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A Slice of A Life.

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I often get asked what my series of stories Heirs to the Kingdom is really about, especially when confronted with a potential new reader, and in many ways the answer can be so complex I am not always certain I can give a direct answer.

The problem I think is actually a very simple one, and that is that there are two real ways to describe the books to another person. The first answer and the most simplest being that of the many stories I have read since youth, I have found many tales end with the rumour that the hero is not really dead and will return one day when the world needs them. It is true of King Arthur and Robin Hood and many more folk tales from our ancient past, I love the idea of this, and I think it is theme that runs through life, we even see it in religions, especially Christianity where we are told one day Christ will return to save us all, and so with that in mind, I chose to return a king, but as in all things there is a twist.

Rather than bring back the one true king to a Britain tore apart after a deadly virus wipes out the larger majority of the population, I looked to a hidden heir. I took the blood line of those heroes of old and zipped through time to the year of 2038 and presented their heir to confront the injustice that was rising in the land in hope that the blood in the veins of the heir would have what it takes to match the honour and courage of those ancients, and fight for was right and moral. Ok so I throw in a lot more just to spice things up, and I give all the characters their own personalities and doubts and worries to boot just to keep it all paced and interesting. In a nut shell I have a reminder of a glorious past mixed with the difficulties of life after a world torn apart; it feels to me like a good recipe for fantasy and adventure.

For anyone who wants a deep and inclusive read, I think and hope it works, but as for myself, the series is far deeper and more interwoven, after all this is me writing the kind of book I want to read, and I think it is quite safe to say, I can be somewhat rebellious and complicated, so what does HTTK represent to me?

In the easiest possible terms HTTK is a Slice of a Life.

Confusing I know, but that is how I see it, and it is for myself the reason I have always wanted to write it all down. Not only is it a slice of life taken from a struggling community who are doing their best to avoid what is seen as their inevitable destruction at the hands of the tyrant Mason Knox, it is and here is the important bit, the experience of my own life of experience’s and observations.

Recently I published the fourth book in the series entitled Queen of the Violet Isle, and at the start of the book I write the equation of Runestone Sapphire, (The lead heroine character of the story). It is a simple theory of a symbol which represents Life, Circle, Line. It is a main theme of the books and also has been the main theme of my life as this simple equation which I have tailored into the theme of the books is how I see what is important in my life. Ok so it does not fit everyone, but don’t forget I am the author and have the joy of knowing I can do anything I want as this is my story.

 

Life: I have questioned and pondered life for most of my own, which I think is not that unusual as most of the world has at some point probably asked why are we here, and what is the purpose of life? We all do it, and I certainly have done it a great deal. I love nothing better than to watch the world and talk to others about what they feel is the answer and even what they feel should be the answer. We are all basically carbon based life forms made of stardust, and whether or not you believe there is some unseen entity who brought it all together, or you believe in the big bang theory is actually irrelevant as all of us hold some unique personal insight deep within us that guides us in an almost spiritual way through life. I have read much on religious feelings on this and the science, and in my own way which is possibly influenced by Tolkien or even Wyndham, I thought it would be a wonderful fantasy to create my own, and so I began to write a tale that would run behind the story of HTTK that recreated the world in a completely different way to the way in which we all perceive the world today. I added mystery and hidden meanings within the story, and layered my ideas of multiple powerful spirits beings known as the Ruling Council within the story. It was a most delightful experience as I got to play with a few Celtic legends and myths, and in doing so I slipped in some of my own beliefs about the world and what comes after. It is all done I hope in a quite subtle way, but it does slip right into the fantasy deep end, and I hope create thought and discussion amongst those who eventually read the series. I will add at this point I do not like blatant direction in writing; hence I weave it slowly through the series of books and wait to see who picks up on it.

Another strongly held feeling of my own is how very precious and important life is. For myself, I feel all life is of the greatest value, unlike much of the world at the moment which is being swallowed by greed, oppression, and conflict. It pains me that the value of a life has become less as I have aged, and it is something that I find really hard to come to terms with, something I know is reflected in my writing, especially with my lead male hero. I actually like that even though he has to take life; he feels the pain of it and does not take it with such ease. I understand survival, and as a vegetarian of almost 35 years, I know if I was thrown into a world wide disaster, I would have no choice but to take life in order to survive and protect those around me, but I can say without any doubt, I would not do it quickly or easily, and having done it, I would never feel at ease or comfortable doing it. 

