Tag Archives: Modern Life

The Absolute Power of HTTK.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Freedom – Truth

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Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. (Martin Luther King)

My whole life has been lived with the goal of freedom, and as a writer, it is a common theme of the stories I write. In Abigail’s Summer, part one of the Curio Chronicles, Marjorie Wallace has her ‘Transient Watch’ which is a group of residents, with the soul aim of spotting and removing undesirables from the village.

Their definition of an undesirable, would be a person who does not look like or act like the residents of Wotton would wish them too. I know that treatment well, as a young teenage hippie, I did not look like others wanted me to, and I did not fit in with their idea of what a young teenage boy should look like, and for that, I was shunned and shamed.

My grandmother told me I looked like a scarecrow, and I was an embarrassment to the family, and she was ashamed of me, I am quite sure Marjorie and her would have had a lot in common. Her friends reported everything I did in the local town, which to be honest was just walking around with friends, having a laugh, or campaigning for a good cause, of which I did a great deal. I was often questioned and shamed for what I saw as just living my own life my own way.

I had a lot of pressure placed on me to conform, usually by shouting yelling and shaming, so in many ways, my fight for to be free, has at times been a life long aim of my own life. I guess you could say, that was when my fight for individual freedom began.

I have sat for three weeks watching live streams on You Tube, as I watched the most surprising of people, rebel against the system and ask for their freedom to be restored. I am not that interested in the politics of this situation, if anything over the last few years I have become so tired of politics, I given up listening, but I do understand a stifled voice, I do understand being ignored, and I most certainly recognise acts of repression. It feels today, when one of the politest countries on the planet fights for it’s freedom to simply live a normal life.

In Heirs to the Kingdom, Robert Loxley fights for the freedom for everyman to have a life that includes, a safe home, and the space for a family to grow. In Rise of the Raven, Branna yearns to be considered as a dark haired Fae, equal to those of fair hair in her own realm. In the Curio Chronicles, Abigail yearns to simply be accepted as she is, and be allowed to be herself, and allowed to live as she chooses.

These are such simple things, they are not grand goals, and yet in all three stories similar to all those across the world who fight, they are denied. I suppose in many ways, I identify with all of my characters, as it is a strong theme of my own life, and in many ways, my fiction represents aspects of real life. From my point of view, all of my characters have a good point, their wishes to live a life of their choosing unharmed, or to look and dress as they choose, and live an unconventional lifestyle, or to simply be recognised as an equal within the confines of their society. For them, that is just a normal life, and I have to ask, isn’t that what all of us of want?

I consider myself lucky, I live in a democracy under the UK law, I have those freedoms, the right to think, the right to speak, and question. I can dress as I choose, even if it is frowned upon. I can leave my home and walk peacefully around my own town, and even though I find myself lost in the political wilderness, I still have the freedom to protest, and the right to vote in an election. Most importantly in today’s society, I have the right to choose what I put inside my own body, which is probably why for the last 42 years of life, I have been a vegetarian.

I have been surprised by Canada, I was under the concept that Canadians were warm caring friendly people, I have extended family there, so when I heard there was a protest, apart from being very surprised, I tuned into the news media to watch, as another very strong part of who I am, is I have always sought the truth.

Watching the Canadian TV news channels, I found myself surprised, the thought of Canada running wild with truckers’ intent on destroying their country, really shocked me. I do not watch TV, everything I watch is on You Tube, and so naturally, three weeks ago the algorithm started to show me streamers who were live on the scene. It was startling to witness the difference between the Mainstream Media News, and simply armature on the scene streamers, as they were telling very opposing stories.

I have an open mind, so tuned in, where I was confronted with just ordinary people, with a mobile phone, walking round Ottawa talking to people, and suddenly I started to see a very different story. You can imagine my surprise, to start to see things like social media pages linked to protestors, being banned on social media, Events miss quoted or painted as criminal by the Conventional News Media, and named called and shammed by their own government.

The more I watched the live streams, such as “Viva Frei, UOttawaScotty, Ottawalks, Travel fun 69, and more,” the more I began to realise, that a huge amount of these protestors were my age, and they sounded very familiar. The painted a picture of a peaceful protest, and preached love and brotherhood and community, the very same things that my teenage friends preached, and suddenly, it felt like my generation had come back to guide the young to the truth of real peaceful protest.

The job of a journalist, is to report the facts, and question. Sadly that is no longer a truth.

For a few years now, we have seen protests that involved riot’s, car and building fires, and looters, and yet over in Canada, the truckers protest, had free food for all, safe spaces for kids to play, free hugs, no violence, dancing, smiles, and bouncy castles. The streamers interviewed the truckers and visitors, simply stopping them in the street and asking them what they thought, and every response was the same. “It is warm, friendly, peaceful and wonderful.”

Like most things, early on in the protest, a person was seen with a swastika flag, and one seen with a confederate flag, and the mainstream media was quick to pounce. All of the protest members were smeared, and painted with a tarred brush, none of them reported how the protesters had evicted the two individuals from the protest. Sadly, it became part of the rhetoric of the prime minister of Canada, who refused to speak with them about their grievances, and having had years of my life protesting myself, I could not understand how he would dismiss and turn his back on them, when he has met other far more violent rioter groups in the past?

The media and the Prime Minister of Canada’s truth, are fake, this protest is nothing at all like they say, one comment I heard that I think really fits, is, it is like “Woodstock with Trucks.”

To be honest it is not hard to understand, as there has been a new wave of globalist socially divisive views sweeping the planet, which many political parties appear to be embracing, it is fuelled by power and greed. Sound familiar, I am sure Mason Knox would fit right in? It is not for me, and as a life long libertarian, I find myself unable to buy into such divisive beliefs, that gives one kind of person, more rights than another. I have always looked at everyone as a unique individual, who has the same rights and equality, which apparently is appearing more and more to be seen as an out of date view.

  As I have listened to people talk, I saw very quickly that Canada had been suffering for two years of continuous lockdowns and restrictions, their lives have been turmoil, as their freedoms have been eroded, with mandate after mandate from the government, and I could really understand people saying enough is enough.

In the UK we had lockdowns, but here we are seeing the restrictions lifted, and as a parent that has been through home schooling, and deep worry for my family, I feel a huge sense of relief as normality slowly returns, as it has across many nations of the world.

I cannot deny watching streamers interview ordinary people and protestors, I feel for them. Even with less restrictions on my life here in the UK, I have seen how it has affected the emotional and mental welfare of my own family, and I really am not sure I could cope with much more. We have at least had small breaks, and I will not deny, looking at the world around us all, I can understand these people’s frustration, and why they feel so left behind and let down.

In Canada freedom is under threat, free speech is being stifled, as it moves towards something of a government controlled police state. It is heart breaking to watch, and I fear for my children and ask, will this ever happen in the UK? If Canada falls, so will the rest of the free world.

As I watch the screen for well over 30 hours of streams from these new truth seeking streamers, I can only think of the struggles from my own life and of my characters, and yet I feel hope, as I watch journalist shammed for following a political party line, and an out break of solidarity and community washing across the world from Canada. I hope the young are watching and taking note, as us old folks from the freedom movement of the 1970’s hand over the baton of peace, freedom and truth to the younger generations. Let us hope their voices do not get snuffed out.

I want to weep for those peaceful protesters, who have a government backed police state, that I am watching tweet that they will euthanise truckers pets, smash truck windows and drag drivers out, threaten to take protesters children away, freeze bank accounts, all with the aim of intimidating normal hard working people. Fear is a mighty weapon, and you can see it in action in Canada. The truth is meaningless and Freedom is dying, watch and learn, because it could be coming to us all.

In Canada freedom is under threat, free speech is being stifled, as it moves towards something of a government controlled police state. It is heart breaking to watch, and I fear for my children and ask, will this ever happen in the UK? If Canada falls, so will the rest of the free world.

Only when you are silenced, will you truly understand what you have lost. Robin John Morgan.

Curiosity Gagged the Cat

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Rise of the Raven is out, and I am seeing a repeat of Abigail’s Summer with changing time lines for delivery, with the big company who rules books etc.. It is probably a good job there is a digital version, whilst sat waiting for that small brown package!

