Genre: Fantasy, M/M romance, (some bisexuality, m/f scenes), Novels (R-18)
A Word on The Swithin Chronicles
(possible slight spoiler)

I want to state the trilogy is at heart a m/m romance (maybe even a m/m/m romance *wink*) but there are a few m/f scenes that may lead people to believe otherwise. By the end of book three all will become clear, but saying that, you can read book one as a standalone novel. You can also read from book two, but if you read book two the chances are you’ll be curious enough to want to read book three.

Someone described my Swithin ‘Comet’ books as prince and the pauper crossed with Arabian nights. I have to confess I hadn’t thought of that but, it’s a fun comparison. The Swithin are a race that freely take lovers of either sex but Markis, the Swithin Prince, not only has two men in his life but a princess. If you’re wondering why, the answer is simple. Markis is a prince and needs to marry. However, there’s no need to think of them as a true quartet and my little princess will find her own kind of happiness by the end of book three, I promise you!

This series is particularly special to me because if it weren’t for that first novel my father would never have seen a longer work of mine published before he died and that is priceless. Even if you decide these stories aren’t for you, you have to check out the covers. They are just spectacular.

This page has the following subpages:

And if you’ve not already done so, consider checking out the free short story set in the Swithin Universe (also accessible from the main list). Read: At What Moment…for a glimpse into the Swithin world.

Swithin Spins:

These are at present slightly more than vague ideas of mine in that one book has a first rough draft. I do hope to write three or four Swithin Spins set in this universe involving some of the supporting characters with different pairings. A ’spin’ may or may not involve Uly, Markis, and Ryanac at some stage, although they may appear in some secondary role in these stories even if by name only. If Loose-Id aren’t interesting in this idea — and there’s no guarantee they will be — then I will do something with them, either with another publisher or by self-publishing. These will not be long novels but I see each work coming in at approximately 40-50,000 words. I’ll shout as and when I know more but first I need to write them!

The Swithin Way

I see myself as a huge fiery comet, a shooting star. Everyone stops, points up and gasps “Oh look at that!” Then - whoosh, and I’m gone…and they’ll never see anything like it ever again… and they won’t be able to forget me - ever. Jim Morrison

The Genesis of a Novel

Looking back I can see many influences, some recent, some not so recent. Reading influences would be too many to mention and none are exactly direct. Mostly, they are works that have sat in the back of my mind where small pieces have come together to create something new and whole when I had the right story for it. I know that the novels ‘Karith Karin’ by Jim Grimsley and Carol Berg’s ‘Transformation’ have sat successfully in the back of my mind. Novels such as those and Robert Jordan’s ‘Wheel of Time’ series (thinking largely of Rand in the desert here) helped me explore a vivid and contrasting landscape. Team all this with a visit to Italy and I had the scope to create a rich background and setting. The images I used to illustrate my comet trilogy are all photos and images taken in Italy, although the world of the Swithin is a mix of Arabian and Mediterranean influences. Think of crisp white marble, terracotta tiles, fairy-tale castles, pale desserts, soaring cliffs and deep valleys filled with rich and abundant foliage (all things you’ll find in Italy) and you’ll begin to glimpse their world. This is off-set, of course, by poorer districts with muddy bandit-infested alleys, but this isn’t the world of the Swithin, merely parts of a planet on which they live.

When beggars die there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
William Shakespeare

Not all this, however, gave me my story; it merely helped me create the background once I had a story in mind. There cannot be a writer who has not had the age-old question put to them of where do you ‘find’ your stories. The simple answer is everywhere. There’s simply no knowing when an idea will occur. Quite honestly, you might hear an item on the news and put it together with a remark someone said to you six years ago, and suddenly you will have a story idea. I’d like to say there isn’t a type of magic involved in this as that makes it sound as though stories just happen, but truthfully they occur from the intuition and individual ingenuity of the writer and thank goodness, it does. That’s given us a world with rich diversity where magic occurs more often than not.

A learned woman is thought to be a comet, that bodes mischief whenever it appears. Unknown

So where did the story of the Swithin come from? It started with a vague idea with no real direction or richness to it. I saw a man sitting in open parkland, a man out of place, sitting where he shouldn’t be. The hour grew late and shadows loomed towards him. So did a would-be thief. At the time, I had no idea if the thief would be male or female. The idea had no direction or purpose, yet I instinctively knew I had ‘something’. A few weeks later, I was perusing one of many baby-name books I have with the sole purpose of finding a name for a character in another story. These books are useful in many ways, not only for the names themselves but also by reading the interpretations and origins sometimes I’ve developed a ‘feel’ for a character that was otherwise lacking. Although I’ve seen these meanings vary from book to book, they can be useful. I came across Shavar (Hebrew) comet. Something fell into place, clicked inside my mind. I knew who the man sitting on the bench was, and why he was out there seeking peace and solitude. I had my story…

I love the irony - I’ve spent over 400 hours of my life looking for comets, and haven’t found anything, and now, suddenly, when I’m not looking for one, I get one dumped in my lap. Alan Hale

Take a race that freely take lovers of either sex, a prince with a problem, his personal guard who loves him and manipulates him for his ‘own good’ without apology, a princess who needs rescuing from a backward nation, a war to avoid, and throw a street thief into the mix to steal the prince’s heart and you have Uly’s Comet, the first in a trilogy available from:

Loose-Id

Books one and two available now, book three due April 2008.

Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset. Ann Landers

Read the Reviews via my Review section or clicking to go straight to: Praise for The Swithin Chronicles.