Category: My Books

The ideas behind my books…

Stem mainly from my imagination, I guess; but I often wonder what subconscious thoughts operate in the background. In the case of Magesty and The Serpentine Labyrinth, my idea was to spin a Sci-Fi series of novels based loosely on the Cain & Abel story depicted in Genesis. But it’s Cain’s exodus rather than that of the Children of Israel; and it certainly wasn’t the promised land! You know how it goes, out of jealousy Cain murders his brother and is banished to the Land of Nod. In my tale, the Garden of Eden was located on the world where the Five Kingdoms of Magesty is based and from where Cain and his followers were subsequently exiled through a portal to Mesopotamia on planet earth.

The curse? Cain and his people had the genome of arcane magic stripped from their DNA.

And the mark? Instead of the customary 2 belly buttons, Cain’s descendants have only 1.

All is revealed in “Grey Matter”, the final volume in the series.

But perhaps it was from my subconscious (here I’m thinking about the wizard, Merlin) that odd, let us call them “coincidences”, have sprung up. Merlin, a character whose very name conjures up tales of magical feats deployed in an age of mystery and romance, is legendary. Although the legend tells us that Albion was divided into many kingdoms at that time, only the names of five appear to have relevance in the stories about the Knights of the Round Table: Camelot, Essetir, Odin, Caerleon, and Mercia. Might this have anything to do with my choice of the “Five Kingdoms” as the main setting for my books? If so, it was fortunate happenstance because the plot of Magesty is based around five rival Royal Houses in contention for the throne. “Wards in the Stones” sound familiar? Wards of course are manifestations of protective magic; and stones refer to the sapphires of a necklace where the spells of sorcery have been etched as dislocations within their crystal lattices. In truth the book title came to me later – originally it was simply Bethany.

Also, because of a supposed common ancestry, other strange coincidences occur across both worlds: Hekate (the serpentine labyrinth), Lilith, Şeytan and the 72 angels of the Shemhamphorasch to name but a few. As to snakes, I can’t help you; they appear everywhere. From Wards in the Stones, Bethany’s guardian angel and also her chosen instrument of revenge against her mother-in-law; from Blood Within the Stone,  the ophidian incarnation of Saurin’s Mattaaspa whose lethal bite is lovingly referred to as the “Gift of Deribos” (the empty skin); and from At the Crossroad, the deadly venom of the Russel pit viper that will clot your blood in seconds! Maybe it’s because of the morbid dread I have of them! Of one thing I am certain, though: it’s got nothing to do with the Garden of Eden.

As far as I know, the secret codes which turn up in Dark Matta, At the Crossroad and also in Grey Matter are all unique to me. Go on, amaze yourself.

Preview of “Grey Matter”

<1   Replacement Therapy

One

It’s cold. A chill, north-westerly wind, carrying a winter mixture of rain and sleet has taken possession of the campus. The dark outline of the London School of Genomics’ main building is punctuated by the occasional bright rectangle of light, distributed randomly across the glass and concrete-fronted edifice. Offices and laboratories bravely defy the elements – the overhead lighting blazing out into the darkness, betray the thoughtlessness of long-departed occupants. Above, dark clouds progress across the sky like sinners pursued by an angry god. There is no moon.

Apart from the solitary security guard stationed at his post in the main lobby, the building is empty; the bank  of visual display screens mounted on the panel in front of him change periodically in a pre-programmed sequence: monochrome and devoid of movement. The last of the research staff had finally decided to call it a day a couple of long hours previously and, as the hands of huge wall clock opposite his station make their slow, inexorable progress around the dial, Andy Simpson completes his summary of the essay he has just finished marking before saving the file on his laptop. With nothing better to do throughout the long night, helping out a previous school colleague in this way brings in a very handy, no-questions-asked, £10 to supplement his meagre night-watchman’s salary each week. Plenty of time left to complete the remaining essays before e-mailing the summary of his critique at the end of his shift.

He picks up the plastic carrier bag lodged underneath his metal desk: a bag containing his paperback, vacuum flask of coffee and pack of sandwiches and makes his way over to the Administration Office. Closing the door behind him, he settles himself into one of the two comfortable armchairs, pours himself a measure of coffee and opens the novel he is half-way through reading – a far different style of English from the crap he has had to endure for the past hour and a half!

Smoking is not permitted anywhere within the building of course but, because of the kettle and small cooker provided for members of staff, the smoke detector lacks the necessary sensitivity to react to the exhalations from his e-cigarette.

In the act of taking another satisfying pull, a sense of there being somebody looking over his shoulder, induced no doubt by a sense of guilt, causes him to look around momentarily. The building is empty of course. Seven more long hours until the end of his shift. He opens the sealed bag and settles down to his midnight snack of corned-beef sandwiches with tomato. Despite the tempting presence of a section of pork pie and a Kit Kat, Andy, brought up during more disciplined times, is in no hurry – sandwiches come first – after all, he has all the time in the world.

Outside in the lobby, as the minute hand of the clock embarks on another circumnavigation of the dial, one of the now-unattended displays comes momentarily into life. Despite this, the motion detectors, located on all the stairwells and main thoroughfares within the building, remain silent and the errant screen instantly returns to its usual state of inactivity – the associated CCTV camera once more providing the same static display it has been recording all evening. Although the image of a young woman moving stealthily along one of the corridors before stopping to unlock one of the storerooms adjacent to the main genomics laboratory is captured by one of the ceiling-mounted cameras, on the monitor it is a static image of the empty corridor that is substituted in place of the live feed. A trivial juggling act for someone adept in the arts of arcane magic!

*****

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