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 Relationships That Bind Us Together.

We are all the sum total of our experiences from the past, none more so than that of family.

Today I want to look at the dynamic of family, and the way it affects the characters within HTTK. It may appear like a strange subject at first, but it is one I can assure you that I have put a huge amount of time and effort into as I have written the books.

Before I began to write Heirs to the Kingdom, I took a long look at all the people that surrounded me, as well as my own life and family interactions. I wanted to write a story that would show the true interactions of people with each other, as well as the close bonds that unite all of us, or to a degree separate us. I wanted as real a portrayal of all the diverse interactions, so that the story held a very real feeling on every level.

I should firstly start with my own observations from my own life just to show the depths I worked at to get the results of the writing of family and friends. I will add at this point that I have also worked in the field of counselling, and so have experienced a lot of different concepts, and in the early days of writing, some of my work in this field did play an important role in how I developed the characters and had them interact.

I have always been a bit of a rebel, and so therefore have to a degree in my life been seen as an outcast from my own family, I have actually spent many years at times isolated and not communicating with my family mainly due to disagreements of ideology. I grew up from age four not seeing or having any contact with my father, which did in many ways have a huge effect on my life and direction. We spent 28 years separated and then finally came together and had to start from scratch, it was not always easy, but today I am pleased to say that the bond we share is very solid. I think the experience has to a degree had a big impact on me, and it also motived me to really push myself to be as good a man as possible, something that I now feel has been an advantage and also a disadvantage. The good thing about all of it was it was great source material for me when I first started writing.

Looking at friends growing up and the relationship they had with the parents has also been great source material in the creation of a few of the characters, and that has added weight to each of them. HTTK contains some very personal thoughts feelings, hopes and dreams from mine and a good few others past, and I have hoped that it has contributed a very realistic feel to the books. So with that in mind I walk into the process that brought some of the characters more to life.

Writing Billy was not as hard as I first thought it would be, I wanted to show how over time he became closer and closer to the family of Lox, and yet deep down inside there was a nagging part of him that felt a loyalty to his true family, and I think this played out across the whole Billy/Sage aspects of the books. In my mind I felt that even though he suffered the brutality of Samuel Moore’s at his father’s orders, and I would say for a time hated his whole family for it, over time as he interacted with his grandfather, who was his only blood relative he had contact with. From my point of view, through this he began to speculate as to what his father had become. This is something I feel I can easily understand, losing your father at four and only finding them again at the age of thirty two played a huge part in the writing. I too grew up wondering what my father’s life was like, and trying to get any little snippet of information I could so that I too could build an accurate picture of him. Even though I kept it out of the first few books, as I unravelled the mysteries of the Sage, I finally allowed him to seriously think about what his father had done, and what that meant to him, which those of you will know now from reading the books lead to a misplaced sense of family when the Sage confronts Mason, and tries to convince him to change his direction. I really enjoyed writing this scene in the books, it did take me a long time to get it as I wanted, and I wanted to show how being in the Lox family had changed him so drastically that his perception of his father had to a degree become a fantasy and idealistic view of who Mason really was.

One of the things I wanted to show as the moment came to a climax, was how suddenly the Sage began to understand that there was no side he belonged to, he was caught in dangerous trap of being stuck in the middle, a feeling I know well from my twenties, where suddenly he realises that his loyalty to any party will not improve his life, and that he is very much on his own and will have to fight to establish something that will be only for him. It’s a really sobering moment of realisation, and I cannot deny I felt a huge feeling of common ground with him where my own life influenced the actions of the character, which again is another reflection of the importance of real life examples influencing the writing.

Moving back to Loxley and the Lox family dynamic was a wholly different approach to family life. I know families like the Lox household, and have been around them often growing up. I think today my own little family is very much a similar comparison, I have two fantastic children and a very loving wife, and that helps me with the way I write, but when I first began to write HTTK that was to be a few years ahead of me, and so I looked to the experience of watching certain families which I will not name and their daily interactions. It is easy to write the Lox family as they do have a close bond with few fireworks, although in book four I tried to show that even the perfect family can have dark moments, and it was here I think my wife to be influenced a lot of what I wrote as I worked Runestone into the equation between Robbie and his Mother who was grief stricken. Here I tried to show the loyalties as they divide, and I think the best example of that was in the form of John Lox. He disagrees with his sister Jess, yet feels a strong bond towards her and understands her grief. He takes a very pregnant and upset Runestone back to Robbie’s Mere. Here we see the strong and powerful John show such care and concern for Rune, who you can clearly see is a very important part of the family in his eyes, and he is caught between her and Jess. It was not the easiest of parts to write, as I had to tip toe through it to try and get the wording to accurately reflect the huge emotions that were surging through everyone at the time. I scrapped it several times before finally settling on a the part that was to make it into the printed book.

