather William Morgan.

Private William Morgan, was one of many members of 16th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment that fought a brutal fight through fog and mustard gas, which resulted in him being shot in the head and left for dead, on what today is known as Manchester Hill. After the battle where the Germans took 1500 prisoners of war, my grandfather was listed as missing in action. I cannot say how horrible that must have been for my grandmother, who would have waited in hope for a miracle, and prayed her husband was not dead.
It was sometime later that she discovered that my grandfather had been taken by the Germans to a hospital where he was tended to and nursed, and thanks to their compassion, he finished the war as a prisoner, and returned home after a lasting deal for peace was reached. It was after the war in 1938 that my father was born, and then later in 1964 I came along. Thanks to the German forces I am here today, it could have been a very different story if they had left him to die on the battlefield.

 

168 members of the Manchester Regiment stood against a massive German army that day, and only 17 managed to make it back to the British camp when it was done. 79 lost their lives, and the rest were wounded in the brutal fight, or taken prisoner by the German forces. It is startling to realise that they were mostly aged 18 to 21 years old.

 

The total number of killed and wounded during World War One, both military and civilian, is generally estimated to be about 37 million. There were16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The statistics for those who died include 9.7 million military personnel and about 6.8 million civilians. Allied losses were 5.7 million and the opposing forces about 4 million. Just to put that in perspective, that is a about half the population of the UK today.

 

Most people are unaware of these statistics, most people do not even realise that this year marks the hundredth anniversary of the battle of Manchester Hill, or even that World War One lasted from July 28th 1914, until November 11th 1918. I have asked a lot of people of late, as I knew a while ago I had been booked a ticket for this event, hardly anyone I know remembered that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One. How quickly it has faded out of the memory of the masses, and maybe that is why we are still starting wars all over the planet.

 

Tonight I stood in a cathedral in the heart of Manchester, and I witnessed many relatives who attended, talk with reverence about their family members, but the thing that left me lost for words, was that all of them were grandchildren of lost soldiers. My father was the only person there who had lost a parent who had fought in the Great War; it was a surreal feeling as I watched the startled and amazed looks of those who spoke to him.
As I sat on the train tonight travelling home, I thought of my daughter. She is nine years old, exactly the same age as my father was when he lost his dad, and I could not bear the thought of her having to deal with the loss of me. How could anyone ask that of a nine year old? My father grew up watching his dad deal with shell shock and mustard gas poisoning, and the after effects of being shot in the head, in one of the worst days of fighting in World War One. He saw how it affected him, even though he was only nine, he learned to understand that, even though his dad never talked of any aspect of the war, and it breaks my heart to think of that.

 

All my life, I have studied the effects of war, and those of you who know me in person, know how opposed to war I am. For ten years I have been writing Heirs to the Kingdom, a series about life set to a backdrop of fear and war. I have explored all my thoughts and feelings throughout the books, and as you can see from the passage above, which will be in the final book of the series, I cannot and do not understand why we cannot learn the wisdom we have gained from fighting two world wars, let alone all those that have followed.

 

No one wins in war. It is easy as Brits to fill our chests with pride, and boast about how we won two World Wars, but did we really?

 

37 million dead, how is that a victory?

 

A whole generation wiped from the slate forever, and 37 million families destroyed with grief. Was it not bad enough we did not learn from one World War, and we had to have another 20 years later? If we cannot look to the past, to learn for the future, how can we even call ourselves a race of humanity?

 

Too many have forgotten that our free speech and democracy were bought and paid for in the blood of two world wars, we must learn to move forward in understanding of that sacrifice, and strive to live in peace. Schools betray our children by not teaching them enough of our history, so they too can learn the lessons of our past and prevent them from being our future. It bothers me that Gallipoli, The Somme, Manchester Hill, Dunkirk, and Normandy are no longer important aspects of modern education, no one should forget that most of those soldiers who died, did so to make a difference in the world, and give all of us the freedom to live as we have chosen today.