It is a mark of the human being and the arrogance of mankind that life is defined in terms of their lives. In my world life is everything, and everything is dependant upon each other in order to survive. One of the strongest themes that marks myself as the author and is strewn throughout my story is that of Balance. I feel very deeply that we have lost control of the balance of life as we put what man wants for greed far ahead of all other living things. My life which shows a certain theme of defending life especially that of animals and nature, and it is clear where my mind is on the world today. I have dedicated my whole working life to the preservation of life, either by protecting it via campaigns, or as a horticulturalist creating new life from seeds cuttings and various other techniques, often at the expense of being seen as a crack pot or old hippie tree hugger, for deep within me is that love of this our most precious gift and surprisingly it was never scripted to be any of the stories, it just flowed naturally out as I wrote.

Circle: The circle is such a wonderful symbol, and I love symbolism, so it was only natural I would use it within my stories. The circle is represented in my books mainly via the connections of Runestone Sapphire and her tables of power, and this is not a chance addition to the story. I thought for a very long time about it, years actually. Circles are something every single human being on earth has in common, for we form them naturally around us without thought or consideration. I speak of those bonds we make through life with everyone we meet and know, and if you want to see a glowing example jump over to Google plus and set up a profile, you will soon see those circles forming as you sort through who is who, and who is most important to you. From the moment we are born we are placed into a circle of our own life, be it, immediate family, extended family, in laws, friends, class mates, workmates, drinking buddies, we are surrounded by interlocking circles that defines our life and who we are. When I first scripted out HTTK is was the very first task I set myself so that I could create as a real a replication of life as possible. The books are littered with them, Specialists, Villagers, Lox family members, Fae, Cutters, Generals, as in life you could spend a week drawing the circles and adding them to charts to show how they are all interlinked in one way or another, and it is my hope by defining these circles, again I create a realistic and life like story which will appear almost as real as the readers own life and draw them deeper into the tale.

Line: Have you ever sat and thought very deeply about how you ended up here reading this on your computer? The simple fact is that most people haven’t, they just take for granted the fact that they exist. I use a line within HTTK that states “Look to the past, for it will guide you in the future” and it is something I believe is deeply important to all of us, for we are at the end of the day the sum total of all that have walked before us. It is a glorious thing to behold when you take a moment and begin to understand the actions of every person that has led you to the point of who you are and where we come from. You can travel back thousands of years and be absolute in the knowledge that there is a relative there of yours somewhere. It is something that fascinates me as you begin to see how thousands of chance encounters brought about the partnerships through wars, and depressions, and times of great trials to result in what you see in the mirror everyday.  

My grandfather was at the Somme in 1914 during WW1 and got shot in the head. He was lucky as the German army found him on the battlefield and took him to hospital where he received treatment and was nursed back to health. Have you ever been asked the question if you could travel back in time in a time machine where would you go? I have and my answer would be this. I would go back to that hospital and find those who nursed my Grandfather to health, and I would thank them with all that I have, because my family could very easily have been ended at the moment when the bullet hit him. It was a one in one million chance that he lived, and thanks to the enemy he did, and came home at the end of the war having been a prisoner of the Germans and he created my father, and later on along I came with my brothers to grace the world, and who would have thought it, I became a writer.

Like my story there are threads of chance weaving throughout our own lives that stretch back for thousands of years, and whether or not you choose to accept it, they are deeply significant and important, and we should never forget them. Like the circles they define who we are from the moment we are born, and as a result they should be respected, as we are the living heirs carrying the bloodline of all who have stood before us, we are all heirs to a kingdom.

Life, Circle, Line is the sum total of everyone’s life history, it is your slice of life story and it is the reason why I write Heirs to the Kingdom, for hidden deeply within the circles and lines are my own personal history and the pride I feel in my family line and the circles I have walked through in my life to date. I wanted to write the kind of book that would appeal to me, and in doing so I wove myself through it to bring it to life. So if you ever feel the need to ask what is HTTK really about, well you now know.

 

Live well and honour those who came before you always.

 

Worlds Watching.

