Category: Characters

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The good and bad sides of loyalty

In the previous blogs What trust is and why it is important and Waking up to core values, I’ve delved into the relationship that plays out between Detective Wheeler and the vampire, Raelinn. Loyalty, and the good and bad sides of loyalty are related, and something I thought I’d talk about here.

Loyalty can follow from trust and respect in someone’s core values, but it can also mean that we end up saying and doing things that take us away from our own values.

So, to give a little more context, here’s a snippet from Book 2 The Twisting Tales (no plot spoilers, but if you re-read the excerpt in the Trust blog post, you’ll see that Raelinn and Wheeler are at least talking here).

The good and bad sides of loyalty

“How’s the diet of blood, blood and more blood working out” asked Wheeler.

“Are you deliberately trying to rile me, Detective?” Raelinn shot back.

“No,” replied Wheeler. “I’m trying to keep the storylines at bay. They are all around us here. We have to be close to something.”

“Close to what?”

“I’m not sure. Just trust me,” he said. “We’re better off here, in tree cover. If you look through the canopy, there’s stories swirling all the way up. Do you see them?”

“No!” she replied. “Only you can see them.”

Wheeler stopped for a moment, remembering something.

“Earlier, on the train carriage, you said the same. What did you mean?”

Raelinn sighed.

“It’s part of your abilities, Detective,” she said. “You’re able to see the story lines. It’s why Orfeo wants you alive.”

Wheeler stopped and turned.

“Why do I get the feeling you didn’t want to tell me that?”

“Because while you didn’t know, Orfeo was better able to use you.” She stopped, watching for what he would do next.

“Yet, you did tell me?”

“You’re our best chance of getting out of here, Detective,” she said.

“James,” Wheeler said simply, holding out his hand in welcome. “Call me James.”

“What?” Raelinn asked.

“I’m not a detective here, and I may not have a job… or a wife… to go back to. I’m just James.”

“Very well… James,” Raelinn nodded, shaking his hand. “You’re doing a good job of keeping me focussed. I have the sense that despite your flaws, your wife has chosen well.”

“I’m sorry?” replied Wheeler. “Maybe that kiss affected you more than I thought?”

“No,” replied Raelinn. “I believe you are an honourable man.”

James was stunned for a moment. “You’re complimenting me now?”

“You may not believe me,” Raelinn continued. “But I once tried to act according to values of integrity and honour also. My history with Orfeo… well… let’s just say that my loyalty to him has stained me in this war in ways I do not like.”

“Loyalties are always difficult,” he agreed. “How you come into them generally defines how they play out.” He sighed.  “I’m not innocent either. I had poor judgement when I agreed to work with Orfeo. It was for my own gain.”

When loyalty becomes a prison

As I’ve mentioned before, Wheeler had a history with gambling and debt, driving him to take advantage of an easy way out. However, to achieve his goals, he had to be loyal to Orfeo and take actions that were against his own values. It became a prison for him, something he had to try and escape, while not hurting anyone around him.

For Raelinn, we get a glimpse here of the loyalty she was born into when she was turned into a vampire by Orfeo. His protection has been offered in return for her servitude, to carry out deeds that affected her greatly over time.

Freely given or demanded?

The dictionary definition of ‘loyal’ mentions being faithful to a person, cause or group to whom loyalty is due. To me this is talking about earning respect and trust and loyalty being given freely, willingly.

However, the flip side of loyalty is when people who want it, demand it. They use the threat of fear, uncertainty and doubt to ensure that a person’s loyal. We talk about this as loyalty, but is it really? Is it just masquerading as control?

Who and what causes and groups are you loyal to?

So, I’ll leave you with this question to reflect on… thinking about your relationships, how did that loyalty form and how does it serve you in your life?

And of course, if you’re more intrigued to learn what happens between Wheeler and Raelinn (and what that kiss was about 😊) then buy and read Book 2 The Twisting Tales (but read Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers first to set the scene). Both are available on amazon in paperback and kindle editions at the link below.