 

I shall not forget this night, watching a proud son share the story of his brave father, and I shall never forget the sadness on his 80 year old face as he did so, for it was clear how much he has missed his father. I have been anti-war and a flag bearer of personal freedom for most of my life, but tonight it hit me hard. For it was whilst I stood in the beautiful surroundings of Manchester Cathedral, a sacred place to so many, I watched a screen about those brave men and I realised why I have so much freedom. My grandfather survived the war, I am so lucky as from that brave recovery my father was born. But as the names of those who lost their lives slowly slid up the screen before me, I understood that those were the names of the men that gave me their freedom to live as I chose, and it is a mighty precious gift indeed.

 

We should never forget them.

 

There is no victory for a country that has to pay such a high price, as the blood of our sons on the grass of a distant nation.

Happy New Year.

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As the clock strikes midnight, and we all move from one year into another, I guess I will not be that sad to see 2017 end, its not be the easiest of years.

2017 has felt like the popular theme of my HTTK work, I have faced some pretty overwhelming odds and had to fight my way through. The year began in what for me is a creative frenzy, and I was inspired and working really well, but unfortunately it was not long before life began to tap me on the shoulder, and point out that things were occurring which required a great deal of my attention.

This country has seen some pretty major upheavals in recent years, and the most significant being the Brexit vote, at first I was not overly concerned, but after several years of Austerity cuts in this country, it became very clear that the book market was suffering, as people had less and less for a luxury product such as books.

A great deal of my attention was switched to promotion, as I had to don my VCP hat, and do what I could to help bolster the promotions, to try and find new audiences for not just myself, but the other authors I represent, and that at times has meant prioritising their work over my own. It has been a long and hard struggle to get the word out this year, especially against the bigger publishers who were feeling the same bite, and pushed more of their resources into promotion on levels I could not possibly compete with. It’s been a creative year there is no doubt, as VCP has expanded in many more ways on social media and networking, to find audiences with more disposable income. It has felt like a long hard struggle, and at times I cannot deny it has been exhausting.

My greatest set back has been in the form of simple life, events and growing issues around family have diverted a great deal of my attention away from writing into dealing with day to day life. Emotionally this has been the toughest year I have had for some years, and it has been hard to focus on writing in the small amounts of down time I have had between drama and the problems around me. I have felt very frustrated for a great deal of the year, and torn between VCP, HTTK and Family, not the best recipe for focused writing.

It’s not all grim news, HTTK is alive and well, and even though I started out 2017 with an ambitious project of getting two books ready for print, I have completed a considerable amount of my goal, and both stories have had a significant amount done on them. My aim for the quieter moments of 2018 is to start and get them finished ASAP. HTTK eight is my priority, which will then be followed up later with a related story, which will take the story right back to the start of everything, and open up the back story of how the Merle worked its way into the line of the Dark One. Both are in good shape and just need to be completed, I have written a huge amount on the back story, which has allowed me to weave elements of it into the final book of the HTTK series, and as I start this new year, the last HTTK edition and getting it finished is my priority.

I am feeling the pressure to get more readers, and finish the book, and also to make this a book worth reading.

To all of you who have shown such great loyalty to my work, I wish you every happiness for this New Year. I hope that the paths you walk are greener and shaded from the brightness of distraction, and the focus of your lives this year is peaceful, safe, and productive.

Happy New Year to you all.

December 22nd 2007.

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The Market Garden Shop December 2007

 

The picture on this post is possibly the last picture taken of the “Market Garden Shop” on Denton Market, it may even be the last picture of a trading shop on the market ever. It was taken on December 14th 2007, and within eight days of this moment, sadly the market and this little shop was closed forever bringing an end to 147 years of Market Trading Tradition in Denton, Greater Manchester in the UK.