It is not easy being a writer these days, it appears everywhere I look that terrible restriction on what can or cannot be said is looming up. It appears that being honest about life is fine, as long as it is a certain kind of life, some parts of life, are simply not to be mentioned. If they are, well, kiss goodbye to your platform that hosts you.

I am finding that writing is somewhat like village life, certain people can say what they like, and others are not allowed to say anything, and yet are having to have all the dung thrown at them and have to endure it. It has become a mine field where you have to be careful where you step.

Apparently, these days certain large companies appear to wield the mightiest axe, and wield all the control, as they define morality, and for a writer who is trying to get their thoughts and observations out there, as they write them into their stories, it feels at times, like one step forward ten steps back. Hmm, didn’t a guy called George write something about that?

It is not that much easier publishing, as it appears no matter what you put out, certain larger operations have algorithms that hinder your progress for sales, because you do not use their own brand or platform to publish and print from, it really does feel like there are one too many Marjorie’s controlling everything, in the world today.

I am pretty sure my hopes of making it as a writer are pretty much stunted, because I want the freedom to take from all my many observations in life, and all the conversations I have had, and use them in my stories. Sadly, that courts controversy, oh how I wish I could time travel back to the seventies, just to get my books out and have them actually read by open minded people who have no fear of being challenged, I am quite sure Abigail would probably have a much better chance of survival, well, better than in 2021.

They say life reflects art, and yep, that is pretty much my life, as I fight to gets books delivered on time to the few who want to read them, with a book that can be printed and shipped within days, but the so called large multinational company offering it online, puts ridiculous delivery times on it, putting customers off because they do not want to wait.

It is mental, I ordered my own book to test the water. Now bear in mind, it is printed in the UK and all over the world, and I live in the UK, but nope, this huge company has decided to print it in the EU, so they cannot offer me a delivery date yet, how utterly ridiculous is that?

Of course, the answer is simple, print and distribute with them, but I don’t want to, because that restricts where my books will be available, and it certainly rules out shops and libraries, who won’t touch them. This is my life as a writer, in stead of writing, I am tied up in an AI robot with no hope of ever talking to a human, trying to simply get one answer. WTF are you playing at, print the bloody thing in the UK.

I am starting to feel like the chief Curio, as I sit wondering what new draconian rules, I will have to restrict my future books, as I work on the second instalment of my story with Abigail and her friends for 2022.

The sad thing is that the story of Abigail, reflects a great deal of life today, with its bullies, and sexual liberation of the young, which I understand is shocking for the older generations who do not really understand that kind of open free life. It fascinates me how people in their lives, are judged by the sexual behaviour, and called for experimenting, when in truth, the world is supposed to be a much more tolerant and accepting society. It is alright to be whatever you want, and identify with any of the many labels we have today, women are told embrace your sexuality, and be unashamed, just don’t do too much of it or you will be shamed, and berated for it. It is such a contradiction, as the masses encourage people to be and live free, and yet when they do, they all stand in judgement, point the finger and shame them. Yep, Madge is alive and well and watching you.

It makes me chuckle, as I am aware of some who read Abigail’s Summer, and were quite taken aback, with a Marjorie like response of ‘Oh, he used to write such nice things, like the love between Robbie and Runestone, in Heirs to the Kingdom, and this Abigail has swearing, I never expected this.’ I cannot deny I have smiled, Abigail’s life is too much, and yet Cutters killing, raping and hanging people from trees is fine, and what about the enforced slavery of the orphanages controlled by Mason Knox?

The works of Robin John Morgan, Writer Author

Just for the record, Runestone has way more sex than Abigail, but that is fine as it is in a dystopian fantasy, and she is married. Just a quick note, she was late sixteen, unmarried, in her mother’s front room, and in front of a passed out Harry, when she jumped on Robbie. I feel Birch would be proud of her, and pat her on the back with a happy, “Well done, was that nice Sweetie?”

The simple truth is, there is actually a really wonderful story within the Curio Chronicles, as it follows the life of Abigail, and those who surround her. She comes from what is considered to be a good family of breeding, they are certainly seen as the well to do moral family. But peel back the layers, and it is a very different story, and that is the point of the Curio Chronicles, it is the peeling back the layers, and taking a good long look at what lies below the facade of the false.

How it looks on the outside, is more important that how it is on the inside, and that is not just life in Wotton, that is the reality of life today.

Look at Edwin, a well to do accountant, in the right tailored suits, highly regarded in the business world, and looked up to by all in Wotton. He is for want of better words, a model resident. The fact that he is cold and cruel to his wife and daughter is meaningless, he looks good. He is out in London, boasting about his wealth, screwing around behind his wife’s back, and when confronted by his wife’s best friend Hatty about it, because Abigail saw him, how did he deal with it, he punished his daughter severely, he even chose to believe a rapist who had the right image in the village, over his own daughter?

Abigail lived at home, lost and ignored and felt utterly betrayed by her father, a scenario I know well, having talked with many like her. Her mother who is a high up in the Parish Council is no better, as she tries to emulate Marjorie and gain respect and approval of the village, and in doing so, became controlling and unfeeling, putting image as a higher priority than her daughters well being. Felicity was once a free spirit, much more like her daughter, and yet because she was shammed and bullied, she married an uncaring man just to gain acceptance again, as it looked proper and decent, the hypocrisy never ends in Wotton.

The joy of writing this series was that I was able to use Wotton to hold up a mirror to society as a whole, and say look at this, in a startling and at times uncomfortable way. The Curio Chronicles, and Abigail’s Summer, does not hold back as it twists and weaves through what actually is quite a powerful story. The sexual referencing and humour lighten the load on the journey, but for those who have read Abigail’s Summer, as you know in true RJM manor, what I write at the start of the book, is just to paint the background, and lull the reader into a very unseen twist at the end, as I lob in a very large dose of reality to Abigail’s life.

Debs, Birch and Deadly. Abigail’s Summer
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That is sort of the point, this is her story, her evolution, and through each book she will age as she faces new challenges, always living in the fear of becoming her mother. If I have learned anything about life having been around for fifty odd years, and having spent much of that watching and talking to others, it is that life is uncomfortable, and not quite the rosy picture we would want it to be. There are some pretty ruthless and cruel people in the world, and we have all done things in our past we would much rather not admit, and that is actually the point of the series.

We live in the moment doing our best, and we get drawn into things we enjoy, even if it surprises us at times, which as we grow up and grow older, we are told that is wrong. So we hide it, ashamed someone will find out, and there are a lot of people in this world who judge others for doing exactly as we did as young people. In the first book, Abigail is nineteen and filled with the optimism of living a free open life, especially as she has the very liberated and wild Birch at her side, who encourages her to live well and not hide it, as Birch guides her into learning about who she really is, and what her full potential can be.

Birch never lies and admits her faults, she is after all unashamed of just being herself, but after all, she was raised by two psychologists, and has devoted a lot of her life to the study of human behaviour, and thoroughly understands it. She believes people should not hide, and live their lives to the fullest, as we only get one trip round the block, and fully intends to make the most of her life, and in doing so, enhance the lives of Abigail and her friends, and she definitely does not hold back.

In a way, Deadly and Birch are like a yin and yang, as their dark and light fit together perfectly, with Birch creating her chaos, and Abby getting dragged into the centre of it all, racked with self doubt and close to heart failure, trying to understand herself. Birch opens the world up for Abby, and in doing so, opens her own world, as the two of them learn to let go and sample life to its eye brow raising fullest. For Abigail, she begins to learn a great deal more about who she really is, and starts to see and understand her own potential, especially as a wannabe writer. Birch already knows Abigail is capable of greater things, and in many ways gives her a well needed push, as she helps unshackle the chains placed on Abby by her parents through the oppression of her childhood.

I feel there is a message here that says let go and be true to yourself, and if that is not what you expected, well at least it is honest. So many people suffer from those dreaded four words of ‘what will people think?’ and as a result, they become unhappy and feel they have to hide. The saddest thing about that, is usually people are so preoccupied with their own egos, that they do not really notice anyone else.