The Word Guardians book series

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Waking up to core values in a time of crisis

I’ve been reflecting this week on personal values, how we each have differing ones and how they change dependent on other driving forces in our lives. It’s also something I wrote into the origin story of one of the characters in the books, Detective Wheeler. He starts out demonstrating one set of values and then wakes up to his own core values in a time of crisis.

So, I thought I’d share the first time we meet him, in Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers…

Orfeo changes the terms of the deal

Halfway across town, in a multi-storey parking lot sat a large black SUV. The driver was visible, wearing shades even though the position of the car meant that he was not in direct sunlight. Suited, much like a nightclub bouncer, he regarded the man approaching with very little interest. His only gesture was to thumb to the man to indicate that he should get in the right-hand side. Clearly, someone else was already in the back, invisible through the privacy glass.

The man, wearing a raincoat with a suit underneath, carried a briefcase. He opened the right rear door and climbed in. The driver started the engine and the SUV moved off.

“It is done,” he said to the man sitting beside him.

“Good, Detective Wheeler. Good,” replied the other man. He was thin, rakish, and had a sinister look. There was darkness there. It was unnerving.

“I trust it went according to plan.” The SUV moved down one level of the parking lot.

“Yes,” replied Wheeler. “There was a girl too,” he added. In retrospect, he wasn’t sure why he said that.

“A girl?” questioned the rakish man. He searched Wheeler’s eyes for a moment. “You say it as if it might, . . . “, the man paused for a moment to choose his words deliberately, “. . . complicate matters?”

“No. I just don’t want any comebacks. The job was done, now you release my son.” The SUV went down another level. The driver cruised along the rows of parked cars looking for a new place to park.

“Yes,” replied the rakish man. He pulled out his phone, tapped long fingernails on the screen, opened a photograph and showed it to the man. “Was this the girl?”

“Yes,” replied Wheeler, looking confused. “I don’t understand. Where is my son?”

“He’s safe, and in disguise,” said the rakish man cruelly. “It seems he’s taken a shine to this young lady and we need his services a while longer.”

“What have you done with him, Orfeo?” asked Wheeler, angrily. He was starting to feel out of his depth. This was supposed to be a one job deal and then he was done. One job, one payment. This was getting messy.

Wheeler’s background

Wheeler is a man who has a history with gambling and is in debt, driving him to take advantage of a what he sees as an easy way out. It’s caused conflict in his marriage, and he becomes someone who can be bought. Events start to spiral though. His son is put in danger, and this ultimately becomes the wake-up call.

Switching sides

Wheeler realises he’s made some bad decisions, but understanding where it’s taken him makes him more determined for what he does next. He gets a second chance, from a friend, and this enables him to start acting more in line with a different set of values, including honesty, integrity and empathy.  He feels that he can be his authentic self and be the person he once was.

Why core values are important

I’m sharing this because I believe that values are important in being able to trust someone. If you start to gain an understanding of what values someone else demonstrates when they speak and act, you can figure out how they’re likely to act in future scenarios.

However, as the book demonstrates with Wheeler, someone’s values may change and influence a new pattern of behaviour. The question is, which is more inline with who their authentic self is? And if you believe their values are not their core ones, then what other things in their lives might be driving the way that they act?

Read more about Wheeler

While you’re reflecting about the values demonstrated by people in your life, buy Book 1 to learn more about Wheeler and how he turns his life around. His story also continues in Book 2 and Book 3, with Book 2 delving into the story of him and Raelinn. All three are available On Amazon at the link below in paperback and kindle editions.

The Word Guardians book series

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What trust is and why it is important to us

Welcome to this week’s blog.  I thought, this time I’d raise the question of what trust is and why it is important.

How do we trust someone else? What impact does it have on us when we do or do not have it?

