Wednesday, January 7, 2015


An insight into the new Work InProgress.... Elementals.

Invictus Part 1 is complete, all done, ready to launch on Amazon as an e-book on Sunday 18th January. The newest WIP is well underway - a new genre, a whole new experience. I'd describe it as a Young Adult Fantasy Adventure that is proving to be both challenging and exhilarating. Honestly, I can't begin to describe how much fun it is to write this one.At 60,000 words I was comfortable with the story length and thought the ending was about right. Yes, I did plan a follow on publication but, as this was a whole new genre for me, I thought I'd dip my toe in the water first. I sent the story out to the Labrats and was absolutely stunned by the responses that I got back. Sufficed to say I was not 'allowed' to end the book where I had, they ALL wanted more!I suppose in my head this was always destined to be a 2 book story, but entering into the land of make-believe is boundless, the secret is to keep the reader entertained.Over the Christmas period I've become a bit of a recluse in so much as I don't want to leave the laptop, I don't want to step away from the fantasy world I'm creating, it just seems to be such a great place to stay! :-) My son was in a car crash last month, released from hospital just before Christmas, so I wasn't able to go out much anyway, now I just don't want to! :-)Anyway, taking on board the feedback, I went over what I had written (and please remember that this was a first draft only scribe) to see how the story could benefit from a little extra. I went back to my 'ideas board' (A blank whiteboard and 4 markers) and played around with some scenario's. One thing led to another and Elementals is now at 91,000 with no sign of stopping but I DO know how the story finishes (NOT ends!). I shall write this one right through regardless of how many words, and then I'll be calling upon Judi's skills to guide me as to if or where it should be divided up into volumes. The writing I absolutely love, the rest I still struggle with.

Anyway, here's a quick introduction, the back ground bit, for you to have a look at - I'd welcome any feedback as always (ajwilsonbooks@gmail.com)

And so another planet was created, a small sphere of nothing in the vastness of space; real-estate for the Gods. To bring life to the planet the Gods gave it the four basic elements; Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, sealed inside the protection of an atmosphere. Much time was enjoyed watching how life not only took hold, but actually flourished on what started out as a baron wasteland, a building plot. Pleased with their creation, and satisfied that the planet would continue on its path of evolution, the Gods left the planet alone, cast their eye wider for other opportunities to help their Universe thrive. In simple terms, if the universe was the garden of the Gods, this planet was just a small flower bed; a really, really, small flower bed!  
The evolution of the planet led to the rise of a new species of life, a species that called itself Hu-man. In the beginning the Hu-man was focused on surviving on this new world, but as their consciousness developed, as their intellect grew, so they started to take control. Like a weed or a parasitical invader of the flower bed, Hu-man started to destroy the other life forms that shared its environment, asserting itself as the primary incumbent. They changed things to suit their own development, feasted on their enemies to the point of extinction and beyond; Hu-man’s learnt to destroy.

A race that first sought only to survive now sought to control. Like a resilient evil the Hu-man spread across the surface of the planet, controlling what it could, destroying what it could not. The ‘flower bed’ became infested, this was not what the God’s had hoped for.
Seeing the rise of such a dominant destroyer of their creation the God’s took action; the four elements were empowered to act independently to curtail the Hu-man race. Earthquakes, tsunami’s, tornado’s and volcanoes; woodland fires, hurricanes, tidal waves and landslides, the elements tried hard. Initially this brought an improvement, a working balance was attained. But the Hu-man race adjusted, they evolved, they even battled the elements.
In an effort to save their creation great forces were unleashed on the planet, Hu-man’s population was reduced back. This time the God’s created a pact between the elements, giving them the ability to work in unison to help prevent the problem reoccurring – they were bonded together.

Still the Hu-mans persisted in their war on the planet, they sought to control the elements, harness the very powers that were created to give them life – and turn it to destruction. The Gods looked on, dismayed; when the elements had been given to the planet their purpose was to give life, not take it.

Finally, the creators gave form to the control of the four elements, a single orb. Each element breathed it’s conscience into the forging of the metallic orb; precious metals taken from the earth were molded in the heat of fire, annealed by the wind, before being reheated and quenched in the water of the Galapagos Islands. Earth, wind, fire and water were bonded forever, the Elemental was born.

Some Hu-man’s learnt of the existence of the orb; driven by greed of power they scoured the planet in search of the Elemental.
Wise to the ambition of man the God’s re-forged the Orb, its new form was a more two dimensional map of the world they had created, it became a large disc. From its new form four equal segments were created, each served one of the elements, these became the Elementals.
Then began the quest to find the strongest champions among men, not just physically but also strong of heart; loyalty, honour and intelligence, coupled with physical ability, battle skills and swordsmanship were the sought attributes. These men were sworn to the Elementals, each bound to protect when called upon.They were given the form of knowledge, with their Elementals at their core. Then, to hide them from the greed of men, they were secreted across the width and breadth of the planet.

The ‘Evil’ that nurtured that greed argued with the God’s, it threatened to reveal the secreted locations giving the power of the Elementals to its own champion. The protest was heard and a compromise proposed, a battle of their respective champions, for control of the elements. One of the Gods, referred to as Zeus by some, was angered by the Evil’s ultimatum, but unable to expunge the Evil, he agreed.

Like trophies waiting to be collected the Protectors of the Elementals stood guard over their charges, whilst the duel commenced. The Champion of Evil stood tall, a great soldier, muscular and laden with armour; the Champion of the Elements, a woman with hair like the night, stood with just her beliefs and a jeweled dagger. Evil felt confident.

It took just two strikes, the dagger driven into the soft flesh revealed as the soldier lifted his sword to attack, first one side then the other, and the Champion of Evil fell without landing a single blow.
Seeing its Champion slain the Evil was furious, demanding another opportunity to fight for control of the elements, threatening to reveal the Elementals if it was not given.
A pact was made, a pact so powerful that even the Evil would not dare break it; new champions would meet on this anniversary, and duel for Elementals. Evil was happy, it longed for the four seasons to pass until the next duel. His happiness was short lived as Zeus revealed a new born Goddess, it would be on her anniversary that the two forces would meet, this worlds time equivalent of sixty years.

That is the myth, one that has probably been distorted over time and forgotten by all but a few. Not many people today believe in the existence of the Elementals, even fewer believe in their capabilities, but that doesn’t mean that the story is not true!

Whether by chance or by design the four elementals were discovered by two young children on a bombed out street in London, in 1940. Circumstances conspired to divide them, a lifetime was spent trying to bring them back together. Away from the eyes of mankind, unknown to all but a few, there was a battle edging ever closer – to comprehend the full implications of the looming battle, one must first understand the capabilities of each element – together they were the ‘Elemental’, in the wrong hands they were destruction!


But this is 2004, an era of microchip technologies, mobile phones, the internet and wars. A quick snapshot of any period of the earth’s modern history reveals a stark truth, somewhere, someone is busy having a war with someone else; destruction is all around us. 

"If there were no downs, there could be no up's"

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