Be honest, do people ever look up from their phones these days, maybe they fear being triggered by someone being respectful to them and saying hello? I find it amusing and crazy, that today just showing good manners is seen as flirting, and can trigger someone, it is so messed up.

As I prepare the second book to be published, I smile, yep, this one is no different, (That is your trigger warning lol) as the group fall apart and separate, as five years pass, and they hit twenty four years old, but as with all things connected to Abigail and Birch, you cannot stop a runaway train, and those two who are a little older, but not so much wiser, blaze a trail to send Marjorie and her cronies into meltdown, leaving them no choice but to strike back.

Abigail’s Summer The Curio Chronicles Book One

The second Curio book, will challenge all of Abigail’s perceptions of her youth, and force her to face some unpleasant realities, and face some of her biggest fears, with plenty of humour and some very uncomfortable topics. All of it will be done with the same curiosity from Deb’s, the cool controlled manner from Edwina, some flamboyance from Anthony, and as for Chloe, well she is just exactly who she has always been meant to be, just a simple girl from a council house estate in Oxendale, and more deviant than ever, as she swears like a sailor, but she actually is a lovely kind girl, although all young men should be wary.

I am working on Curio’s Summer now, (Curio Chronicles, book two) as well as something completely different from anything I have ever written before, which is more fantasy based, and probably expected of me, as its cleaner. (Smiles) And as with all things I write, when it is done, you will have it. I also have two more Kingdom related stories which have been progressing along, one more a prequel to jump in after Raven, and one set after the last Kingdom book, so they will appear at some point.

My time is busy, shared between the writing desk and VCP and all the problems with being an indie publisher, trying to get noticed, in between all the large dominant companies, who appear determined to force me to play by their rules, which I won’t be doing any time soon. And as always, when I know more, so will all of you.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this journey of mine in a writer life, it has always been greatly appreciated, so stay safe and talk books, it all helps.

The Age of Digital for HTTK.

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It is hard to believe, this is my 100th post on this blog.

How the time has flown. This year marks the fifteen year marker of starting to write Heirs to the Kingdom. It feels a little surreal, especially when I look back at all those nights sat alone coming up with ideas, and making notes, that actually led up to me starting to seriously attempt to write a first book in 2007.

HTTK back in 2007

Before that fateful May of 2007, I had spent many hours, drawing symbols, writing short back stories, and working out family trees. I even researched the powerful properties of certain gems and stones, all to add extra qualities to each of the characters, and yet at that time prior to 2007, I was not even considering writing something I would publish. HTTK was a little like Dungeons and Dragons, it was simply something I did in my spare time, it was just a little fun, it was never meant to be a serious thing. Being realistic about things, Heirs to the Kingdom has been a work in progress for at least thirty five years of my life, and it still is.

Over the last two months of my life, I have been working some very long hours, as finally, I have the chance to convert everything to digital. If truth be known, I have wanted to do this for a long time, but me and computers are not a good mix. I wanted the eBooks to be as well formatted as the Print books, it is not a hidden secret that I hate the three books put out with a different publisher back 2009 and 10, which was why VCP came about. I wanted more control over the way the books looked, and so when it came to the digital copies, I wanted the same or better. Actually, I wanted better, and so behind the scenes I have been spending some very long hours working on all the books, to create what I am referring to as the 2021 updates.

HTTK as part of VCP’s Digital Summer.

It is my aim to get out all the digitals, and then when that is done, to update the prints to match. Fifteen years ago, I was new to writing, and I made some pretty rookie formatting and writing mistakes, and so with that in mind, I have made quite a few subtle changes to the books. What I could change was limited, but for those of you who have read these books several times, I am sure you will spot the differences in the digital copies. There are a few substituted words, those missing commas have been added, and a few various other little tweaks have been made, and as a result I think they are without doubt much better copies. None of the story has changed, it is exactly as was, but the flow of the text, and the reading I think is massively better.

I have been none stop writing for fifteen years, and as I picked up the master copies of the manuscripts to start to edit the books from the first to the last, it was very clear how much my writing has changed and improved. As I look at everything I have written, which also includes the Curio Chronicles, as well as some other stuff I have been working on, the one thing I really am overjoyed with, is how my characters have really come to life on the page. Looking back at those early Robbie and Alice moments and certainly the Robbie, Rune relationship, I am thrilled with how through the eight books they developed, and as a result, gave me the confidence to create such wonderful characters as Deadly and Birch in the Curio series.

Writer Header for web presence.

Kingdom was not an easy series to write, I struggled at times with all the strings that needed to be added and tied together, as the plot had to come together in a way that was simple to the reader. It was so complex at times, just knowing when to end one thread and start another, and yet it was a wonderful learning curve for me as a writer.

I sat in thought a few nights ago and pondered if I could write these eight books better, and in many ways, I think if I wrote them now, they would be a little better than they were fifteen years ago, but maybe that is part of the charm of them. As I look back at other writers, and some of the series I have read over the years, I think maybe it is a right of passage, the first book always feels over time a little less than the others, and I feel with Kingdom that is maybe the case. The Bowman of Loxley is a wonderful book, Carnac and Dunnottar are a real step up, and as for the rest of the series, I feel they improve page by page.

Fifteen years is quite a chunk of time to be learning, and I have learned a great deal, which I feel is evident in what will become another addition to the HTTK journey, as I look to the birthday of Runestone, and Samhain this year, and celebrate the woodland New Year, as I release a new part of this story, and go back to the roots of Heirs to the Kingdom.

I am thrilled with the Rise of the Raven, it is the book everyone expected, and yet this book will be nothing like the reader expects. It is an important part of the Kingdom story, but do not think that what I revealed in the Circle of Darkness will in any way predict what is to come, it won’t. (He smiles) I did a lot of very clever editing in book eight.

Rise of the Raven (To be released Oct 2021)

The Circle of Darkness, gave tiny little insights, and to be honest it painted a picture to HTTK fans of one way of looking at what this story will be, but trust me when I say, I really think this book will be a huge surprise to many. Again, Branna and Ariel are wonderful characters, and I have loved writing their story, which in itself is such great platform for the start of HTTK, and like all things in my work, there is a good back story to really add depths to each of the characters. This book will be only one part of a story that will take the journey through the darkness, and beyond the eight books, so yes, there will be others, but this is not a series of books like HTTK.

Each book that I have been working on will pick up threads of each other, and also threads of HTTK, and it is my hope they will weave a tapestry that will make all of the books one big and complete adventure. This book marks the start of an adventure that will take you through two books prior to HTTK, and then take you past the eighth book and into Loxley after the final war and beyond. A book to follow Rise of the Raven is my current project, and is half written, and a book to pick up after HTTK is planned out, with a few small parts written parallel to Raven, so there is much more to come.

It does feel a little strange, as for the last few months, I have started on page one of the first book, and gone through each book reading the story for the first time in a long while, and it has surprised me how much I have written, and also reminded me of the joy of writing this story, that evolves around the love of Robbie and Runestone. I have felt very nostalgic of late, but having this story come back to life in all its glorious detail, has been an inspiring process, that has helped with the editing of Raven, and in writing other books that will be part of the Kingdom world.

I guess at the end of the day my obsession with this story is still very alive and healthy, and I am very excited to get on with it, although I am still updating the digitals at the moment, and have my work cut out for me. Each book has landed one per week, and as you have all seen they have moved through the summer and into Autumn. Like all magic, it weaves in strange ways, as does technology, and just as Runestone collected her powers as she learned more, I have shared a similar journey into digital, and advanced programs to write with.

I have much more advanced programs to work with these days, although, I do miss my Windows XP computer, which was where I started, but new technology has been a huge part of advancing and updating these stories, and so hopefully there will be less need for updates in the future.

The Curio Chronicles, will continue to surprise people, there is a great story behind it over the series, and I hope you all follow it, and Heirs to the Kingdom will grow, and who knows what other tales I can manage to bring forth to delight readers? I simply know that I will never stop writing, until I stop breathing, and hopefully there will be enough done, for my wife to keep the tales flowing for long after that.

