The inception of Eternal arose from a combination of two primary factors: the depths of my subconscious mind and a fateful game of Rory’s Story Cubes with my son (see my biography for more details). Once I started writing, the story unfolded naturally as though it already existed and was just waiting to be transcribed. Of course, once it was written, there was the usual editing process, which not only involved corrections, but additional scenes and paragraphs.
The characters of Vala, Elvar and Amalia formed almost instantaneously, with Jelly and Max closely following. The characters took on a life of their own and the story just flowed; I did not actually have a fixed story outline from the outset – I just wrote a scene and the next followed, though I did have the key points of the story in my head throughout.
Vala, my female protagonist, is ostensibly a younger version of myself, and Elvar, my male protagonist (and Vala’s love interest), possesses all the qualities of my ideal man. When I am writing, I am living vicariously through Vala, feeling her emotions and thoughts. I believe this really helps create an authenticity and realism that would not otherwise be there. Again, Vala’s relationship with her parents, is similar to my own. However, her friends and the other characters are not directly based on real people – I just drew upon certain attributes and personality traits and the characters simply materialised; it was as though they already existed in some alter dimension, just waiting to be actualised as part of my story. The antagonist of Eternal is an amalgamation of fear, nightmares, terror, and ancient evil, personified into a powerful adversary.
As mentioned earlier, the character of Vala is based very much on myself – we share many attributes and insecurities, though I have not yet got the hang of soul-mirroring or miraculous healing prowess. Elvar is ostensibly my ideal man – I am unashamedly in love with him.
I am currently working on book two in the Eternal trilogy, 'Re-awakened'.
The characters of Vala, Elvar and Amalia formed almost instantaneously, with Jelly and Max closely following. The characters took on a life of their own and the story just flowed; I did not actually have a fixed story outline from the outset – I just wrote a scene and the next followed, though I did have the key points of the story in my head throughout.
Vala, my female protagonist, is ostensibly a younger version of myself, and Elvar, my male protagonist (and Vala’s love interest), possesses all the qualities of my ideal man. When I am writing, I am living vicariously through Vala, feeling her emotions and thoughts. I believe this really helps create an authenticity and realism that would not otherwise be there. Again, Vala’s relationship with her parents, is similar to my own. However, her friends and the other characters are not directly based on real people – I just drew upon certain attributes and personality traits and the characters simply materialised; it was as though they already existed in some alter dimension, just waiting to be actualised as part of my story. The antagonist of Eternal is an amalgamation of fear, nightmares, terror, and ancient evil, personified into a powerful adversary.
As mentioned earlier, the character of Vala is based very much on myself – we share many attributes and insecurities, though I have not yet got the hang of soul-mirroring or miraculous healing prowess. Elvar is ostensibly my ideal man – I am unashamedly in love with him.
I am currently working on book two in the Eternal trilogy, 'Re-awakened'.
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