School interview, Erskine Park High, NSW - Part II

And here's the second half of the great questions from the students of Erskine Park High:

12. Why did you give Lena red hair? Was it because it was bright or uncommon? Thisuri

I wanted to use the idea of how unusual red hair is, particularly among blond Scandinavians, and use it as a symbolism of the power of the rune magic. Red hair is definitely uncommon, but even more so in Lena and Calum’s world where it indicated the latent power of a vala or duelva. Red hair is much more common in Britain, or the Isles of the novel’s world, so it also added an element of confusion and a reason why Bjorn might want to take Lena when he was raiding in the beginning of the book. Lastly, I had browny-orange hair and freckles as a kid. I don’t have much of my hair now (and it has become brown) but maybe I was putting myself in the story again.

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School interview, Erskine Park High, NSW - Part I

A class of grade 9 students over at Erskine Park High have been reading The Runes of Odin and sent me a whole slew of great questions about the book, my writing process and tips for being a writer. Below are the first ten questions and my answers, with the first name(s) of the student(s) who asked each question. It is a great pleasure to hear from them and I'd like to thank their teacher, Natali, for setting this all up.

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The Runes of Odin - initial concepts

Where did I get the idea for The Runes of Odin, my first YA fantasy novel? Generally with any story, I have an idea for the setting first, and then work out who could / would live in such a place, how the environment has shaped them, what challenges them, what the character wants.

With Runes, it was almost as though the setting and the characters, Lena and Calum, arrived simultaneously in my thoughts. I have always been interested in cultural clashes, ever since I first learned some words of German in grade 2, and other in Italian in grade 3... and then lived in Germany as an exchange student when I was 16. I have travelled a lot, Europe, Asia, South America, but it’s only by living in a place for a while that I feel any real change. The old clichés of expanding horizons through travel I think only really sticks if you dive in and stay long enough to try to become as much of a local as you can. It’s through that struggle that you are challenged, linguistically, socially, culturally; that you are forced to re-evaluate your own assumptions by seeing the world not only through the eyes of other people, but people who have been shaped by an environment very different to your own. Everyone has a home that serves as their foundation, but what if you learn to love another place long enough for it to become ‘home’. How does that change you?

With Runes, I wanted to look at two characters who were already outsiders, who were displaced from a young age and had fewer ties to their current ‘homes’ than others. Of course, I wanted them to eventually meet (in fact, their meeting and getting to know each other is the essence of the book and the trilogy), but I wanted them to first show the reader their worlds through their own eyes, get the reader to sympathise with both sides of the impending conflict. No blacks and whites, just greys, mixed sympathies and the power of learning that your enemy is a real person with their own real fears.

A setting of northern Scotland or Ireland and the historical raids, invasions and settlement by the Norse (Vikings) and other northern peoples has always been of interest. How better for two impressionable young people to meet from opposite sides of a cultural divide?

The late German grandfather of the exchange family I lived with was a soldier on the Russian front during World War II. He was an amazingly generous man and wanted nothing more than for his family to know and love the people of other countries and cultures. He reasoned that if we all understood one another then there would be no wars. This then was the theme for my novels: learning to love the enemy by breaking down cultural walls. Learning to see the beauty in others’ ways of life.  

And having fun with it all with adventure, and mythology, and above all, the Runes.

Caer Rocks

These are photos I took on a trip through Great Britain, 2006. They are beaches at the far north of Europe, the northern coast of Scotland. Looking out to sea, there is little except more icy sea until one gets to the Greenland, the North Pole etc.

In 2004, I wrote the following scene for my first YA novel, The Runes of Odin:

Calum ducked under a low-hanging branch as he scrambled up a small incline along the path to Caer Rocks, the name given to a little stretch of beach between two sharp crags jutting out from the cliffs. A caer was a strong place, and the two crags were certainly strong as the rest of the rocks between them had eroded away from the constant waves, leaving a gentle beach and easy access to the sea, one of the only accessible places along most of the coastline of the Firth.

Now the beach in my story was black-pebbled and the sea never as calm. But add the long, black lines of a predatory Viking long ship and this place felt like I had summoned it from my pages.

Stunningly beautiful, even more so for an icy welcome.