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          My books reflect the difference between peoples in this land, and they draw from my experience of growing up at the tail end of the peace and love generation. I have lived through the seventies, a generation I have to admit that although slightly wacky, was actually one I very much identified with. I felt great sadness as we entered the eighties and nineties, as I witnessed the slow decay of a way of being that for me seemed like the only way to live. For the last three decades I have seen with my own eyes, how money and power have crept into society and replaced friendship, and community spirit.

            The world of Mason Knox is not very far from the reality we live in today, and those years of the woodland attitude in my mind are now very much a distant memory. I suppose like all writers, and although in many ways I am still very much at the start of my life as a writer, I do have the added benefit of being able to look back on 40 years of life and report my observations via the stories I write.

            The events of recent days, which has seen a large volcano in Iceland erupt, spewing massive amounts of ash into the atmosphere, has again brought to mind the very reasons that I divided my world in the ‘Heirs to the kingdom’ series into those of Mason Knox, and those of the woodland family of Lox. I very much think that if Mason was indeed a real person today, he would be investing heavily in hotel stock as he grabs an opportunity to jump on the gravy train that is the suffering of those left trapped in foreign lands with cancelled plane flights. Across the world Humanity is being trashed, as the greedy owners of hotels charge up to ten times more per room, per night, to line their pockets from the misfortune of those who are stranded. Today it feels very much like the stories I write are closer to that of the reality of the modern age than even I realised.

            In the past, one of my critics has labelled me a hopeless idealist, and in some ways I had to agree with them, but I also think I am very much a realistic thinker, I have sat for years talking and watching the world around me. It does very much appear at this moment in time, that for Robbie and Runestone, and a great deal of people who read my work, do hold that ideal of family and a peaceful life close to their hearts. I have not met many people who do not dream of a peaceful; and fairer world, where everyone lives in harmony, yet I find it ironic that as a teenager campaigning in the seventies for such a dream, I was scoffed at and ridiculed, yet here I sit each day answering emails and talking on social networks to those who have read HTTK, and they too seem to identify with the themes of my story and dream of the same things for their lives.

            As I sit here I am reminded of my character in the Lost Sword of Carnac, (HTTK Book two) named Fuse. When asked by Robbie what the modern life was all about, he gave his impression of the world he lived in (Today), and in many ways his view of the world feels very apt today, even though it was first written in 2006.  It is fascinating for me as a writer, and as an observer on the world, to see how the story of life in the real world compared to the lives of those in my imagined world pan out. No doubt there are many more chapters in both to follow, and with luck and good health hopefully you can enjoy the journey beside me.

Injecting reality into fantasy.

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            I first began to write the story of Heirs to the kingdom, as a made up addition to blend the folklore stories I told my daughter as a young child, and bring them into a more up to date setting. I had no idea at the time how the tale would expand, and allow me the pleasure of seeing its effect on the many who have began to read it as published work. Back then I jotted down notes so that I could keep the story consistent, more as a means of ensuring my daughter did not spot my inability to remember parts that for her had become special.

            By the time my daughter had grown up, and I actually had the time to sit and think about some of the stories I wanted to write, HTTK had become an elaborate catalogue of notes, filed in some disarray, but none the less a very comprehensive and detailed guide to the first outline of the series. Writing the first draft was not that difficult, as I had told the story thousands of times to my daughter aged four, and it flowed off the printer, a relatively painless experience. At this point I must confess that this has been a story I have worked on off and on for over 15 years, as it held a special place in my heart, and although it was at first somewhat of a child’s tale, it had in parts evolved into a more adult story over time. 

            The very first draft was well received by the few I allowed to read it, but I felt it lacked a great deal, and did not feel real enough to live on the pages. Looking back now I know that the time was not quite right, and the story needed a deeply thought out injection of reality, and it was in the following months as I struggled to hold my shop against the local council who wanted to demolish it, that the reality of HTTK was to become very apparent.

            In the later parts of 2007, I finally lost my shop to the all powerful force of the local council, who under a great deal of pressure finally accepted some of my terms, it was not the best deal on earth, but for the sake of my health, and to end the pressure’s and stress of over a year of living hell, I found a compromise that gave me a chance to end on my own terms. The Christmas and New Year that followed over the next fortnight saw me retire to my home and lock all the doors, as the pressure and exhaustion took its toll. I had reached a crossroads in my life, and in an exhausted state I collapsed into bed and slept, dreamed, and considered my bleak options for the future.