Today 22nd of December 2017 is not such a great day for myself and a great friend, as today marks ten years since we lost our business to a council hell bent on ignoring the wishes of those who used the market, and their ambition to create a town plaza in Denton. It is yet another example of how local councils ride rough shot over ordinary people to achieve a pointless goal. The plaza that is now empty of life and has killed off a great deal of the surrounding business has been yet another very expensive nail in the coffin of local community.

For my good friend Pru and myself, we fought a long and hard campaign to try and save the market, but the odds were always against us, and for our efforts we paid a very high price. Our health suffered greatly and we lost the one thing we loved the most, we lost our market trading businesses. The people lost so much more, especially when you consider the impact that local communities have felt in the last eight years of austerity. Never before has there been a greater need for traders who work on smaller margins to keep prices low for the poorer members of our communities, never has there been a greater need for Market Traders.

We warned back in 2007 that all the local markets would be hit hard, and today we can see we were right and should have been listened to, but our warnings fell on deaf ears, and the cost that has been paid will be felt this Christmas by a lot of people, our markets stand shrunken, overpriced and almost empty.

It has taken me ten years to recover from that terrible time, it’s been a process that was long and hard and at great personal cost, and I have been asked many times if a regret the fight that cost me everything? I regret that I lost everything; I will never regret facing the overwhelming odds of a fight that took everything I had. I fought for what was right, and I still believe that it was the correct thing to do for the many people of Denton who needed a voice. I am sorry that Pru and myself could not bring the small victory our customers hoped for, and have always regretted that, but I think we can both say, we did our best in an impossible situation.

I have many happy memories of working on the market, and today as I look back, they will bring me some cheer. Markets were the life blood of our communities at one time, they were filled with so many different kinds of people, and I was always proud to be there to serve them. I have met many very kind people, many grumpy old souls, and some of the most bonkers people ever, I have not forgotten them, I never will, and so today I feel a little sadness.

All things end, and life no matter how bleak eventually brightens up. The light at the end of the tunnel was my decision to recover my health and change my career, and as a result I became a full time writer. My stories contain some of the struggle of those times, and some of the joys, life for me changed but the darkness of those times shaped the way I tell my stories, and that is the positive in my own personal story. This tiny little wooden shop meant so much to me at the time, and sat here ten years later it means even more. It is here in this little wooden building that the quiet moments of thought and talk with friends brought about the motivation that began another journey. On December 22nd 2007 I locked up my shop forever, and even though it has been demolished, and wiped from this earth, there on that cold empty plaza is a spot that will remain in my heart forever.

That spot to me is sacred, for it was there that I looked at my friend Louis, and told him of a story I had been working on for years, and I had begun to write it at last. In that little shop the very first draft of “The Bowman of Loxley” came into being, it was part one of a story that I had no idea would grow to a series of eight books, and bring pleasure to readers in many other countries from the one that I lived in. The Market Garden Shop, even though wiped from the face of the earth, is the birth place of Heirs to the Kingdom.

Let’s see the council try and take that away from me.

Merry Christmas Pru, and Louis, thanks for all your support and inspiration.

Blessed Yule Robbie, Runestone, and the Specialists.

 

The Inspiration of a Parent.

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It suddenly dawned on me the other day what a creative family I come from.

I was stood inside a small room at Burnage library in Manchester UK watching my father, who is a published poet, talking to a gathered audience about his life as a small child in the second world war, and reading out some of the poetry that had been inspired by those times, when I realise what an incredible guy my father was.

I guess I always wondered when I was younger, why I had this lightening mind filled with dialogue and images that just pulsed with creativity, and yet there in that room it hit me, because the depths of his creativity was what I also saw in myself, and my daughter of 8 years. It was then I began to understand that maybe this could well be the reason why my family is actually quite involved in the arts and crafts.

I have an older brother who works for the courts, but in his spare time makes the most incredible scale models of trains and planes etc. I have no idea where he gets the patience from to create such beautiful detail. I have another brother who is very involved with the stage, and even though only an amateur, is a really creative and stunning performer, who has had several awards for his acting, I have often wondered why he never took it further than he has, because he truly could pull it off. He is also hugely talented sketch artist, he does not draw nearly enough, and I would love his talent, for I am a very frustrated artist who paints very poorly. 

