Reader Questions

It’s been some time since I’ve answered questions, so here is a selection of the best and most difficult questions that have been asked:

I just read Crilum and loo-oooved the names Tutherin, Stenstrum, the robots and especially Haldan.  Asteroid mine chickens  (Elli)

Thanks!  I really want the books to feel fun but realistic, so I put in a lot of thought about characters’ names.

Are these for teens? (MSSAM)

In Ferandan, Haldan is an older teen, but the majority of the stories take place as he enters adulthood, so not really, although I think they are accessible to teens.  They are for readers who like fun, sci-fi adventures that aren’t too long.

What’s your favorite book you wrote? (Ben)

They are all important to me, and I love scenes in different ones, sometimes ones that just happened without being planned.  Some of my favourite scenes are Haldan meeting the Piercers in Ferandan, his interactions with Stagnus in Rylomos, the robot rescue in Crilum and from Perseid, when he first meets Vyalla and exploring the Draug ship.  From the about-to-be-published Book Five, I like Vyalla’s encounter with one of the most popular villains of the previous books.

Will there be a Haldan Thane movie?  I want to see the Draug and the pirates.  (oablu12)

I would love for a movie to be made, live-action or even animated.

How many more adventures will there be?  What will they be about? (Ingrid)

Crilum was the first book I wrote in the series and never intended to go any further, but Perseid just flowed out.  Then I wanted to write a short intro-style one which is how Ferandan came about.  When I realised the gap that still existed between Ferandan and Crilum would make an interesting adventure, I wrote Rylomos.  So you can see how Haldan’s adventures take place in tight chronological order, which is why Book Five takes place just after Perseid.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but I have already been working on a sixth book.  As long as there is a story to be told, I will keep coming back to the series, but I do have a couple of novels that I have been working on for a while, one an action story and the other a fantasy story.

Did you write stories as a child?  What were they about? (CJ)

No, but I have had a vivid imagination for as long as I can remember and would have stories going on in my head, mostly battles, sometimes with robots.  I enjoyed creative writing in school where I was influenced by westerns, Indiana Jones-type adventures and science fiction.  Check out the Freebies section of this site for more information.

Do you do school visits? (T. Thierson)

I haven’t yet, as I’m quite a busy person, but I might sometime.

Do you plan out your books or do you just write and see where it takes you?  Is it easy to write a book?  (villi)

Interesting questions!  I do start out with an outline of the plot, but often find when I am writing that scenes go in an unexpected direction or characters do something I didn’t anticipate, almost as if they’ve taken on a life of their own.  I wouldn’t say it’s ‘easy’ to write a book, but it’s definitely easier if you have a story to tell.  I’d encourage a budding writer to keep a journal with them at all times, to record their ideas when they happen.  An author I met a few years ago, Nathan Jarvis, advised me to ‘write a little every day’ and that before I knew it, I’d have a manuscript written.

When is your new book coming out? (LtTommy)

I hope to have it published by the end of November, so that it’ll be ready for Christmas.  My goal is to have the next one ready at about the same time next year too.

What actors would you get to play the characters if the Haldan Thane books were movies?

Wow, that’s a really good question.  I remember one of my readers asking a similar question, ‘Are any of the characters of Haldan Thane based on real people?’, which is a similar question.  The answer is yes, they most definitely are.

Haldan is very loosely based on myself, and I only did that because as the protagonist, I needed to have a strong sense of what he would do in different situations.  Of course, Haldan is not me, so there are some important differences.

Vyalla is based on the lovely Morena Baccarin who I believe is currently appearing in Gotham, Alice Eve inspired Anata, and Dr Fnord is based on an actual actor and performer, but most of the others are not based on real people.  Some of Haldan’s friends are based on my old school friends (Andrew, Ross, Mark, Mark, Wayne and Mike) and they were really fun to write.  I’d want the professionals I mentioned to portray the characters they inspired, but I don’t know about the rest.  I think Haldan would be particularly difficult to cast.