Never forget, every line was written for a reason, and that is the wonder that is reading and writing.

Rise of the Raven is set for release in October 2021.

Discovering Abigail.

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There is one aspect to being a writer, that does tend to irritate people a little, which simply put, is if you want to sit and talk about the weather with me, you will bore me to death, and I will probably get up and leave. I will not apologise for this, as I simply cannot sit and talk about menial things, like will it rain tomorrow?

I am a lover of real conversation, I like conversations about dreams, hope, aspirations, the universe, and interactions, and even people’s thoughts on modern sex, and I do use much of what I hear and see as a vehicle for stories. I always go away and think long and deep about whatever it is I have discussed and even look it up for other thoughts on the internet, and it all adds to the bank of data in my head for those moments sat writing. Add to that my love of simply observing people, and throw in my own life story, which has included a lot of deep conversations, about some very personal matters with people, and there is a recipe fit for a book, and actually, I have just written it, and its accompanying four other books that create the series entitled, ‘The Curio Chronicles.’

Abigail's Summer By Robin John Morgan. ISBN: 978-1910299-27-2

The first book, is an introduction to a whole list of new characters, the most obvious being Abigail, a nineteen year old university student, who is studying, Literature, Business, and Public Relations, for her degree. Abby is very intelligent, studies hard, and is an absolute book nerd, so if it is printed on paper, she will read it, but her greatest love in literature, is gothic horror, for which she is awarded her Uni nick name of ‘Deadly.’

Abigail was raised in the picturesque village of Wotton Dursley, a place she refers to as being stuck in the 1950’s, which she also states is like the Village of the Dammed. She has been raised by a wealthy family, and is very sheltered and naïve. Wotton is a place where how it looks, is the most important aspect of life, and the village is ruled by the Church Council, with the vicar’s wife Marjorie as the Chair Person. For Abigail, who hates her life in the village, because she has no means of expressing herself, her biggest and only act of rebellion, is to get as far away as possible, and so when it came to picking a university, she picked Manchester over four hundred miles away. Her Parents Edwin, a boring old accountant, and her controlling cleaning obsessed housewife mother Felicity, are mortified, and so Abigail’s departure to university, was not as smooth as it could have been.

Felicity phones her husband Edwin.

On her first day she arrives, and finds herself lost, and having wandered around for hours dragging her large trunk of possessions, she knocks on the door of what she hopes is her dorm, and is confronted by a slightly taller, completely naked girl, with long white hair that has black patches on it, resembling birch bark, who gives her a huge smile, with sparkling green eyes, and says. “Hi Sweetie.”

Enter Birch, a girl who is one year older, having taken a year off to travel Europe with a promotions company, that was touring promoting authors. At twenty years old, with a mother who is a leading and world renown sex therapist, and a father who is a clinical psychologist university professor, Birch with her Manchester attitude, very high intelligence, is a Wiccan naturist, who is training in psychology, studying sexual practices and dysfunction, and literature, so that once she gets her doctorate, she can join her mother in practice.

For shy, naïve, Abby, who has been sheltered all her life, Birch is everything she never thought was possible, and they become instant friends. Over the first year, Birch’s open free spirited lifestyle rubs off on Abby, and she finally gets to embrace her freedom, and start her journey of deciding who she wants to be in life, and for Abby, Uni life becomes everything she has ever dreamed of, as her friendship with Birch becomes closer and closer. She discovers the joys of parties, alcohol, the odd tote on a spliff, and most importantly, the joy of sexual conquest. With the sexually liberated Birch at her side, she lets go, and goes wild, and embraces her freedom with a passion. Abby has her eyes well and truley opened to the reality of life in the north, and even gets to meet some of Birch’s friends from home.

Hi Bev... Guard your Vagina!!

All of this takes place before the book starts, and is briefly referred to throughout the story, the book starts with Abby sat in thought and starting to panic, as the first year of Uni is almost over, and suddenly she is faced with the reality of going home for the summer, and she is terrified, as she has changed a great deal, especially her appearance, of which she understands, the villagers will never accept her new image.

Abigail’s Summer, is the story of her return home, accompanied by Birch and the reaction she gets from her parents, and the villagers. From the moment she arrives there is conflict and misunderstandings which causes chaos around the village. I strongly feel that this is a story many will relate to, as we have all been through that time in our life, where we look inside to work out who we really are, and seek the answers to who that is, and this story follows Abigail’s journey of self discovery.

The book is actually very true to life, and is based on the many real life experiences of either myself, or my friends, or people I have worked with, either in a counselling role or just as supportive friend. The story is gritty at times and has a few situations in it that will challenge people’s perceptions, as it deals with modern life head on. Compared to Heirs to the Kingdom, for those fans and readers, this does have some similar threads, but this is definitely not a fantasy story, although it is a work of fiction.

Felicity looked at Birch. "oh God, how will i tell the vicar."

The main vehicle to drive the plot and the story is humour, and there are times when people will laugh, and as the chapter progresses, it will twist to show the cold reality of some aspects of life that we are all aware of, and yet in many cases choose to ignore. It does contain some very tongue in cheek moments reminiscent of Tom Sharp, or even the Carry On films of the seventies, and misunderstandings do open a situation up to some really funny moments in the story.

Birch is a wonderful character, who is calm in the centre of a whirlwind of madness and chaos, which is usually of her creation, and Abby plays off against that wonderfully as she panics and goes into meltdown, as she tries to control and maintain stability in the house. Through the story, the two of them attract others to them, the first being Debbie or Deb’s, who is at a different university in the south studying to be a biochemist, and the three of them become the core of the story and the endless strange and bizarre situations they find themselves in. It does not take the three of them very long to realise, the village has many hidden secrets of its own, and the hypocrisy of the residents becomes very apparent.

Deb's response to Abby's arrival in the village.

Like everything I write, there are strong themes and sub plots throughout the whole story, some relevant to this book, and some that will become apparent in the books that follow. In that aspect the story shares some similar aspects with HTTK, but this is a very modern story, that does confront some very current themes of the world today. Each crazy event is leading up to the final end of the book, which anyone who has read my books before knows, will twist in such a way, it will make for surprising reading.

I have allowed a few to read it prepublication, and I have some great feed back, and a few nervous looks, and raised eyebrows. The story is gritty in parts, and like most young teenagers of today, there is some foul language, and some scenes that are sexual. Is this a book of erotic fiction and sex, no it is not? I am not a lover of graphic sex books, and I like to think I add enough detail of description to paint a realistic picture, but it is not that graphic, if anything, it deals more with the inner dialogue of those involved in the act. It is a little more detailed than those moments of sexual involvement in HTTK, because for this book, it has to be, in Kingdom it was not completely relevant to the plot, but in this book, some of it is, especially as the book progresses into the rest of the series.

Ultimately there is a very important point of this first story, and it is very relevant for living today. I have used a fictional village, but the theme of this book and those that follow, which differ from book to book, do all address some important aspects of modern life, and I use a light hearted and almost comic way to deliver the story with impact, especially in the last three chapters.

Abigail's Summer by Robin John Morgan. Strong appeal to women and men alike.

I have been told this book will strongly appeal to women, and I can see that, it is after all written from Abigail’s point of view, something I have not done before, as I have always written from a narration point of view of an observer. I also think that males will learn a lot from this book, and enjoy it, ultimately, I will see after people have read it. This is not a fluff fiction, it is a serious story with some very important points in it, and a little after thought once the book has been read will show that. I think some age groups will be challenged by it, and not just the old, because the book does highlight how disconnected generations have become and why.

The Curio Chronicles no matter how challenging they may be for some readers, are an important set of books, with a very illuminating set of themes, and I am very happy with how they have turned out, and Abigail’s Summer is a great start to this series, and I really do think it should be on everyone’s reading list.

In the Buff, at the heart of the Village of the Dammed.