My little brother is an avid football fan, well we all have one in the family don’t we? I should also say he also a really hard working DJ, who has brought a lot of happiness and smiles to a great many people, especially children in his work. His ability to create on the spot and make people happy is indeed a massively create skill. And there in the middle is little ole me, the weird one of the family, who rebelled from day one, and blazed a trail of colour through the 1970’s with his hippie mates. At the grand old age of 43, I got busted writing something by a friend, and here I am today having finally confessed to my hidden passion, a published Author of fantasy and adventure, we are a busy lot and no mistake.

It was an odd sort of moment, because as we all know, hair or eye colour tend to run in families but it got me thinking, is this why my days are spent writing as I pulse with creative inspirations, is it actually a family thing that is somehow implanted into our DNA at birth, or is it something else?

There are four boys that as kids fought like cat and dog, I have always thought all of us as are different as chalk and cheese, and yet stood watching my father listening to his words, I could see his attention to detail that would match that of a model maker. I felt the laughter from the group, as he turned on the character for each of his poems, reading some with a broad Lancashire accent like an actor would, and I smiled to see that he has such wide tastes in most things, which is a quality of my little brother in his musical appreciations.

The most surprising thing was listening to his well-crafted words, and the very delicate way in which he fitted them together to create such wonderful and descriptive passages. He spoke of how he creates his written words and is surprised as he reads them back to himself, and there I was looking at an older version of me, and understanding I was actually the younger version of him. I have always felt the odd one out, I honestly felt I was different from all my brothers, but it was there in that silent room, that I understood probably for the first time in my life that I was not different, I was in actual fact one quarter of the man who created me, and the other three pieces are all securely implanted within my other three brothers.

For many years I have always written within my stories that we are all the sum total of those who came before us, it is something I deeply believe to be a massively important factor of every person’s life, and here for the first time in my own life, I was watching it live. Behind us through the annals of time, we all have that long line of people who met, fell in love, and survived long enough to bring children into the world, and the further back we go the stronger that survival skill must have been. But, I actually think that not only that, there is now a very long line of creative people who must have used their skills to help or entertain all of those who came before us. I love the idea of that, somewhere in the darkness of the past, there must have been entertainers, writers, builders and poets, and they have all carried that DNA that I see around me in my living family today. It’s a wonderful thought, and for a moment as I watched my father, I felt a huge sense of pride.

All of us must have these connections, and I would say to everyone who reads this, take a long slow look and let your imagination flow, look at your parents and find those skills and traits that stand out in them, and then see if you or your siblings have them. Think back, and maybe you too will understand the honour all of us must share in the past of humanity, and the very small part our families have played to bring it forward into these times.

My father is a pretty amazing guy, every day he teaches me, which at my age is a massively wonderful thing. If you are reading this Dad, thanks, I love you, and thanks for such a wonderful gift that I hope I will pass on to my daughter, for through her, I now understand both of us like all our ancestors will live forever.

Just so know, it may be your DNA, but the royalties from the books are still mine 🙂

The Bonds of the Specialists

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A couple of nights ago, I had the chance to meet up with people who in most cases I have not seen in thirty years. A very old friend of mine from my teenage years was fifty, and out of the blue I received an invite, which is something of a rarity these days as I have very much become quite the recluse over the last ten years.

For me personally, it was a chance to walk down a familiar lane into my past, and for the few hours that we assembled and laughed as we caught up on old times, it felt like I had travelled back through time to an era that was very precious to me. It was amazing how meeting these familiar faces and personalities gave me a strong sense of ease, as there was no awkwardness or long pauses, it was almost as if the assembled group just went from one way of being, straight into a past way of being as the years appeared to shed away, and we simply picked up where we left off.