Later on we see the grief stricken Robbie try to make sense of the situation after his mother has come round and made things good between them. For this part of the story I deployed my best weapon in all of HTTK, I brought in Runestone’s mother Steph. Let me just say at this point that Steph is based on someone who is no longer with us, but was a very good friend indeed to me in my youth, and I loved her very much as one of my closest friends. During the moment where Robbie is on his way home and stops to talk with Steph, we see that she takes the whole situation apart, and then shows Robbie each piece and how it all relates to him. Again this was not something I wrote easily, as it took a lot of deep thought and careful wording, but It is one of my own personal favourite moments of book four, as I think here we really see the power of Steph and the huge influence she has on everyone, I will add at this point it was no coincidence that her nick name within the group became “Mother.”

One of things that I feel we all to have to do in life is to revaluate as we move from one stage to another. Life presents many challenges, and so we have no choice but to try and adapt as we progress through each experience. One of the best examples of this is Alice.

Towards the end of book one faced with rejection and betrayal, Alice admits that she is pregnant, and has to face the very real fact that Billy has joined his father and betrayed her loyal best friend and Cousin Robbie. She is heartbroken to discover his actions have led to this point, and she questions herself as to why she did not see his flaws in time. The simple fact was she was absolutely in love with him, and to a degree during their time on the farm, Billy had done nothing to raise suspicion. Once they left the farm to travel with the group, as Billy’s apprehension grows, his moods change. She is not aware of the trap he is in as he tries desperately to find a way out that will not result in anyone being hurt. Over the journey she begins to question their relationship, and I think it’s obvious that she at this point must be aware that she suspects she is pregnant. It is a no win situation at that point, and her heartache grows slowly to anger as the act of betrayal takes place and she has to deal with seeing the pain Robbie suffers.

Again here we have a classic situation where her loyalties are pulled apart, and for a young girl in love this presents a massive conflict within her that leads to her growing resentment and anger. This was not the easiest part of the book to write simply because this was one area of life where I could not easily put myself in Alice’s shoes, simply due to my gender, I could only speculate and it was not easy to ask questions of those around me without giving away an important part of the plot for the books end. In my mind I tried to work out how anyone would react knowing this big secret and hiding it, only to discover the truth of the father. I thought it through, and I came to the decision that once Alice realised the truth of Billy, it just added to the size of the secret, in my mind I asked the question how could she speak up now?

I pictured Alice as part of the group being distracted at every moment with this huge problem, and tearing herself apart inside as she firstly came to terms with it on a personal level, and then on a group level. She was surrounded by the others who were very obviously very angry and talking about Billy as Robbie took some time away from them to deal with it himself. Alice could see the effects all around her, and all the time she was carrying his new child. It felt almost impossible to imagine the burden on her shoulders at that point. Finally all is revealed to Robbie at Honey Hill, and we see Robbie comfort her as she feels at least a little relief by sharing the burden.

What comes next is the unexpected shock of her turning to Robbie and making him promise to Robbie that he will kill him if the chance arises. This is a massive ask knowing the closeness of Robbie and Billy, but here we see the position Robbie falls into as he is caught between all the feelings of betrayal he himself is dealing with, along with the massive loyalties he feels to his family and especially his Cousin Alice, who he sees more like a sister. It is an impossible position, and he knows instantly that he is trapped.

Is this love spurned, can love turn to hate so quickly? These are both great questions from the point of view of writing. As the story progresses and it leads to the final confrontation with Billy, as Robbie faces him in that final moment of truth in book four, we see a lot of book one come into play. Robbie has to face his own betrayal, he has to understand the significance of the fight with Mordred in book three, where he realises the Billy he knows is trapped inside, and he commands him to fight to save himself. But more importantly he had given his word to Alice that if the chance arises he will kill Billy. It’s a wonderfully complex and multi layered moment with high emotions and tension. Runestone who is watching and very pregnant herself at the time can hardly bear it, and finally Robbie makes his judgement, which was not an easy one at all, and yet I think it is here we see the true power of the Lox family, and the loyalties they have built within the family for a long time. There is a strong sense of honour in the family, an influence especially given by Robert Lox himself throughout the whole books, Robbie takes the most honourable route and spares Billy’s life under possibly the harshest of conditions, and possibly worse than death. It’s a defining moment, and one Alice hears of and rushes to Robbie’s Mere to confront Robbie in person.

Alice by this point has struck up a relationship with Bear, and given birth to Jessica Sapphire, and for her things have changed as she has had a lot of time to really think deeply. We must not forget the moments of her imprisonment at the hand of Billy, who we discover is his only real option to protect her until the baby comes. Those last fleeting moments with Billy alone before her escape, shows her yet another aspect of the man she knew, and although she feels the confusion and pull at her emotions, finally when the moment comes to a head, she cannot bear the thought of him being killed and wants him to live. It was a challenging moment in the writing as I tried to show all of those moments in the conversation she has with Robbie and again, I have several rejected versions that were deleted before I finally got it the way I wanted.

I think the whole spectrum of the journey taken by Alice  is something we can all identify with, life is not always black and white and navigating those multi layered grey areas is not an easy task. We all must tread carefully and reflectively as we strive to make the right decisions, and if we make the wrong one in the height of high emotions, it is important we take the time to realise and change the path we set out upon, and I think Alice really reflects this aspect of daily life.