And by way of example, I thought I’d share an excerpt from Book 2 The Twisting Tales…

Detective Wheeler and Raelinn in The Void

“What are you doing?” shouted Raelinn from the end of the carriage. She started to make her way down and was incensed. “Just let me go!”

“No!” he said, exhausted. “We’re just going in circles, repeating the same story!”

“You’re lying!”

The train was accelerating out of the station. The lights of the station moved behind them and it was pitch black outside. The windows reflected the interior of the carriage.

“Why would I?” retorted Wheeler. “Don’t you see? It’s the Void?”

‘The Void,’ Raelinn thought in her mind. That rang a bell. A distant memory of a battle. Then it faded and she saw the face of the man that had tricked her and brought her here. He needed to pay.

“Orfeo told me to keep an eye on you!” she seethed. “For Index! He said you were not to be trusted!”

“So, why don’t you hit me some more then. Fly at me in rage, like you usually do about now!”

Raelinn flew down the carriageway, arms extended, with her fangs bared. Wheeler knew what to do. He dropped down, catching her and rolling her over his head. He got back on his feet quickly.

“You said I was important,” Wheeler said, watching Raelinn and playing along with what he remembered having happened before, to see if it jogged her memory.

“Yes,” she replied, hissing. Then she stopped for the merest of moments and looked confused. “This?” she asked. “I remember something.”

“Yes,” Wheeler replied. “It’s taken you a while, but what do I know? As you said at the Battle for the Peacekeepers, I’m just a simpleton!”

His words seemed to jog a memory for Raelinn. She observed him for a moment.

“You’re messing with my head!” Raelinn shouted. She moved towards him firing word arrows.

Wheeler sighed and created a shield, deflecting the word arrows. They penetrated the walls of the carriage and it started to unknit.”

What happens when we don’t trust someone

The excerpt shows that when trust is missing in a relationship, pretty much everything that’s said or done is questioned. Why is the other person saying or doing that? What are they hoping to achieve? Does it also benefit me and others?

It also underpins what we take as read or not from other sources in our lives, and I touched on this in In Life, who decides what’s the right news?

In stressful moments if the trust is not there it can lead to disaster, as Raelinn and Wheeler found out. They are literally at each other’s throats, and it takes effort for Wheeler to convince Raelinn that they need to work together to escape The Void.

The flipside. How trust forms

Conversely, when we do trust someone, we are much happier to take what is said and done as read. We know from experience that the person will speak and act in line with a particular pattern of behaviour and over time we come to rely on that behaviour.

The Mirriam Webster dictionary definition of trust includes the phrase ‘reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something’. It also mentions ‘one in which confidence is placed’, so trust is an ability to rely on someone else to make decisions and take actions in line with a particular direction.

Turning it over to you

I’m conscious I’m no expert in this topic, but I wanted to prompt the questions as I think trust and how we build it is a valuable concept to reflect on. So, for you, what does trust mean and what does someone else have to show to earn yours?

And while you’re thinking about that, if you want to learn more about what happens to Raelinn and Wheeler’s opposition in The Void, buy and read Book 2 The Twisting Tales (you’ll have to read book 1 first to set the scene 😊). Both are available in paperback and kindle editions.

Happy reading.

The Word Guardians book series

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Excerpt from book 1 – Escape from Alexandria

I thought for this week blog I would share an excerpt from my first book The Battle for the Peacekeepers, Escape from Alexandria.

It’s just a small taster to whet your appetite.

Feel free to check out the other excerpts on this site too: When Yas discovers magic and A visit to Victorian London.

Escape from Ancient Alexandria

There was a ‘whoomph’ ahead of them and the doorway appeared. The creatures behind them had also spotted it.

“Sam,” urged Yas, looking behind her and seeing the creatures approaching. She threw another word ball, but this time the creatures just continued towards them, unimpeded.