Like many groups of people from the past, we all grew up together and hung out as teenagers, and with time we followed our career paths or settled down to start our own families, and as a result some of us lost touch. I for one headed off into the world of Horticulture, and my life became long hours of work, which did indeed take me away from the social scene. It was quite an eventful moment to walk into a room and meet those now much aged faces, which still bore the smiles and sparkles within the eyes of people who surprisingly, despite the difficulties of life and age, still wore that familiar air of youth and devilishness that I know so well.

The Dedication from Heirs to the Kingdom Book seven

I was very lucky in my youth to be a part of few social circles, and it is with these circles of very special people from my past that I draw the inspiration for my Specialists within Heirs to the Kingdom. It is these strong bonds from my youth, which have been the back bone of my writing of the group that unite as friends in the common purpose of fighting for freedom from repression. These people of my bygone era are my pool of characteristics and personality traits, which I have blended and shaped to form the strong personalities of my story. The feeling of comradery one feels within the pages of the book, are a very real aspect of my own life, and it has always been my hope to allow the reader to sense the strength of the bond, and hopefully identify with it, and relate it to their own lives and past memories and understand the importance of such connections.

I think it is more and more an important aspect of all our lives these days, especially in the modern times where it is so easy to become despondent with life and isolate ourselves. Modern technology does indeed take us from the group and give us the digital means to remain in contact, but it is also a very isolationist technology, and as my evening amongst old friends proved, it really is no substitute for the real thing of meeting in person. I have chosen a way of life that in itself is isolationist, as I am writer, and in order to focus on the task of assembling my stories, I lock myself away and use a combination of memory and imagination to work out my plots and characters. I am also and have been most of my life very much an introvert who feels like I am always on the edges of any social gathering. When placed in amongst those who I feel comfort around, then I feed off the energy of the moment and can interact with wit and laugh with ease, which probably does explain why these people of my past are so important, not only in fulfilling a part of my life as a human being who needs interaction, but also as the source of the deep bonds that binds us all.

In Modern life it is so easy to become distracted, and without realising it suddenly find the threads of our life are broken, I watch people sat in café’s and on the street as they look down at their phones, and go about their lives staring at their screens, without really noticing what is going on around them. These devices that enable us to communicate, I think most of the time work against the principle of their invention. It concerns me that in today’s modern world we consume small soundbites of friendship, and information as the guide to living, and it feels like we are missing the bigger picture of interaction on a personal level.

When I talk to those who read my books about the story, their comments are always centred around the interaction of the characters. It feels at times like what I see as the normal bond between friends, is fast becoming a major part of the fiction I write. It surprises me when I realise that people crave the same strong bonds and interaction, and yet to ask them to switch off their phone, is like asking them to walk through fire.

Meeting up with these very special people from my past, was such a wonderful experience, and in many ways it has fuelled yet more inspiration for my writing. The ability to sit and talk, share old stories and laugh with each other, was very much a deeply rewarding experience, and as I have remembered the way we once lived and the joy we had from our interactions, I have watched the youth of today and noticed a massive difference that maybe I had not really understood or connected with until now. Today’s modern teenagers do not talk in person, they sit in groups, but they do not face each other and smile, they all sit in rows with their heads down looking at the digital screen and tapping their keys at speed. Will they meet up in 30 years to talk of the fun and wildness of their youth? Will they even recognise each other? I am not certain they will, and I cannot help but feel some sadness.

Maybe the characters I write today will one day have a fictitious relationship that is seen as a snap shot of the past, and maybe the books of the future will be all about interaction via a digital appliance. It is somewhat of a sombre thought indeed, and does to a degree echo my thoughts throughout all of Heirs to the Kingdom, on walking away from the modern world to live a simpler way of life that is not as dependant on technology.

As with all things I will continue to watch the world and it will serve as inspiration for future works, but I think for now it does strike an interesting point, and one  I feel I will continue to discuss amongst friends (In person).