On a more personal level I have asked myself many times, what exactly is love? I consider after a life of many twists and turns, that it is indeed where you feel so strongly about another person that all your personal needs become irrelevant. I honestly believe that this other significant person means so much, that their happiness is the single most important thing, and you will move heaven and earth to ensure their happiness, and if they are happy, you take great joy from simply being a part of it. That is my definition, and so that leads me to ask what Jealousy is?

I will add at this point my own view is simply that it is wasted emotion; it serves no purpose at all except to create tension and unhappiness. In this world today, it appears to me that a great part of the populous suffer from this wasted emotion, and to be honest it is my opinion that if more people actually sat down and communicated more often, then we could go a long way to removing the Jealousy that thrives in the world and understand each other far better. The simple fact is that it is my experience that people are simply not open or honest with each other enough. I have three example within HTTK that look at this issue, although I admit such is my intolerance of the subject that I did not really get to a good play through of it until I used an example in book seven. I did want to use it as again I felt it is a real aspect of life, and at the end of the day that was what I wanted to show in HTTK, real life.

My first reference was obviously Billy in the woodland, where he verbally attacks Robbie about being Lord of Loxley. I like this part, as it shows really how stupid people can be when they let their imagination wander and blow things up in their own head. Billy is out of order, but he feels a resentment because he was not given a task as important. He fails to see that Robbie had no idea or warning of what was coming for him. The position was thrust upon him without notice and what real choice did he have sat in a room surrounded by a great deal of Loxley? He took on the job filled with doubt, and tried to include Billy in all of it, but the jealousy was such Billy could not see the simple facts of the truth of the matter. I thought at the time of writing it served as a good example of my own feelings, because let’s be honest here, we all thought Billy was acting like a small child, how could he not expect that one day Robbie would be heir to all of Loxley?

My second example came in the form of Runestone and her confusion over Melissa. I write this as a slightly comedic moment because I have seen it so many times. Melissa is very stand offish with Rune simply because she got a man that she was not even aware was interested in Robbie. We have all seen it let’s be honest, we have no clue at all why someone suddenly closes down on us, until finally it all comes out and we suddenly understand. I like the fact that Robbie was well aware of it but had chosen to ignore it, and when he points out something he sees as quite obvious, Runestone’s sudden understanding goes from confusion to bewilderment as she does not understand why Melissa takes it out on her instead of Robbie. It made for a good giggle moment, but I think again it shows how lack of dialogue can lead to peculiar behaviour.

The most telling thing is in book seven, and features that old chestnut assumption. Hawk is devastated at losing Sapphire, but rather than actually try to understand the situation and find clarity, he looks for a cause, and he determines it is Rafe’s fault, and that he must have had some form of liaison with her. I love this bit of book seven as it shows the hidden macho side of Hawk as he feels a challenge from another alpha male rather than face the facts of reality. Blaming Rafe is an easier to deal with option, as it allows his jealousy to take control and blow everything away from the truth and out of proportion. The resulting clash sees the two commanders almost come to blows, and I think what is also important here is that it also shows how jealousy can tear even the best of friendships apart, there is most certainly a lesson to be learned here from not communicating.

Finally my last example is a complex one, and I am afraid one that can only be fully resolved with book eight, but I do want to briefly look at it. Society has many rules, these are not written down anywhere, and yet we all feel a huge amount of responsibility to live by them. I have to admit I don’t. I apply basic fact to most things, which is probably why I am a writer, so I see the so called rules of society as guidelines for the weak minded. We all have to a degree a sense of common sense, and as life throws challenges our way we have to deal with them in a rational and considered way, and sometimes through no fault of our own, the situations challenge the status quo. Although we have been indoctrinated all our lives in these so called rules of life, we find the answers lie outside of them, and so we may do something no one will ever understand, and at that time it is the right thing to do, although a lot of people will never accept it.

One such rule is we should always love our mother. Life simply is not that simple, and it is here that suddenly the rule may not apply. Should Billy love the mother that allowed her husband to give him to a sadistic man, who beat him and then put him into a strange house to be raised by another woman? It is a great question and I am afraid as you can see, one not easily answered. At the end of book one Billy shows no concern over the death of his natural mother, was he right or wrong to feel that way? I will let you decide.

Mason hates his mother and her constant interfering. He finds her tantrums unacceptable, and at times she is a complete embarrassment to him. Does he love the woman who has helped him achieve so much? He does not show it and acts as if he hates her, so there must be a very good reason, and that my dear readers will be revealed as we get to see the family of Berengar in book eight.

I have tried very hard to show you a little of the huge amount of work I put into the kingdom to fully illustrate every aspect of life. I hope as you have read through it, it has hopefully added greater weight and made it a much more realistic story. I do work very hard behind the scenes to try and get things as accurate as I can by thinking out every part of the story. I know many of you have taken a huge amount of pleasure from HTTK, which is one of my principle reasons for writing this Author view series of blog posts, as I do want this work of fantasy to feel as real as the life you live. So until my next piece, I will leave you all to think, and I hope it helps you discover more about the life of all the characters, and adds to that all important story of the Kingdom.