Sam grabbed Yas and pulled her through the doorway just behind him. He made it through and landed on the carpet in the library but was jerked and pulled backwards. She stopped in mid-air, half in and half out of the portal. She screamed. One of the creatures had grabbed the back of her jacket in its mouth. The other, was trying to get its serpent head through the portal.

“Sam!” Yas screamed. She could see him moving about and trying to brace himself against the edges of the doorway, but her view kept switching between the two worlds.

“I’ve got you,” he shouted back. He grabbed her tightly, kicking the serpent head with one of his feet while pulling Yas as hard as he could. “Hold on!”

Yas kicked behind her, while also reaching her other hand for a better hold on Sam. She was able to push herself up on the sphinx’s head, and in return it lessened its grip. She felt the jacket rip.

“You little. . .!” she shouted angrily behind her, kicking furiously. She heard the creature whimper and then roar. Not wanting to see what it might do next; she looked forwards into the library.

“Sam!” she shouted again in alarm.

Sam continued to kick the other creature, while also defending them both against paw grabs from the first. It was tight for space, but he was able to pull Yas forwards a little at a time. If anything, her kicking against the creatures gave her the better leverage.

Suddenly, surprising them both, an arm appeared behind Sam. The creatures were pushed back sharply out of the doorway and Yas was pulled through. She fell onto the floor while Sam rolled to the side and stood up to see who had helped.

“Close the book!” said Janine Vickers sternly. She stood still, holding her hand out, palm up, uttering words that sounded foreign.

What happens next?

What a roller coaster of a ride! Well, you’ll have to buy the book to find out who Janine Vickers is and why she helped them escape.  Do Sam and Yas leap from the frying pan into the fire? Or not? Buy Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers on Amazon and find out.

The Word Guardians book series

Psst… it’s available in both paperback and kindle editions.

Ciao for now!

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Trying to put together your puzzle of life?

Do you ever have questions in your life that you just can’t seem to answer?

You’re desperately looking for a solution and everything you try leaves you feeling as though there’s still missing pieces in your puzzle of life?

You’re not alone. That was Yas, in Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers.

Yas’s puzzle of life

At the start of Book 1, Yas’s grandfather and adopted brother have been missing for two years and nobody seems to be looking for them. Worse, her parents won’t talk to her about it. She finds this frustrating and weird, but she figures you just get on with life. You graduate from school, go to college, get a job and live a life.

In Book 3 The Shadow Readers, we also learn that her father is dissatisfied with his work, and she thinks this is the way it’s supposed to be. What she’s learned is that life is not for living your dreams and that along the way, bad things can happen to anyone. She’s quite skeptical of life’s opportunities as a result and not surprisingly critical of her best friend‘s ideas about magical realms.

Yas also feels she’s being pulled by something, and she can’t figure out what. Deep down she knows there’s more, but her conditioning won’t let her see it. She’s curious about life, preferring to spend an afternoon in her passion of reading novels and learning about history from books.

They say opportunities arrive for those that attract them

Deep down, the opportunities that Yas attracts are focussed to the pieces of her life puzzle that she can’t yet put together. She works at a bookstore which gives her the opportunity to indulge in her passion. If asked she would probably tell you that she’d rather read history by those who have written it and put it up for review by the masses, than listen to schoolyard gossip and people’s opinions. Ultimately though, there’s more to her interests in stories.

Her best friend Sam is also not ‘popular’ at school, and is a bit weird, but that’s okay. He likes talking about magical realms and how his dad is lost in one. She wonders why she attracts the ‘odd’ ones. Then she literally falls into a realm, and it feels as though her life puzzle has exploded and sent all the pieces up into the air.

Direct experience is irrefutable

If you’ve ever experienced something deeply touching or moving, the paranormal maybe, you know that once you’ve experienced it there’s no going back. Your viewpoint on whatever it is has shifted forever and your puzzle of life now incorporates that.