The Author’s Kingdom #21

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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 #20

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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 Monsters of Morgan le Fey

One of the main aspects, and I might add some of the greatest fun when writing HTTK, is all the monsters Morgan creates to face the Specialists, and terrify Harry. Like all things within the books, I have spent some time behind the scenes creating not just the beasts, but also an origin, which is not always seen in the books. I thought today I would walk a devious path and show you a little more of the monsters and how they were created, I also like the fact that this close to Christmas I can add a little horror to the blog.

There is far more to Morgan le Fey than first meets the eye, and this was first hinted at in book two when Leenard and Runestone discuss the black book, which at the time was rumoured to be a myth. The book is the research of a member of the Fae Ofmoon known as Branna, she was placed in Avalon in the days before Rhiannon arrived, and her research was focused on the secrets of the Merle. Branna discovered a way to use the Merle to corrupt the creations of Hearne and Eve,and  she documented her work and mixed it with Fae magic with devastating results. This was a very long time ago, and the magic at the time was very rough and crude.

The book was hidden from Maud, one of Branna’s children, as Branna felt that Maud was far too destructive and dangerous to possess it, but when Morgan first began her work within the Whites Lines, she realised the power she could have if she could mix the two, and as a result she spent an age seeking the Black Book for her own. How she acquired I cannot at this point say, as it does have a part in the final book of the series, but I can say that she immediately began to work on improving all of Branna’s research.

Smoggets/Soul Taker.

In book three the group enter the castle of Morgan le Fey, and they encounter many vile creations, one of which appears at first relatively harmless, but this particular creature was created by Branna as one of her first weapons. The Smogget, as named by Jade at the time, was actually referred to as a Soul Taker by Branna. The puffs of smoke seek out a soul, and then begin to copy the image of that soul, as a result they grow into a smoky form that is an identical copy of the container of the soul i.e. a person.

The smoke then solidifies to look solid, and as it deepens in a smoky grey, the creature pulls its victim into a death hug, and as it embraces them, it slides into the body and takes control of it. It is a chilling sight to witness, and the body, soul and mind of the victim are taken over and become a puppet of the master or mistress. In the case of the castle at Dunnottar, it was the Dark One. They can be defeated by either confusing them, hence Ruby and Rowan as they laughed at the Smogget as it writhed to take a form, or once they begin to solidify they are vulnerable for a short time and can be killed with any blade or sharp weapon.

Houlen

Houlen means hole black in the old language, and again they were an experiment of Branna that went horribly wrong. She never managed to perfect the creature which was made by fusing the Merle with a Fae victim. Her problem stemmed from the fact that such was the corruptive power of the merle, the Fae she introduced to it died in horrendous ways. It was later that Morgan le Fey understood that Branna had only used Fae Ofmoon, which were also sky based like the Merle. With a few changes to the spell, and the introduction of Fae of Earth, she realised she could ground the Merle within the body which adapted better to Earth, and as a result she created a line of elegant and attractive dark creatures that had the ability to change at will into horrendous almost rabid like beasts.

They were initially named Houlen (Hole Black) due to the fact that when they changed from Fae like looking people into the skin stripped snarling creatures Robbie faces. Their inner personalities became so vacant, that if you were to look within them, they had become pure darkness and empty of anything remotely seen as a life form. Morgan’s first Houlen were crude but none the less terrifying, but they were earth bound and easily wiped out by the Marshals of Fae. After many years of work she refined them to add an ability to fly by manipulating the Fae ability of popping into a sprite like spirit. She also added an ability to grow increased claws and a capability to secrete a deadly poison or a sleeping poison that burned the body slowly over a prolonged period of time. Both deaths were incredibly painful before the end, and most died long before the full process was complete simply due to exhaustion and fear. I rank the Houlen as probably the most evil of all her creations.

Army of Death.