The irony of this story is, that in its first few weeks of issue to the public, it has been caught in the same problematic traps Abigail goes through in the book, of being restricted by those who feel they control everything. It has been hard to get the book out there, but ultimately, I really do feel if you order it and have to wait, it really is a book that is worth waiting for.

Abigail's Summer, available in print and digital from all book retailing sources. ISBN: 978-1-910299-27-2

It will be interesting to watch how it goes over the coming months, and as always love it, or hate it, jump onto my FB page and comment about it.

My thanks to everyone who has supported my stories, I always appreciate your support, and I hope you enjoy Abigail’s Summer.

The Arrival, and almost Departure, of Abigail.

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It is funny really as I look back on what has been the most stressful and heart-breaking week of my life, and then cast my mind back to last year.

The rise of the Covid virus sent shivers down my spine, as I got to see something not unsimilar to the rise of the Red Death, and realised very quickly that my thoughts back in the mid 1980’s were actually pretty accurate, as an unknown virus swept across the world creating havoc. Back in March 2020, it was frightening to watch the news media, and see some of my theories about the fragility of life become a reality.

People around me were scared, jobs were threatened, schools closed, and everyone went into survival mode, and spending stopped as people stayed home, and a whole new reality of life became apparent. We all wore masks, if we had to leave the house, something we all did with much trepidation. Business crashed, including my own, it was a difficult and frightening time to be alive.

Suddenly I had a lot of time on my hands, and so I focused on writing. Getting the last part of HTTK out was a priority, even though I knew few would sell as people sat on their cash, just in case their employers crashed also. I got the book out in July, but was not expecting a great deal, and in order to stay focused, I wrote another related story that went back to the very beginning of Heirs to the Kingdom, which I do hope to publish this year.

With that over with, I had to occupy my thoughts, we came out of the lockdown, only to find ourselves back in another one, so I did what I could with VCP, and then turned back to writing, and a project I shelved back in 2017. Back then I really wanted to write this book, but I was so tied up with Kingdom, it was not possible, I have a file filled with outlined ideas, and story plots, and in mid-October, I was sifting through it, when I came across what was at the time simply labelled ‘Students.’

For those not in the know, as I do keep a lot of my life private, I worked on and off for over twenty five years counselling, and in that time of talking with every generation, I have been privileged enough to gain a lot of insights, to areas of life that are not often visible to most of us.

I read through what was the synopsis for the book, it was late at night and I was really feeling that need to write, which I lovingly refer to as having itchy fingers. I reached the end of the synopsis and quickly realised this would actually make a great start to a story, and would create almost a full first chapter, and that was it, I reached the end, hit enter to drop a line and continued to write for the next five hours, creating notes on the story as I went. Somewhere around dawn, I collapsed into bed mentally exhausted, with a list of main characters, a rough sketched village map, and the first two chapters.

Abigail's Summer by Robin John Morgan. ISBN 978-1-910299-27-2

That became the pattern of my life for the next two weeks, I hammered away everyday making a few more notes, but basically, I was writing blind and, in the dark, just making it up as I went along, never knowing what the next chapter would be about. For myself, it felt like freedom, and reminded me very much of writing the Bowman of Loxley back in 2007, which was the same inspired and intense experience, and I was loving the fact I was writing something nothing at all like Kingdom.

The editing watered it down a little, it was real, very gritty, a little spicy, and had lots of twists and turns in it to keep the reader guessing, and the most wonderful thing about it all, was it contained lots of slightly tongue in cheek, and a little naughty humour. I have always struggled to write humour, Harry in Kingdom was not always an easy thing, and I would spend hours putting each little section riddled with misunderstanding together. Abigail was so different, it just flowed out of me as I thought back to all the stupid and bizarre moments of my own life, and that of friends.

What emerged was a book that whilst not as elaborate and heavily layered as Kingdom, still had a lot of great sub plots and layers, that would all weave through the story to the final ending. I hoped it would provide a good twist, and really engage the reader to take a long hard look at their own life and the lives of those around them. From the few to date that have read it, I think it has worked really well.

I will not deny, the book is very modern and fresh, and very off the cuff, and gritty, and for a lot of readers, I am assuming there will be a few WTF! moments, but I actually like that, books should make people think, and even with Kingdom, I created similar scenarios.

Abigail and her crazy friend Birch, encounter so much unpredictable madness, that it is my hope it keeps the story flowing, so far those who have read think it does, but ultimately the jury is still out on that. The last month of editing and formatting was such an exciting time for me, I guess with Kingdom I have become a little jaded, after 14 years and eight books, and not as excited as I should be, but this book had me chomping at the bit as the deadline drew closer, and seeing it formatted was thrilling, and even more so, as this was the first time, I was putting a digital version out at the same time.

Abigail's Summer, Print and Digital

Digital Kingdoms are coming soon, there has been a lot of set backs getting the right distribution, but that is now sorted and settled, and the Kingdom stories are almost ready, I just held back a little as I wanted to give Abigail a good run first. The day approached and I got the first test print, and it looked amazing, it was also so much fun to work on the cover, as my wife took on the task of cover design for me, and she produced such a great relevant and fantastic picture for it. I really was so excited, and could not wait for the moment when we hit the button, and it was published.

My joy was short lived, the following day when the book appeared on Amazon, it was listed as unavailable, with the comment “We do know when or if this item will be back in stock.” I could not believe it, and checked straight away with the distributor, but it was available and ready to print, it made no sense at all. The following day, June 13th, the book was offered, but the delivery time was ‘one to two months’ Again my happiness was crushed. I checked again with the distributor, they were quite insistent the book was available, as it could be printed and shipped within 3 to 5 working days depending on the number of orders coming in.

Currently Unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock

All I can say is, when you are an author and you have put your heart and soul into a book, to experience this, is devastating. No reader is prepared to wait between one and two months for a book. I tried to contact Amazon, which as an author or publisher is impossible, their email no longer works, and their phones lines ring and ring, and when you do get through to the call system, you go round and round, all they are interested in is customer calls, not authors. It was frustrating and gut wrenching, my chances of selling my book were zero, it was literally dead in the water. I tried chat, and got a robot, and again got the same run around, it was impossible to get past it, because there is no chat box to write in, you just have generic answers to press, and no hope of speaking to a human being, and talk to someone who could help me. I cannot write how soul destroying it was to have to go through it. I spoke to another author on a forum who I know quite well, they told me, “They want you to publish with them and use their POD service, if you don’t, get used to this.” Another author told me. “It happened to me, and the only way I could get back on the platform was to give them an even bigger discount.” They added. “My book sells for twelve pounds, and at the end of all of it, I get just one pound and forty pence, after paying the print costs, Amazon takes the rest which is massively more than I make.”

Usually despatched within one to two months.

All Authors use POD (Print on Demand) it is an advanced system which means as you buy the book, it is printed and shipped automatically. Amazon has no reason to list any of our books for more than one month’s deliver time, they simply chose to, because they are a multi billion dollar company that rules supremely over the book world, and no one is big enough to challenge them, and so they can do as they wish, which means delaying delivery of anyone’s books, and it is wrong and it sucks.

Just like last year, it felt like my books were running in sync with my stories, last year I saw a virus not unsimilar in its spread to the one I created for Kingdom, and my latest book Abigail’s Summer, focus’s on the bullying tactics of those who feel they can control everything, and Amazon certainly do when it comes to book sales.

I really love Abigail’s Summer, the characters are probably not what you expect from me, but they really are wonderful, so much so I reached the end of the first book, and knew I could not walk away from them, and so wrote another four stories that took them from their first glorious summer together, right through ten years of life, friendships and troubles. What is now the Curio Chronicles will come out over the next few years, I was lucky, I wrote all of them before the first was even published, so they are done, apart from a few tweaks.

Working hard with VCP at the moment, I am working to make sure I never get hit in the face again. Abigail’s Summer will be available world wide and with a fast delivery to ensure anyone who wants to read it will do, it will take a few weeks to get it set up, but that is ongoing as I write, and in future I will not bother what Amazon does, as I will promote the hell out of the VCP links and do it myself.

