On my book.

www.waroftheelements.com

My first attempt at writing a book was when I was about six or seven years old. As I recall, the project was begun on an old fashioned type writer. It had a ribbon and went clack, clack, clack every time you pushed a key.

The story was about a haunted house and ghosts and high adventure and I worked on it for about an hour before abandoning the project.

Since then I have embarked on a number of writing projects and like my haunted house story, they all somehow managed to fall by the wayside. How then is it that I finally managed to get a book written at last? Well, what follows is a brief account of the process...

It so happened that I attended a wedding back in 2002. Although for the life of me I can't remember who it was that was getting married, the wedding stands out for two reasons.

The first is that I was completely in love with one of the bride's maids, who I'm not ashamed to say looked breathtakingly beautiful on the day (and for that matter on every other day). She however, was not in the least interested in a shabby looking fellow, who at the time had a pony tail and regularly sported Beavis and Butthead t-shirts. It was a tough wedding.

The second reason was that I met one of the most remarkable gentleman at that wedding, who although of a middle age had such inspirational desires for the rest of his life. He had no qualms about talking to a shabby looking fellow, who at the time had a pony tail and regularly sported Beavis and Butthead t-shirts.  We struck up a conversation and I remember him telling me that he would rather go to jail than work a nine to five job. As he related the plans he had for the rest of his life, I was filled with a deep sense that I too should dream to do fabulous things and so set about dreaming. It was a great wedding.

Inspired by this interaction and by the pain of young love spurned, I was on the cusp of quitting university and setting off to the Middle East to do my bit to save the world. With great difficulty, however, I allowed common sense to prevail and abandoned this romantic desire. Instead, I undertook to finish the degree I had started and promised myself  that I would start and finish a book, no matter how long it took me and no matter how bad it turned out to be.

I began two projects. The first was about a young, heart-broken, law student, who inspired by a chance meeting with a mysterious stranger (at a wedding no less) went off to a magical world (which inexplicably mirrored the Middle East to a great degree) where he embarked on a number of adventures.

The second project was a comic book. The idea for which was inspired by a nightmare I had had, where an evil man with white hair and fire in his veins, stabbed me to death. I hoped for it to be the modern version of, A pilgrim's progress. I will go ahead and acknowledge that the concepts contained in this paragraph are diametrically juxtaposed and leave it at that. I promise you that an explanation will not cure the confusion.  

Of the two, I imagined that the comic would eventually fall by the wayside. The opposite proved to be true. Rest assured and for the love of whatever rags of dignity still cling to this mortal frame, I will say no more about what transpired as a result of the first idea.

As for the second idea... I did a rough draft of the first few comics, with terrible sketches. By this time all traces of my being stabbed to death and having to crawl through dark, slimy tunnels had been removed from the story. I still thought the white haired, fiery veined murderer was cool, so he stayed. I came up with a grand hero called Enoch, gave him a few creatures to kill and thought I was golden. Armed thus with my terrible sketches and a story line weaker than an episode of a b-grade soap opera I began to look for an artist to assist me. Unfortunately nobody seemed to share my enthusiasm for such a grand project. I had many, many frustrating meetings and eventually in desperation I decided to turn the comic into a book. I won't lie, I was deeply disappointed. In my mind comics were cool and books a dime a dozen.

Not one to capitulate easily, I hoped to capture the grainy feel of a comic in the book. My characters were to be splendid, strong and god-like, succeeding in whatever they set their hands to. My primary concern, however, was to try make the good guys cooler than the bad guys. It irritated me that the baddies are always so much cooler than the good chaps and yet for all of this, the goodies always win. In my opinion, that is cheating. Those who deserve to win must win and to heck with the moral lessons involved. My story demanded that if the goodies were to win, they would need to earn it or else suck it up and take their hidings like men. In short I wanted to write a story that I would want to read, no cheating, fast paced and offering an opportunity to escape on an adventure worthy of my participation.