This is what happens to Yas once she’s met the Great Oak and Red in the Forest Realm. After some convincing that it’s real, her puzzle of life shifts. She eventually realises that her grandfather and brother went missing because of a war between the Word Guardians and Controllers. Her parents refused to talk about it because they wanted to protect her. But only by seeing that picture could she fit all the pieces of her life’s puzzle together.

Listening to the deeper knowing’s

Finally, Yas could recognise the deeper feelings that she’d had all along as ‘knowing’s’. And she could see that her puzzle of life had shifted. Instead of getting on with life, now, for her and Sam, it was about finding a job that honoured your dreams, embracing stories and standing up for the freedom of readers’ imaginations. And more opportunities were about to come their way (see Book 3 The Shadow Readers) that would enable this.

So, if you have questions you can’t answer, try to honour those deeper feelings and ‘knowing’s’. Find time to embrace your passions, even if a small amount here and there in your week. And if you want to learn more how life unfolds for Yas and Sam, read the books in the series. Buy Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers using the link below.

The Word Guardians book series

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Introducing the Controllers, the Word Guardians ‘bad guys’

In previous blogs, I’ve talked about the main protagonist characters of the Word Guardians, so I thought it’s about time I did the same for the ‘bad guys’, the Controllers.

Who are the Controllers? I hear you ask

In a nutshell, the ‘bad guys’ of the Word Guardians series who just want power. Their goal is to ultimately build the empire that they want, and their motivations are many.  In Book 4, Lost Beginnings, this includes righting something the main antagonist sees as a previous wrong. In the first trilogy of books, one of the antagonists wants to be seen, recognised and acknowledged. To reach their goal they will go to extremes and twist reality to suit the storyline to get what they want.

How do Controllers control?

Remember that readers form the realms from their mind’s eye, from the words on the page. Well, it turns out that there are other influences that can help form the realms and storylines too. Controllers hang out in the realms, to influence what readers see in their mind’s eye. In Book 1 excerpt, A visit to Victorian London, McVale tells Yas that readers typically ignore things that don’t make sense to the story that they are reading. And that’s true. But Controllers are clever. They tweak storylines and influence ideas just enough that it serves their agenda while not tripping this sense of what might be expected in the story.

And that’s not all. There’s Shadow Readers, telepaths and Controllers masquerading as Guardians too.

Enter the Shadow Readers

In Book 3, The Shadow Readers, Yas and Sam find the Police Commissioner acting under the influence of something magical. Created by a Controller and inserted into a reader’s imagination while reading, the Controllers found an additional way to assert control over people in authority, to shape the world to serve them and their desire for power.

The telepaths

The telepaths are impacted a little differently. In Book 2 The Twisting Tales and Book 3 The Shadow Readers, there’s Akoni, Yas’s adopted brother, who is urged by Controllers to go and influence others to cause civic unrest. He joins protests and encourages others to action so that the Police Commissioner can then stamp down and restore order. In Book 4 The Lost Beginnings, the main antagonist has a link to the minds of individuals through which he can influence others in the outer world, to create chaos that then he can swoop in and control.

Masquerading Controllers

The masquerading Controllers are a little difficult to spot. Yas, Sam and other Word Guardians must constantly question who they can trust, as I touched on in the blog How do Word Guardians determine the truth. As well as operating in the Shadows, Controllers operate in plain sight, playing games to earn trust and then seeking to gain what they want through that relationship.

Ultimately, Controllers must show their hand at some point and are unmasked. The question (as Vickers pointed out in Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers) is you must determine how much you trust someone until you really know who they are.

So, who are the Controllers you’ll meet in the series?

You’ll meet Controllers who primarily operate from the shadows, through telepaths and those that are masquerading in plain sight and some who are a mixture of all three. Whichever mode they use, the motivation is the same: power and control. So, buy book 1 using the link below and watch for the red flags as to who might be a Controller or not.

