insights to the writing
🔗 www.heirstothekingdom.com/rjmblog
Heirs to the Kingdom is a series of ongoing books, that I really never intended to publish. I have always written short stories, that have been read mainly by friends. I enjoy writing, but never considered myself a serious writer, for me it was just a way of allowing the creative feelings trapped within me to come out.
When I first allowed people to read the first instalment of the Bowman of Loxley, I viewed it much as I have my shorter stories, the only difference being it was much longer, at 209 thousand words I hadn't given much thought to the fact that I had written a novel.
The revelation I had notes for other stories to follow excited my friends, and soon I found I was swamped with requests to read the story, it became apparant when my father read it that I should consider publishing.
In 2007 I set about a complete rewrite, to ensure that if I did consider publishing the story, it would at least be credible. After two years of atempts and several rejections (Fantasy or Fiction not wanted) I finally got my chance to get the book out via a new company UkUnpublished.
It has been an interesting journey for a man who has spent his working life outdoors working with plants, I must confess that it has been nice to sit indoors in the warmth and write. In early 2008 I took time off to write more on this story, and as book one went out to the world, book two entered into the final stages of editing, to be released in late 2009. I have no idea of how the books will sell, I just know that to date everyone who has read them, has found it compulsive reading. Its been a wonderful time seeing how others have enjoyed my work.
In 2013 I became a little dissillusioned with the publishing aspect of the books, I felt that considering I was doing most if not all of the promotion then it was time to take charge and start publishing myself. After a lot of planning, in early January of 2014 I took control of my books and pulled them from my current publisher and set up my own small home based company, and after four months of revising my books I republished the first three of my books and a new fourth book under the banner of Violet Circle Publishing, and I am currently working with a few friends who are also writers to help thempublish their own work.
Considering I never intended publishing, Its been very enjoyable and I hope that anyone who reads this series of my work, gets a share of the pleasure I have experienced in creating it.
If you would like to know more about how I wrote HTTK, or share my experiences as a new writer, you can read my blog at www.heirstothekingdom.com/rjmblog If you do visit, I would be delighted if you left a comment.
<p><em style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;">After centuries of religiously motivated war, the world has been split in two. Now the Blessed Lands are ruled by pure faith, while in the Republic, reason is the guiding light—two different realms, kept apart and at peace by a treaty and an ocean.</em><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;" /><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;" /><span style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;">Children of the Republic, Helena and Jason were inseparable in their youth, until fate sent them down different paths. Grief and duty sidetracked Helena’s plans, and Jason came to detest the hollowness of his ambitions.</span><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;" /><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;" /><span style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;">These two damaged souls are reunited when a tiny boat from the Blessed Lands crashes onto the rocks near Helena’s home after an impossible journey across the forbidden ocean. On board is a single passenger, a nine-year-old girl named Kailani, who calls herself “the Daughter of the Sea and the Sky.” A new and perilous purpose binds Jason and Helena together again, as they vow to protect the lost innocent from the wrath of the authorities, no matter the risk to their future and freedom.</span><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;" /><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;" /><span style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;line-height:17.563634872436523px;">But is the mysterious child simply a troubled little girl longing to return home? Or is she a powerful prophet sent to unravel the fabric of a godless Republic, as the outlaw leader of an illegal religious sect would have them believe? Whatever the answer, it will change them all forever… and perhaps their world as well.</span></p>
This is the first book to launch the series of Heirs to the Kingdom. It is my first published work, and to be honest I had never thought of publishing, until I was advised that it was worth doing. I wrote this story mainly for my daughter over 15 years ago, to continue on the legacy of the folkelore tales that I had read to her, at the end of the stories I had read which included Robin Hood, King Arthur, Ivanhoe and a few Celtic tales, she asked me what happened next? At this point I suppose most parents would have closed the book saying "Nothing, that just how the story is," but I began to tell her a story which wove the essential elements of each of the stories, and moved it all forward in time and into the future, as the ancestral heirs of old lines began to surface. My lead characters were just children at that time and she adored the tales I told, looking back I think it was a good thing I made a lot of notes to keep the story consistent with her. I have always written stories and tales, I just wrote them for the joy of the creation, and the process of writing, its something that in the spare moments of my busy life has relaxed and calmed me from the hard day of heavy work. HTTK has always been a special story, I have many stories written that I have not looked at in years, yet this one has always stayed in my thoughts, and I have spent many days whilst working putting more of the peices of the tale together. In 2007 armed with a huge pile of notes, I had some free time and wrote the full story down, I think its has now become an obbsession as the story locked inside me wanted to come out. It has changed a great deal since those early days and the characters now take the form of young late adult teenagers, in what has become a realistic feeling realm of the Woodland People. I allowed several friends to read the first rough draft of the Bowman, and soon found myself swamped with requests for printed copies to read, and for over six months the rapidly wearing copies passed around and I was inundated with requests for the rest of the tale, It was not longer after I searched for a publisher, only to find I recieved great revues of the book, but was told that Adventure fantasy novels did not sell well, and the publishers did not wish to invest time and money in my work. With more requests for the books I eventually after two years got the book self published, it has sold a modest amount and continues to sell. If you enjoy the small sample contained on this site, or if you have read it, please visit the web site, or the facebook page where you can add a revue. Either way I thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you like what I have written, I thankyou for the compliment of taking the time to read it.