In book four we finally get to meet Harry’s greatest fear, in book three he sees them but they are dormant, in the fight on the moors he has to face thousands of them. The Army of Death, or as Scarlet names them ‘The Coffin Boys’ are the reanimated soldiers who died in previous battles. There were created to cause fear and it does to some degree work, most soldiers will bolt long before the slow methodical and semi mutilated body’s walk zombie like towards them. All things dead are Harry’s greatest fear, and I must admit I really enjoyed introducing them to him. Writing Harry as he slashed bits off them to find they did not die was a great experience, and there was a great deal of laughter as I sat alone composing each part of the battle scenes. I think the more twisted side of my nature created the Army of the dead specifically for Harry, hence the “Nice Earmuffs” joke from Jett.

Darkmares/Fear Faces

Morgan le Fey created the Fear Faces at Dunnottar as a side experiment of the Black Guard, a fearsome steroid pumped human with unnatural fighting abilities. She found out later that they had been named by Jade Darkmares, and changed the name as she thought it was a far better description. The reasoning behind Jade’s naming was that these leather clad warriors showed no skin or body part, they were encased in leather, with only the single panelled face mask that was removable. As the Darkmare lifted its mask, instead of seeing the soldiers face, you get to see the tortured face of the one you love most, hence your worst nightmare dressed in black, a Darkmare. I honestly cannot remember what actually inspired me to write Darkmare’s, I have a vague memory of being afraid of something, and from that moment I was able to create them and write down my thoughts, as is much the case with a lot of things I write, I am triggered by an event, but alas I cannot remember the source of inspiration. Maybe it is a good thing I no longer remember, what I do remember is writing the passage where Morgan is stood on the beak of her stone raven, as they fly out from the castle and she wails with laughter as she feels they will overcome Robbie and group, to which for a moment they almost did.

Bronteal

The Bronteal were inspired because of my son’s absolute love of dinosaurs. Alfie has a massive knowledge of them that even leaves me scratching my head, because to be honest I have no idea how he remembers the Latin names, let alone is able to translate them in a way that makes absolute sense. I had originally planned for Morgan to release large toothed eels into the waters of the Mirrored Lake, but as Alfie sat there waffling on about how such a Latin name meant actually long necked plant eater, I was so impressed with my son who was about eight at the time, that I put a Brontosaurus with my original eel and created the Bronteal. You can meet them in book six if you want to, although I would suggest you do not swim with them.

Marsh Hounds

The Marsh hound is a natural beast that lives in the marshes of Avalon, although Morgan has captured many and trained these large scruffy haired disgusting dogs for her own purposes. They have foul breath, flee infested matted fur, and much to the surprise of Jade they taste wonderful. I think the lesson here has to be, do not judge your food via the looks, have a taste before standing in judgement. Although it is strongly advised that you do not tell Steph.

The Marsh Hound is based mainly on my fear of large dogs. When I was seven I was bitten on the face by a dog, and as a result I am still afraid or at least untrusting of large dogs. I still have the scars on my face, so the thought of a giant dog snarling at me as it pounded towards me is still something that would cast me into a cold sweat of fear.

I have always felt that one of the greatest weapons you can use is fear, and Morgan who you have to understand has far less powers than those of the circles, uses fear to great effect. I want a new monster to appear in book eight, but as yet have not created one yet. I will at some point find something very scary and terrifying to add to the book, but I want to talk fear with a few people before I go away to concoct them. I was going to provide an explanation of the Piper Dwarves, who you last saw in book three. As you may recall, Robbie shoots at red cloth, and as the figure falls he fears he has killed a child. They did at the time appear to be an odd creature to have in the castle, but as with all things me, they were there for a very good reason, and you will be meeting them again in book eight. The final book is going to take you back to the past and the roots of Morgan le Fey, and part of that journey will show you many of the reasoning behind some of the things you have already met in HTTK, as I have always said, nothing is written without good reason, and so It is my hope to try and make this next book the best one to date, which is no small feat as I have a huge amount of pressure to match, let alone beat all the previous books.

I can promise a lot of monsters, devious acts and some truly inspiring skulduggery, and I hope that it will meet with all your approval.