Have you ever wondered what inspired the great series of fantasy novels? Read this terrific account of Tolkien's background on the BBC. I couldn't do it justice or show the wonderful pictures.
Things about writers trigger different ideas. For Tolkien, it was where he lived in England. His setting related to a Warwickshire village of about the period of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, along with the underground holes where the little people were said to live, the round doorways into dug-in dwellings, an old Roman gold ring, and even battles in France during the end of WW1.
I write about a ring in all my novels, both the present-day Moonstone series, and the futuristic Higher Ground series, co-written with my German friend Edith Parzefall. The stories are not of doom, gloomy wars and marching armies, but of love, of hope, and of redemption.
The ring featured is a star moonstone set in pure gold, which I bought through a friend in the 70s when I lived in Australia. The two cuts on the ring shaft made me wonder if it had ever been chopped off someone's hand, and so, my imagination ran riot. I also wondered if a special stone, formed in Earth's infancy, could link to a person's emotions, or if it had an ancient history.
The setting for all the novels: Cornwall, England's beautiful coastline that has seen pirate ships and trade for its mined tin for thousands of years.
Double Dragon Publishing has just released the fifth futuristic novel in the Higher Ground series, Seaweed Ribbons, (Universal link) http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00Q3IVJ1M which I wrote alone. It's a wonderful story of the way love conquers all during an outcast couple's trials and how Ginny used seaweed strands as a signal of her love when they are separated. (Like 'tie a yellow ribbon on the old oak tree.')
I hate the cover, but I had no control over that—not like our earlier cover pictures where we had an input into the design. The publisher held onto the manuscript for one year before publishing, so I guess I should be thankful he even bothered. Years ago, my co-writer and I were thrilled to be accepted, but the eagerness has tarnished as the service declined.
However, I'm proud of the novel and hope you'll take a look.
And—don't judge the book by its cover.