The Word Guardians book series

I’d love to hear about your thoughts on Controllers in the series too, either by sending a comment below or by using the contact form. 

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Who is Sam, you might ask?

I’ve mentioned Sam a few times in my posts but have never really delved into his character. I figured it was time I did.

Head’s up, this post contains some plot hints from the first three books in the series. So, if you don’t want anything spoiled, I suggest you read Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers first.

Back to Sam. As the story starts in Book 1, Sam is Yas’s best friend from school. He lost his mother when he was young, and his father (a police detective) goes missing.  He tells Yas his dad’s stuck in a magical realm.  Yas feels Sam’s clinging to this unbelievable idea for some reason. She doesn’t want to give him a reality check and deliver the bad news. This is very telling for their ongoing relationship.  She cares about him, a lot.

However, Sam’s beliefs are often right

One thing you need to know about Sam is that he is not subtle. Yes, he sometimes speaks before his brain engages but his gut feelings are often right. When Yas discovers first magic, she comes to admit to Sam that he was right.  He’s understandably upset that she didn’t believe him, but they resolve their differences quickly and come to realise what’s really driving the feelings they have for each other.  This is a pivotal moment in their relationship. For the first time Sam sees that he doesn’t have to be alone and that he’s not solely responsible for trying to find his dad.

Their friendship grows closer, and Sam’s protectiveness of Yas increases.

When it comes to Yas’s adopted brother Akoni (you’ll meet him in Book 2 The Twisted Tales), Sam is wary.  Akoni has a chequered past and it’s hard for Sam and Yas to trust him. He’s protective of Yas because she means a lot to him.

Another character that inspires distrust is Penn. We properly meet Penn in Book 3 The Shadow Readers where Penn comes to Sam for help. Sam also needs help to find Yas, and his options are limited. He agrees to help but is cautious, unsure if Penn’s helping or serving himself. The duo’s interactions become a battle of one liners and veiled threats. Entertaining, if nothing else!

So, we return to the question of who is Sam? In a nutshell he is a young, loyal, quick-witted guy. What you see is what you get. He doesn’t have an agenda, he does what he says he’s going to do and he protects those he cares for furiously. He’s the kind of person everyone wants in their corner.

So, if you want to learn more about Sam…

Please visit the link below and open the door into the world of the Word Guardians.

Just one last thought, I’d love to hear what you see in Sam also, feel free to send me a comment below or by using the contact form. Happy reading.

The Word Guardians book series

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Who is the mysterious Penn? Self-centered? Misunderstood?

I’ve written about the lead protagonist in a previous blog, Who is Yas, so I wanted to turn the spotlight this week to one of my other favourite characters; the mysterious Penn. Who is he really?

The aloof Penn

We meet Penn in the bookshop in The Battle for the Peacekeepers. He’s well-dressed, wearing a long, tailored, overcoat along with gloves. He is a little theatrical and also brandishes a cane. His manner and aloofness set a particular tone. It leaves you thinking that he’s displaying all the early signs of a bad guy.

Later, we learn that he’s the head of a media empire, he’s come from money and clearly wants to keep it that way. We start to think he’s the privileged antagonist who will make decisions based on protecting his interests. That is true, but there’s much more to him than meets the eye.

Penn out for himself?

Skipping ahead into The Twisting Tales, the start of the story sees Penn as ‘not quite himself’. I can’t say more otherwise it would plot spoil. How he’s portrayed though does provide a clue as to his big background reveal in The Shadow Readers, when we understand him more. In The Twisting Tales though, we see an uneasy marriage of convenience between The Word Guardians, trying to get off the back foot, and Penn. Rightfully so, the Guardians are suspicious. What are Penn’s real motives?

Penn’s honour and values

In The Shadow Readers, Penn and Sam are thrown together early on in a time of need and it makes for an entertaining dynamic. The guardedness and banter between the two characters was something I enjoyed writing immensely and is one of my favourite threads in the book.