To those of you who have stood by me and supported my writing since 2009, I would ask, that if you do read Abigail’s Summer, (If you actually get it before Summer ends) and you do enjoy it, because it is very different from HTTK, please help, share the links, talk, tell your friends, and encourage them to buy it or download it. I am one guy sat at a desk who loves to write, and create great stories, but at the moment that is threatened, as without sales, I will not be able to make it through, and will ultimately have to stop writing. I am working 18-hour days to get this book known and out there.

My story is not a lone one, as other authors have reached out with the same story, and I am helping them to follow my lead and build websites with their own delivery distribution worldwide built in. No one should bend to a bully, and Abigail’s Summer shows that, and I will back up my words in the book 1000%. There is a line in it that feels so appropriate at the moment, and you will find it in chapter thirty-two, and it simply reads.

ADULTS BULLY TOO!

My thanks as always to those who have supported my writing, I hope you all have a peaceful Summer.

The Women of the Kingdom.

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Silhouette Image by Mohamed Hassan, with additional background added by this blog. Images royalty free.
Archer at Sunset

Now the series of Heirs to the Kingdom has come to an end, and whilst I am looking at other projects, I have taken a little time to sit back and reflect on what is now a full body of work.

Heirs to the Kingdom has many messages within the pages, be them about justice, the environment, betrayal or loyalty, but one message that I wanted to be loud and clear, also reflects an aspect of my own life, especially in the role of management or business owner, and that is, I believe in complete equality for all.

In recent years I have seen messages certainly around the book world, and in film that there really isn’t enough female hero’s, and at times I have sat back and gasped with disbelief, history is packed them, Boudicea and Joan of Arc come straight to mind, as does Wonder Woman, who has seen a huge revival on the silver screen in recent times. I cannot think of a better example of a female hero than Wonder Woman, the bi-sexual, whip and sword bearing shield maiden who fights for justice, she has it all, and even as a boy I was a huge fan of Linda Carter, who was the Wonder Woman of my 1970’s youth. Literature is littered with rebellious strong women, and yet they appear ignored, Pippi Longstocking the free spirited teenager, Jo out of Little Women, and not forgetting Elizabeth Bennet out of Pride and Prejudice, as some of the strongest female character’s I have read, and I would say for women they should be inspiring figures.

When it came to Heirs to the Kingdom, I wanted similar characters. Yes the book is an action and adventure story laced with magic and mythology, and there was always going to be fights and brawls, but when I first set out to write the books, I looked seriously at the situation created by the Red Death, and to me it made perfect sense that not just the males, but the females would out of a survival instinct, fight to protect what little they had. Today I know my wife is as capable as me if it came to a survival situation, she has been by my side throughout most of HTTK, and yes we have made our own arrows, and taught the kids how to filter water and start a fire with wet wood, everything in the books has been looked at and examined, and if I simply did not know, together we tried it to document the process for the writing. I will add at this point that the sexual reference to barbeque tools in book seven, is very specific to Jett Amber only, we have no knowledge of such things, although my wife has had green hair, which happened once as an accident, and she did do it once on purpose.

Heirs to the Kingdom whilst a fantasy, had to reflect real life in my mind, and so I started by creating females who would enter the books as the very ideal of what is the stereotyped female, especially in the case of Runestone. Rune is a few bits of several people I have known in my life, her long red hair and sapphire blue eyes, are from one person, her temperament comes from another, and her slender frame and kick ass abilities, came from yet another female from my life. I grew up in the 1970’s around hippie culture which morphed into rock culture, and I was surrounded by friends like Runestone, Jade and Jett. It was my intention to show Runestone as would be expected of a young innocent girl, and then I began her transformation from girl in the clothes shop, to kick ass powerhouse side kick to a warrior lord, her evolution through the series has been a real pleasure to write, and for any young girl reading HTTK, I hope it shows them, that the stereotyped world is not their only choice in life.

The hippie community was filled with slender elegantly dressed, and certainly very feminine women, and it was from these people I referenced a selection of characters, the biker/rocker community gave me a sample of strong capable women, and it was from combining the two that I came up with a basic idea of how the females within the books would be shaped. For myself Runestones ability to lift a sword and fight besides her husband is a natural thing, I have seen women who are more than capable outshine the men in real life. The broad South Wales speaking, at times flaky, yet highly aggressive Jett Amber, is actually quite a normal persona from my past, and I actually think I live with Jade, as my wife is much happier in oversized hoodies, my shirts and her heavy boots. All of these people who shaped my story entered my life in a very feminine manner, and as I grew to know them and they became good friends, I began to see all their wonderful additional qualities, and to be honest there was no debate back then of treating them differently, as they were naturally seen and treated as equals. I think in many ways today the battle of the genders has become so fraught, we fail to see how alike we can all be at times, and that is a main point of HTTK.

This a post-apocalyptic story, a dystopian tale, and in a situation where the uncertainty of death hangs over you. I would say all the fights and squabbles over gender would be brushed aside, as everyone pitched in to help overcome the trials of the changes to life. It is a shame that we have such great stories literally within arm’s reach, and yet it feels at times like the world is stuck in this fight for rights and power, when if such an incident happened in the real world today, everyone would see that given the situation, all of us are capable of simply getting stuck in and doing what was necessary to survive.

The biggest change I have seen is my life is the eroding of acceptance. Growing up in hippie/rock culture, I saw a different way of living, which was based more in nature and less in the world of money and stone, it shows in my writing. Today we have moved away from simply being ourselves and accepting everyone around us for whom they are, this media driven world has become critical and is all about shaming others, and I find it very sad. I would like to think that HTTK whilst a wonderful vehicle for escapism, also can show a more natural way for all of us to live together, which is the whole principle behind Robbie’s Mere as the base of the Specialist’s. I really love the fact that there are alpha males and alpha females’ side by side, who get along and serve the community.

Human nature I feel is naturally accepting with an open mind, there will always be love and romance, sexual frustrations and expressions. Bravery will appear in the most unlikely, and fear will create doubt in the strongest, there are good and bad people in all communities, and there is certainly no shortage of bullies and those who will become their victims, and these things apply to both sexes equally. They have always been there, history tells us the tales of those times, and they are at times misleading, as they are only the words of the one person who wrote them. I think it is why I admire Celtic culture, for they believed in complete equality and in community. They lived by tribe mentality, and accepted each other as equals because their way of life depended on it, so why are we not teaching more of this to our children?

To say there is a shortage of female role models or hero’s I feel is misleading, if you look hard enough you will find them. Arwen and Eowyn from lord of the rings, Lyra Silver Tongue from His dark Materials, Jo Playton from Day of the Triffids, Super Girl, Bat Girl, Black Widow, Harlequin, Storm, there are so many of various types, and there is one pretty much to suit every woman alive, and now you also have Runestone, Jade Opal, Jett Amber, Scarlet, Sapphire, Opal Green Circle, Gwendolyn, Tila, Crystal, and Amethyst to add to the collection, and the thing that makes them all admirable is, they are all true to themselves and those they support. I will add if perchance you hate them all, go follow Rags for a while, because that girl can cope with just about anything.

Heirs to the Kingdom is a series of eight fantasy and adventure books, written by Robin John Morgan, and is available from Amazon and all online book retailers.

The Parting of Sapphire and Keith.

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Handfasting or Marriage

I have had a few comments from readers on the breakup between Sapphire and Keith. Quite a few of you have expressed some sadness at their parting of the ways. They met in book two, and it appeared that they were destined to be together forever, especially when you look to book four, and Sapphire’s ordeal at the hands of Brother Argus, and how distraught she became about her prospects for future chances of children with Keith.

I try in all that I write to give an honest representation of life, and I think the story of Sapphire and Keith serves as a good reflection of our modern world today, and there is a line I have used many times as I have talked to someone suffering a broken heart, which simply put is, “Some people are meant to belong in our hearts, but not always in our lives.”