So it was with these aspirations that I sat down on a cold winter's afternoon in 2002, to the sound of Russel Watson, and typed the first words of the book, 'The cruel wind howled furiously as it blew the snow through the icy wastelands of Nilheim.'  Like magic, it just came out and this is probably the only sentence in the entire book that has not been changed or edited. I cannot tell how many times I have read this one sentence over the last ten years or so as I have edited and re-edited the book ad nauseum. (At this juncture I absolutely have to digress. The Russel Watson CD has still never been recovered. We all know that the Karamite had something to do with its' strange disappearance but have no proof. The Karamite, like all the guilty of the earth pleads innocence and will no doubt take his dark secret to the grave together with a Jason Donovan poster.)


After the first chapter had been written, I sent it to a friend of mine who reads voraciously. He told me that he liked it and that I was on to a good thing. At the same time, my ex-girlfriend and her much younger sister told me they thought it was good too. This was a massive boost to my confidence. Especially so, since the younger sister was not prone to flattery and would as soon tell me I was a childish goofball as look at me. Incidentally, the fanciful young thing, did in fact call me childish on many occasions... Anyway, bolstered with these omens of goodwill I forged on ahead with chapter and verse...


I continued to work on my little project through the years, determined to finish it and as time and discipline allowed I would tinker at it. The story developed and changed significantly over time and indeed the only two things that remain of the original is the white haired villain and the name Enoch. Although, this being the case, I still would like to believe that the first few chapters do have a hint of, 'comic' about them.


My ex-girlfriend, (whose younger sister continued to call me childish and probably still does) was an indispensable support and would patiently listen to me telling her about my latest idea for the book. She would gently ask me on many occasions how it was going and at times, despite her incredibly hectic schedule, would proof read parts of it for me. Now, as always, I remain forever grateful to her not only for her assistance but for infinitely much more besides.


Apart from her, another two wonderful friends helped significantly. The first, tragically (for us) passed away in 2007 and went to be with Jesus. When she had first  heard that I was writing a book, she had been very excited and would often prod me on to finish it in her jovial manner. Her passing, reminded me that life here is temporary and our time short. I found inspiration to really apply my mind to the book and over December 2007 locked myself in my room and broke the back of most of the story.  


The second friend is a jerk I met back in 1996. When he first met me he hated me!? Don't worry though, he warmed up to me eventually and somehow we have stayed friends for the last 16 years. He really is a chop though!! At the end of  2010 he challenged me to get the thing published. Not wanting to back down to a challenge from the likes of him, I began the long process of finishing the book, getting it properly edited and published. I thought it would take a month or two, boy was I wrong! It took another year...


And so it came to pass that at long last in April 2012, just before the Easter weekend, I released my book. It has been hard work but I can honestly say that writing, The Lore of the Elements, has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. If those who read the book derive even a millionth of the pleasure I have derived from writing it, I shall be well pleased. As a fellow reader, I understand the quest of looking for books that you just can't put down. If there is only one person in this big world of ours that puts my story down, sighs with pleasure and wishes they could read it all over again from fresh, then I shall be content and  happy, secure in the knowledge that by my standards I have succeeded as an author. By my standards, I firmly believe that the success of an author is not in the number of books he has sold, but rather in the number of people who close the book with that feeling of sadness at finishing a great tale!! To hear people who have read it or are busy reading it, give me their views makes it all so worthwhile. Shall it become popular enough to eventually be labelled literature? Time will tell and one can only hope... 


Like a drug addict, I find myself needing my next fix and so I have begun work on the second book. My new promise to myself is that it will not take ten years to produce and time will judge the integrity of that promise! 


Where to from here? I hope to work more on developing my characters as I deepen the plot. I no longer wish to keep them so safe behind their god-like qualities. I want my readers to develop a deeper emotional tie with the story and the creatures who act the parts assigned them. I hope to deliver a profound reading experience to those who choose to read my work and to provide people with a form of entertainment that enriches the enjoyment of their lives. Until that time, all your comments are welcome on the book's facebook page which can be found at - www.facebook.com/waroftheelements or feel free to pick up a copy at www.waroftheelements.com 

Keep dreaming!