            To be quite blunt, I was indeed very ill, the stress had pushed me to breaking point, I lost everything in the fight to save my shop, and all I had left, was the ability to sit and look back on my life at the ups and downs to try to find some new direction to move onwards. I was escaping from reality by sealing myself in the house and refusing to open the doors, I was ill, alone and needed to hide from the world for a while in order to recover and begin again. My mind whirled with the reflection of the struggle and pain of the last twelve months, as I struggled to come to terms with the injustice I had faced, so I used writing as a daily focus to occupy my mind while it rested from my actual life.

            The time was finally right to put the jigsaw of HTTK together, and filled with reflection from 40 years of life and understanding what I wanted for my own future, I sat with a stack of cigarettes, a full kettle, and a huge pile of cheese and pickle sandwiches and I began to write the story again. With my mind filled with every happy moment, and all those moments of despair from my own life, I began to weave everything I had every felt or experienced into the characters of my story, filling them with a life lived in reality, but set in a world of make believe and fantasy.

            What had began its life as a children’s tale about two young 11 year old children, evolved into the life of two late teenagers, who shared a similar destiny together, in a world that was hard and unfair, and filled with the challenges that day to day life can throw your way unexpectedly. I used all my own thoughts and feelings of my own teenage times, as well as many that I observed from those around me, and wove them into the storyline. The end result was not a true autobiographical account of my life, but it was emotionally accurate. I did reflect on my early life, and the sense of community that surrounded me at that time, and it became an important source to add to the background of the village life, set around the two lead characters. I spent hours looking into the situations of each character to imagine myself in their shoes, and try to understand how I would react before writing in the pages of text, and I also added my hopes and dreams for the future.

           The end result, which will only really be fully understood, when the reader has read the whole series of books, is I hope, a richly filled and accurate account of the life of my two central characters and their adventures as they seek to fulfil, their destiny. I would hope that it does indeed jump into life as the pages are turned, and the reader is drawn deeper into the story, and I can only hope when the last page of the last book is finally closed, that the reader will feel a little sadness as they realise that their time in the realm is over, and like all good holiday, although it was wonderful, it is now time to leave and head back to normal life.  For myself, I think it was a very important learning curve in the process of writing. It felt very personal, and if I thought a certain chapter did not leave me feeling like I was actually there besides the lead characters, I scrapped it, and looked deeper into the personalities of them, before writing it again. 

            The irony of the story is that the journey I undertook in writing HTTK (Which is still ongoing as I write) and bringing it to life, is that it has indeed helped me to understand myself better, and has very much shaped my life. For you the reader as I write this, there are just two books of the series in print as I prepare the third for publication, but for myself I am obviously much further on as I have written this series back to back since New Year 2007. The story, which does contain much of the emotional journeys of my own life, has very much played a role in the shaping of my future. Like all good stories there are hopes and dreams that motivate the characters to continue, and although this is a fantasy adventure story, a little of that hope has passed across into my own life.

             Book two reveals a small character of a child, who plays a more important role in the future of the series named Iona Violet. At the time of writing, I described the sort of child I had always hoped for as a sister to my first daughter, for myself it was just a dream, as I had reached a point in my own life where it was a dream I had given up on. Ironically today as I write this for the blog site, I will celebrate the first birthday of my second daughter, who is in many ways almost the double of the child I wrote about back in 2007. I gave my story the essence of my life, and as a result I have been blessed with a meeting through the books with a person who has turned my whole life around and given that which I thought was never possible. When my partner suggested we name her Iona Jade, I was delighted, and for just a moment, like my characters I did wonder, if destiny was playing itself out in reality. The story and my life now seem to be bound up in a circle, and the story that began with the questions and happiness bound to the early life of my first daughter, have come full circle in the creation of my second daughter, who will begin her life in a similar way, hearing the tales of HTTK.

In conclusion, I now see how what was the worst and most heartbreaking time of my life, has indeed been a source of deep inspiration to my creative work. I must confess, I felt I was in a darkness that could not possibly provide any light, and yet today I see that even from a ruined foundation, there is the hope of building something new and more wonderful than before.