I have seen a great deal in my half century on this earth, and since I was a young boy, a great deal has changed in regard to relationships and marriage. I think with age I have grown a little cynical about the future of what is now seen as out of date values, and I have watched the game change into something so different from the family roles I learned as a young boy. I do try very hard to present a modern take on my woodland world, and I spend a great deal of time thinking about how the rules of society would change after a life changing event such as the Red Death, and one thing I do know, is that if you put people into a survival situation, pretty much most of their view points on life will shift, especially in regard to long term goals.

Modern culture is unrecognisable to that of my youth, and as a people watcher who is fascinated with the human condition, I have observed many of the younger couples that have grown around me. Marriages are changing, so are relationships, and in today’s world, sadly a marriage is something no longer measured as for life. The young embrace marriage and relationships as a short term phase, most marriages today encounter cheating and infidelity much sooner than say twenty years ago, it appears that forever has a life span of only ten years in the modern world, and I think about this a great deal.

Pagan ritual of marriage

The fact is, modern society sees relationships so much more differently than I did in my twenties, they have adopted a more  disposable lifestyle, which I think creates an attitude and a live in the now approach. To a degree I understand this, as I grew up opposed to marriage due mainly to my own observations of those around me, and I chose to live my own life in search of liberty and self-discovery. It was only in my later years that I even considered marriage, and so I feel that maybe the youth of today are a little more wiser to life, and want to enjoy being single for far longer than many of my peers did before settling down. When I was younger I was taught marriage is for life, you pick one person and then tough it out no matter what the circumstances, today traditional marriage is just one of many options, that include open lifestyles of varying degrees, and I have observed these in action, and considered it and realised that a marriage in the modern world, is whatever that couple wants it to be, and I actually can see some sense to this.

I have observed couples, who break up, and I have had the chance to talk to quite a few during their times of separation, and many have regrets, and equally as many do not want to let go. It is an interesting phenomenon, and something I wanted to reflect in the books. I have known females, who even though their partner treated them terribly, and left them for other women, they refused to let go, and have endured a long period of suffering alone as a result. I still to this day do not understand why anyone would want to be around someone who treated them so badly, but the facts are, they fought for all they were worth to try and win the man back, and even though I disagreed with them, I also admired them for such massive belief in the power of love to win over.

Others I know have had multiple affairs, and it has weighed heavily on them, and yet as unhappy as they were living in what they perceived as misery, they refused to leave their partners, as they did in a strange way actually love and care about them, and had no intention of hurting them. It is a strange thing to observe, as they worked so hard to save their marriage, only to end repeating their infidelity. I feel that today marriage and relationships are more flexible and easy to discard in the minds of a generation who swipe left or right, and can hook up instantly using the internet or a phone app. I also have had to ask myself, that if your life was plunged into the danger of an apocalyptic event, would that make people more likely to couple up for relationship security, and then in time, as the situation improved, would they be more likely or less likely to separate?

The way I see it, is that with the chance to start completely from scratch, would those with less than a satisfactory relationships separate for a complete change and a better future, or would that bond be strengthened, and therefore remove the all the sources of unhappiness with the struggle to survive? I talked to a lot of people about this and did a lot of reading, and I came to the decision that most bonds would probably be boosted. It is clear that during war time Europe of the 1930’s and 40’s with the chances of survival lower than say during peacetime, more people rushed into marriage, but again in many cases, military personal stationed  very far from home, sort companionship with partners who were not their legal spouses.

I think the higher the risk of death, the more willing some people were to risk everything and move away from the norms of society. With this in mind I turned to Sapphire and her situation.  Firstly Sapphire has had to endure 30yrs alone and isolated (Book 7), so in this scenario she grows use to being without Keith and learns to be dependent on just herself. Sapphire’s other important factor is that once she has used the Bridge of Sequana, she begins to understand that as her powers grow, she will attract the attention of the Dark One. One factor gives her separation and the other threatens death, both ultimately risk Keith’s life, and could end up with him alone if she dies. It is not a simple situation.

Celtic handfasting ribbon knot.

The fact is nothing in a relationship is simple, everything is a negotiation, as we see with Robbie and Runestone as they face their roles in life, and deal with the their commitment to each other and the family they are raising. I think in today’s modern world, they do set a good example to those who really are committed and want to live with the one they have chosen. I have always believed that every marriage is unique, and should not be a formula fixed by society. It is a negotiation lived by just two people, and it is up to them to define their boundaries and live as they chose without comment from the rest of the world. In the background of the books we can see this in all the varied forms of marriage and relationships the characters have, and all of them are very different. I can certainly say that in my own marriage, everything is openly discussed, and then we chose what our next step will be, it works for us, even though at times others do not understand it, but we are also aware it is not going to be the same experience for everyone else, and we try not to comment or judge others because of that.

I have looked at people and how they live together, and it has been clear to me that they are not destined to find their way through whatever crisis they face with each other, and it is because of those cases in real life, I think that I wrote Opal’s part in this as the one to advise Sapphire and maybe shows the greatest wisdom. When Sapphire confesses how she feels about Keith and her future, it is Opal who states it is unfair to continue, as it is not just her life; she must also consider Keith’s. Opal advises the break up after Sapphire explains she wishes to find her own path alone, and I think this shows great wisdom, as even though they are both aware of how much this will hurt Keith, it is in the long run the best thing for him. Given time, Keith will heal and start a new relationship, and through that he will discover the joys of life again. The sudden break up will mean that whilst he is still young, he will have the chance to find something of value that will last much longer, because if Sapphire does not have the courage, and drags it out, it is Keith that will ultimately suffer the worst, and eventually have a shorter life time with a new love.

Many agree with Opal, and some who have spoken to me do not, ultimately I am always going to side with Opal, after all the women is over a thousand years old, and has seen far more in life than I have. But I do think that whilst immensely difficult, Sapphire ultimately did the right thing to end it. Her life is about to change forever, as she becomes the centre of a circle that will grow to guide many lines of lives, and she will enter places in her life Keith will not be allowed to go to.

(Spoiler alert) Sapphire is half human and half Fae, and up until now she has lived a very human existence, her coming years will see her face and embrace her Fae side, as she will be ever drawn in that direction, and whilst the Fae of Earth embrace many freedoms of gender and relationships, Keith will not be allowed to be a part of certain aspects of Fae life. It is a very important factor in her decision, and why the book contains the heart breaking scene where Sapphire visits Keith for one last farewell.

This is not a situation where anyone wins, and for Sapphire I think it is as painful as it is for Keith, but you cannot rule out that she has lived 30 years alone, only to be returned back to the point in time where Robbie confronted the Dark One on Citadel Mount. Having felt the freedom the isolation has given her to learn her craft, she is now placed back into Keith’s arms, and within her so much has changed. Yes she still loves him and probably always will, but she has to be realistic and face the truth of life. The truth is she has learned to live without him, and has come to the realisation that isolation is her protection and her greatest strength. I admit it would be no problem to pick up where she left off again with Keith.

As a writer, it would have made little impact on the books and the story, but that is not how I work, as I want the characters to appear as real as me and you, and I spent a long time thinking about her situation. It made complete sense at the end of the process to have Sapphire admit the truth, there has been a little part of her caught in her teenage dreams and fantasies born out of her own isolation growing up, and as she matured, she had to face the facts that her position could no longer tolerate any form of deceit. Not only towards others, but more importantly towards herself.  Sapphire has to a degree been fooling herself that she can live a mortal life, but the fact remains that she is half Fae, and sooner or later she would have to leave Loxley, and so with that in mind, she had to break it off with Keith, for her journey now is into the unknown world of the mystics, a place no fully mortal person can travel.

I think in today’s world the outcome would be exactly the same. It is said that if you truly love someone, you have to love them enough to let them go, and I believe in that deeply, as I feel that a relationship is two individual people sharing a life experience together, and it is with that in mind I wrote the passages in book seven. It is my hope this series will have a true to life feeling, even though it is heavily wrapped in fantasy, and I hope you will take that into consideration.

The final book in this series of HTTK will illuminate many aspects of the realms and worlds and the people within them, and as all the strings get pulled together to draw this adventure to a close, I hope it will become a little clearer for the readership, and answer many more questions. I am writing what is the most complex book  at the moment in an attempt to finish the book as quickly as I can, and so hopefully it will not be much longer before you all have a copy in your hands, and can complete this journey with me. Until then I thank you for all your correspondence, and look forward to presenting the final instalment at some future point.