Later in the book, we learn that Penn is really a mixture of several archetypes but acting under a banner of honour, even if that banner is considered by some to be a little tarnished. He’s guarded, but even if his actions seem to be more ‘out for himself’, there’s a surprising set of values that he’s loyal to. There are only a few trusted others that he shows his true self to, and lucky or not, Sam happens to be one.

I can’t say more, or it would spoil the adventure of reading the series. To delve more into the journey of Penn, you’re going to have to read the first three books of the series. His story continues in The Lost Beginnings also and I have plans that bring in his background more into Book 5, The Story Thief.

Buy the The Battle for the Peacekeepers today to start the adventure!

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Excerpt from Book 1: When Yas discovers magic

This week I’d like to share an excerpt from the first book, The Battle for the Peacekeepers, when Yas discovers magic.

As you’ll see, she literally falls through a portal and it’s a key discovery point for Yas. She starts to realise that not everything in the world as is normal and mundane as she thought…

Excerpt: When Yas discovers magic is real

Yas remembered the book McVale (her employer) had mentioned, the gift from her grandpa. She wanted to have a look and now was the perfect opportunity.

She walked to the back of the shop and grabbed the kick-step. She moved it and nonchalantly stepped up on top of it. As she did so, she felt something brush past her leg, like a draft of air, yet more substantial. It startled her and made her step one foot back down.

There was no bell tinkle, so she knew it wasn’t the front door. She looked around her. There on the floor near her foot was a yellow leaf, about three inches long. It looked too large to have been tracked in on the bottom of someone’s shoe, yet too far from the door to have been blown in. No matter, she figured. It wasn’t important. She’d put it away in a moment.

She took a step back up and reached for the top shelf. Immediately, her head felt a little light and she could have sworn she heard someone call out “Psst.” She stopped still, reaching out to the shelves to steady herself.

 “Hello?” she called nervously, looking left and right around her. Had someone sneaked in without her being aware?

She strained her ears to hear. Nothing. Only the electric buzzing of the lights overhead. Odd, but not overly suspicious, she returned her mind and eyes to the task. She reached up, to grab the book. Her hand on the shelf should have given her more stability, but it started to vibrate under her touch. The original sense of movement also returned, this time for longer. She glanced down. Her light headedness made the floor seem much further away.

The shelves too started to move, and her hold was more akin to a sponge than a solid piece of wood. The intensity increased, vibrating, much like a truck passing outside, except deeper and stronger. The bookshelves started to wobble in front of her eyes, and she swayed backwards and forwards in response. Yas moved her right hand to gain a solid grasp of the book, but in doing so, her left hand was absorbed inwards to the shelf. It pulled her forwards and off balance. She cried out in alarm, and then stopped and tried to regain her composure. Perhaps this was another mild earthquake she figured, but the sponge like shelves indicated that this was something more. She wasn’t sure whether to try and step down or stay put.

The vibration increased in intensity. Now a deep roar, it was accompanied by more movement of the shelves. In her head, the sound was like a swarm of angry bees, but deeper, and which vibrated through every fibre of her being. A headache appeared behind her eyes, with flashing lights. It was the type she remembered from her younger years. That worried her. She wasn’t sure if what she was seeing around her was the result of distorted vision or really there. The bookshelves now also seemed to be swaying back and forth. They were fluid, instead of fixed, the shapes changing. The books were sliding backwards and forwards and taking on this sponge like fluidity, also. She felt nauseous and was going to hurl at any moment.

She made a move to step down. As she did so, there was a new sound, like a ‘whoomph’, and the air changed around her. Whether related to the migraine she thought was arriving she did not know, but ultimately, the floor was not where her foot expected it to be. That coupled with her left hand not finding the solid purchase she was looking for, she lost her balance. The top half of her body wanted to fall further forwards, so she leaned backwards to counteract that, hoping to find the floor. The floor wasn’t anywhere close, so she started to fall backwards, flailing with her hands for some other grip. She shrieked out in alarm, both bracing herself for a hard landing while also looking around herself in desperation for something to grab onto. She had a split-second image of herself landing heavily on one foot and then limping around the shop the rest of the day. To her surprise, there was no such landing.

