This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Justin Newland will be awarding one signed copy of the paperback (US or International) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Welcome to It's Raining Books. Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
For me, the best writing environment provides solitude, silence and continuity, a place and a time and space with as few interruptions as possible. No cooking, cleaning, food preparation, and minimal time for eating. In other words, a writing retreat.
The best place I have found to write is on a monastic retreat.
I’ve been to two: the first was a Cistercian Monastery in Orval, Belgium. The other one, nearer my home, is the Benedictine Monastery at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England.
The writing can be so prolific that, by the end of the day, my fingers are tired from typing. The imagination seems to prosper and follow the story from one line to the next. Other than the bells tolling the monastic hours, the retreat is so quiet you can hear your own thoughts winging their way across the plasma of your mind.
This is my odd and interesting writing quirk.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
I am a bit of both.
The important thing in writing a novel is for the denouement to be organic. For example, characters act according to their nature, and events occur and follow from one to the next, foreshadowing plot twists to come in subtle ways.
A good analogy for this is this: imagine a trellis or wooden framework in the garden and plant seeds at its base. Water and nurture the seeds, and let them grow up the trellis as they are want to do.
When writing historical fiction, the story is bound by certain fixed points, events that happened in history, at certain times, places and involving certain historical personages. Those fixed historical points are represented in the analogy by the trellis. Once it’s erected, you can’t change it; you’re stuck with it.
But what you can change and alter in the story is the characters and the plot line – they are the seeds that grow up the trellis, using the wooden framework to anchor the action as they weave in and out of the frame in an organic fashion.
Anything new coming up from you? What?
I’m working on a two-book series set in Elizabethan times. The series is called The Shoes That Don’t Wear Out. The hero is Nelan, a young Flemish-Dutch émigré who flees to England to escape Spanish persecution of his Protestant family in the Netherlands.
Nelan then participates in two of the most formative events in English history: Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the world and the repulse of the Spanish Armada.
Do you have a question for our readers?
Reading is not a simple art. Reading is a complex art because a book is like a mirror, and each reader will see something different in a book as it reflects back to them what’s prominent in their mental and emotional arrangement at that time in their life.
That’s why reading a book years later for a second time, you see different aspects in it, learn new things, and understand the characters’ motives in another way.
They say the question to ask about a book is not who wrote the book? But what was out of balance in the author that made him write the book? From that standpoint, an author writes a book as a catharsis, an exorcism of what is bothering or haunting them.
My questions for your readers are these: what, then, will you read in my book, The Genes of Isis? What will you read in it?
Akasha is a precocious young woman who lives in a world where oceans circulate in the aquamarine sky waters.
Before she was born, the Helios, a tribe of angels from the sun, came to Earth to deliver the Surge, the next step in the evolution of an embryonic human race. Instead, they left humanity on the brink of extinction and spawned a race of monstrous hybrids.
Horque is a Solarii, another tribe of angels, sent to Earth to rescue the genetic mix-up and release the Surge.
When Akasha has a premonition that a great flood is imminent and falls in love with Horque, her life becomes an instrument for apocalyptic change. But will it save the three races - humans, hybrids and Solarii – from the killing waters?
Read an Excerpt
She willed her ka towards Du'at, the realm of the dead, and
quickly located the pair of columns at its entrance, the colossal Anubis Gates.
She expected to find the jackal-headed Anubis operating its gates, but they
appeared unguarded. Her voyage to the underworld couldn't be easier - she'd
enter Du'at, find the Hall of Truth, and rescue Horque's ka.
As she approached, a curtain of force shimmered between the
gates. On it silky, misty surface appeared a thousand faces - young and old,
happy and sad, and all strangely familiar people she'd met in her lifetime,
human and Solarii - until one only remained. No. It couldn't be. It was her own
face. She was so startled she nearly ruptured the precious umbilical connection
to her physical body. Was it a mirror? No, it was a replica. It was more than
that. It was her double.
The guard to Du'at was Issa herself. The face stared back at
her, inspecting her, a most unnerving experience. To be investigated by
oneself. She felt naked to the core.
"What do you want?" The double even spoke in her
own voice.
"Entry to Du'at," she replied.
"This is the realm of the dead. You're still alive; go
back to where you belong."
The face of her double stared back, eyes unflinching,
scrutinising her inner being. There was nowhere to hide from oneself.
"No, I can't do that. Let me in. My son must live
again."
"Many come to plead for their loved ones. Don't think
you're the first," the face snarled. "Enter here at your peril,
because you'll never leave."
"What does that mean? I'm more powerful than a mere
guard dog," she scoffed. "Let me pass."
Justin Newland is an author of historical fantasy and secret history thrillers
- that’s history with a supernatural twist. His stories feature known events
and real people from history which are re-told and examined through the lens of
the supernatural. He gives author talks and is a regular contributor to BBC
Radio Bristol’s Thought for the Day. He lives with his partner in plain sight
of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
His Books
The Genes of Isis is a tale of love, destruction and ephemeral power set under
the skies of Ancient Egypt. A re-telling of the Biblical story of the flood, it
reveals the mystery of the genes of Isis – or genesis – of mankind. ISBN
9781789014860.
“The novel is creative, sophisticated, and downright
brilliant! I couldn’t ask more of an Egyptian-esque book!” – Lauren, Books
Beyond the Story.
The Old Dragon’s Head is a historical fantasy and supernatural
thriller set during the Ming Dynasty and played out in the shadows the Great
Wall of China. It explores the secret history of the influences that shaped the
beginnings of modern times. ISBN 9781789015829.
‘The author is an excellent storyteller.” – British
Fantasy Society.
Set during the Great Enlightenment, The Coronation
reveals the secret history of the Industrial Revolution. ISBN 9781838591885.
“The novel explores the themes of belonging, outsiders… religion
and war… filtered through the lens of
the other-worldly.” – A. Deane, Page Farer Book Blog.
His
latest, The Abdication (July, 2021), is a suspense thriller, a
journey of destiny, wisdom and self-discovery. ISBN
9781800463950.
“In Topeth, Tula confronts the truth, her
faith in herself, faith in a higher purpose, and ultimately, what it means to
abdicate that faith.”
Amazon buy link:
https://www.amazon.com/Genes-Isis-Justin-Newland-ebook/dp/B07D7FMDZG/
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