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.

Old Idea, Modern Twist.

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Light and spacious, and freedom of movement

One of the most visually identifiable aspects of HTTK is without doubt the cloak. In the first book Robbie and Billy both receive a new one, which was made by Steph and Runestone. It is a garment that in the very early stages of HTTK is pretty dominant, and in a lot of the conversations I have in regard to the books, most people just assume that I included the cloak to add to the modern/medieval feelings of the transit back in time in which all the characters live.

The symbolism of the hooded man has to be a long hooded and cloaked figure, and where I must admit a cloak was indeed the perfect vehicle for the image I wanted to create, I actually shied away from it at first. I was very aware when writing the first book that using the words Bowman and Loxley in the title, a lot of people would instantly think this was yet another Robin Hood story, which for those of you have read HTTK, you will know that is very much not the case.

I spent a lot of time creating the world in which my characters would live, and the most important aspect of it would be that it was set in the year 2038, so it would be a futuristic tale. I was embarking on a world torn apart and destroyed by a virus, which lead to anarchy and destruction, leaving those who survived with very little. The villain of the story with his Cutters would set about collecting as much of the old world life as possible, and so those who barely survived, were faced with the task of starting from scratch in a world outside of town and city life. In my mind they would have been left with very little and had literally only the clothes on their backs.

From disaster to the start of book one, twenty six years have elapsed, and as I planned the start of my world, it became quite clear that those survivors would have had to toil hard to make it through, and the most obvious factor here would be wear and tear of the few articles of clothing they possessed. I think it is quite obvious that they would have no choice but to create new clothing, and it is here that the skills of the old would be a major factor. I imagined those very few of the older generations would be the saviours of the masses, because they would still have the skills required to move the survivors forward. In my mind the elders of each community would be a vital part of survival, something I actually feel in today’s modern life where we take our older generations for granted, we all miss the point that their early life was set to a background long before modern technology, where they literally learned the skills to create and repair most things.

The elderly would become the teachers of the old skills, making them one of the most important aspects of a new community, as they still remember the crafts of weaving, patching, darning, knitting and crochet. Even if they were not able to handle the work load of creating a new cottage industry, they would still be able to teach the young, and this is yet another reason why characters such as the Kirk sisters, Agatha Patterdale and Ruben Stein are so very important to the village life of Loxley. I am not sure how many of the older generations you may have spotted, but they are there weaving in and out of the story throughout all the books. Alfie and Lee Sherman, Old Joe, Fuse and Alf the butcher play vital roles in this story; even Oscar Hargreaves had his part to play as book seller and more importantly printer.

Runestone and Steph run Trinkets and Trousers, the shop that supplies many articles of clothing, and if you notice employ quite a few extras weaving and sewing, even Maddy and Una who were raised at a time long before the modern world, are gratefully welcomed into the community and play their parts as teachers working in this industry.
I gave a lot of thought to the clothing, and did at first think some people would indeed seek out supplies to stock pile, enter Harry and Smokes and also the Cutters, but even with a great deal of salvage from the last remnants of the modern world, there still would not be enough to clothe a new generation of woodland living people, and so I turned my attention to more practical means of protection from the cold or the hot summer sun.

In today’s world wearing a cloak would be seen as old fashioned, and to be honest those who wear them would be considered quite strange and bonkers, I know as I actually own a real woollen woodsman cloak replicated perfectly to the medieval period. It is a heavy winter cloak, and it is both thick and heavy to wear, but I must confess it is so comfortable to wear, that I have on occasion slipped on and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Back in 2006 I made one out of a blanket as I looked at what would be the best and most suitable article of clothing to wear. Few people realise that actually the cloak has been worn for thousands of years, and its demise is relatively a recent thing. Wearing a cape or cloak was quite common right up until the mid-1940’s and in some circles they were still worn right through to the late 1980’s. I remember many hippies who wore poncho’s and wraps in the early seventies, and yes there was still the odd eccentric who wore a cloak during those days also. But the simple fact remains that the cloak has been around as a worldwide phenomenon for a very long time, but why I asked myself?

Simply put, I think it is because the cloak is possibly the easiest thing to make from a long rectangular piece of fabric. A basic cloak is easily fashioned and very practical, I made one and went out into the woodland to test it and see. I must admit I did not have very good sewing skills at the time, but by folding a section of the top of my blanket back on itself to make the shoulder section double thick, and then adding a basic lace tie, I found that I could lift the folded section over my head in the rain creating a hood like appearance, and actually found as I walked under the trees in the pouring rain it was very effective, and I remained surprisingly warm and dry.

My blanket cloak felt heavy to hold in one hand, but once thrown across my back it felt amazingly light, and where I thought it may restrict my movements, it was quite surprising how easily it flowed around me, moving with my own body’s movements so it never actually restricted any kind of gesture or position I took up. There is zero restriction on the arms, so the firing of a long bow would be completely unhindered.

One day when it rained quite hard, I took a second walk in the woodland just to see how waterproof it would be. Now you have to consider that it was just a plain thick blanket with no form of waterproofing whatsoever on it, I literally folded the top section over for a double protection on the shoulders and added a lace tie. To my complete surprise, I found it kept me bone dry. The weight of the cloak did increase a bit as it absorbed the heavy rain, but my shirt and pants were completely dry. I think it was during that storm I decided it was the right choice for the story as it made complete sense that in a survival situation it would be the easiest to manufacture, and the most practical to wear.

It had some other surprising points that added to my choice as well, the first being the silence of wearing it. Something we do not realise is how noisy modern clothing can be; we all know what it is like to be out in a bad storm in a thick modern coat, which is usually made of nylon type fabric. I think it is safe to say that we have become accustomed to that putter patter sound as the rain hits us on the shoulders or head. Especially when you pull your hood up, you can hear the rain driving onto you, and it can at times be so loud you cannot hear yourself think. I was out in a massive downpour and yet it was totally silent. The thick wool absorbed all the impact, and the result was I could hear every sound of the woodland clearly; something I noted would be of great advantage to a woodsman. Another one of my pet hates is wet hands, I hate the way modern macs create rivers in the creases that always run off your shoulders and down your sleeves soaking your hands, but with a cloak there were no rivers running off me and my hands were safely tucked within the cloak.

It was quite a warn day, but had it been cold and wintery, I could see how the cloak could be pulled tight around me to keep me warm, and when I crouched against a tree, the cloak folded in like a small protective tent, and I was safe, warm, and very dry. I had to wonder why we have accepted the modern coat, which can be cumbersome and annoying, when we have been wearing possibly the perfect outdoor attire for thousands of years. My makeshift handmade cloak passed all the tests of warmth, movement, and water proofing that I needed to tell me that it would be right to include it in the books, and to date, I think it has become a prominent feature of my lead characters, but only because it would practically be the perfect garment for that situation. I find it no coincidence that the modern day army use waterproofed long cloak like garments to cover their packs and themselves whilst out in the field. They may be nylon and camouflaged, but their purpose serves exactly the same purpose it has for a thousand years, it provides protection from the elements, can be used a make shift tent or blanket, and helps break up the shape by softening it into the background.

In 2008 my wife bought me a proper woodsman’s cloak made from thick wool and lined with cotton, and

A thick heavy woollen cloak, yet suprisingly light to wear

the experience of this well-made hand stitched garment, completely proved that the decision to use a cloak made by a master seamstress such as Runestone for Robbie, was indeed the right way to go, and any anxiety I had felt writing the first book, soon diminished as I knew I chosen perfectly.
It probably sounds quite bonkers, but I would thoroughly recommend buying yourself a good quality cloak with a hood, compared to today’s machine made coats, it is a far better garment for winter or the summer, and if you get a little too hot, cast it back over your shoulders and cool down, it really is a wonderful experience, and I have no idea why they fell out of fashion. To be honest I live in hope that one day they will brought back in a revival, and if they are, I will be one of the first out there wearing mine.