Instead, where there should have been a dark blue carpet with small orange diamond motif pattern, she seemed to fall much further. Into what, she did not know. The world around her turned darker and the air smelled different, an outside smell. She heard and felt herself smashing through leaves and slender branches, until two limbs caught and held her, firm but not rough. The limbs creaked and cracked as she was lowered gently to touch the mossy ground below. Then they let go slowly. She realised that her fall had ended, and she was laying on her back, on damp, cold grass.

What happens after Yas discovers magic?

Hopefully, I’ve whetted your appetite and you want to read more. To see how the story continues, please check out the link below to view and buy book 1 (The Battle for the Peacekeepers) on Amazon.

The Word Guardians book series

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Who is Yas? Strong yet open-minded rebel.

There’s a short and longer answer to the question of ‘Who is Yas’ and why her character is written the way it is.

What I’d like to share is why I decided to write a lead female character who is independent, has firm beliefs, is open-minded, sensitive and has a rebellious streak.

Confused? Hopefully I can explain.

Motivations

The motivations and significance of Yas come from books and television shows and movies that I grew up with. I loved storylines that presented female characters as other than the sidekick who turned to their male counterpart when the going became rough.

A particular irritation was the Golden Gate bridge scene in the James Bond movie ‘A View to a Kill’ where Bond’s female companion was stranded, in stiletto heels, on the bridge supports while screaming for help.

In contrast there were characters such as Wonder Woman and Colonel Wilma Deering from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Yes, they still bowed to their male counterparts in some situations, but for the most part these characters broke the mold of how starring females were presented at the time. They were independent, able to get themselves out of trouble (and more importantly not in it to being with) and were able to be more thoughtful and compassionate in the process.

As a side note, I’m not going to age myself by giving any time periods here, you can probably come up with a rough guess based on the references!

How I decided to introduce Yas

Fast forward to me starting to write the first Word Guardians book and I knew I wanted the lead character in the first book to be a strong female. Strong, rebellious, yet sensitive and open minded. And I figured that a way to bring all that together was to write a storyline where she pretty much figured out she knew what life was about, and then had all of that questioned through a series of events with her best friend, Sam (I’ll talk more about him in a later blog post).

So, giving away a few details from the first book, The Battle for the Peacekeepers, she’s strong minded, not interested in being popular, and is different to others at her school. She also has a strong belief that there’s no magic in the world whereas Sam begs to differ. His dad has disappeared and he’s holding onto the belief that he’s stuck in a realm.

Yas reasons this out as Sam refusing to accept the possibility that his dad may not be coming back, so treads carefully trying not to encourage his optimism while also not delivering what she thinks has actually happened. All of this combined is what draws Sam to her (you’ll have to read the book to see how their friendship develops).

So, who is Yas?

Very quickly, Yas is presented with irrefutable truth that magic and realms do exist. Now, she could have handled this a different way, but she’s tired of dealing with secrets in her own family and not having anyone to talk to. Ultimately, her open-mindedness, inward questioning and humility enables her to confess that she was wrong to Sam. It galvanises their friendship and starts the duo on their adventures together.

Finally, how Yas handles the climax of the battle in the first book is also testament to her character. She’s conflicted, yet sure headed enough to intuitively know what she needs to do when the moment comes. As a reader too, you get to understand some of her inner exploration as she reaches this point and the ethics that I mentioned in The Worlds of the Word Guardians) also play into this.

So, hopefully, I’ve explained who Yas is and the significance of her character while also not giving away any spoilers. If you’d like to learn more about the book series, please check out the link below.

The Word Guardians book series

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