The Wolf's Lair

I embarked on this novel series as more of a personal challenge some two and a half years ago. The genesis of the story itself was rooted in my rather accidental discovery of an old news article from a British publication.

It was late spring of 2005 when, while researching something or another on Viking age battles in England I stumbled upon a story concerning the “discovery” of a dark age-era site thought to be that of one of Britain’s most important battles. The article claimed that the Battle of Brunanburh, fought in the year of 937 AD was pinned down to have taken place on what is now a golf course in Western England, along the Wirral Peninsula (across the Mersey river from Liverpool). At that particular time I’d not heard of Brunanburh (which no longer exists as a place by that name) or read anything about such a battle let alone understood the significance it held for the English nation.

My interest peaked from the start and within a month’s time I had formed the basis for what would become a screenplay about this event and has since evolved into a story that will take three books or more to tell. The battle itself is an integral part of the first novel but not the crux of it. Rather the tale is far broader in scope, the Battle of Brunanburh being both a regional convenience and serving to create a backdrop for some very important components of the story. All that said, I am happy to report that the first book is about 75% complete. It was my original intention to have published over a year ago but as I wrote I discovered new ideas and harnessed wider and deeper perspectives on both history and my own stylistic approach to committing them to my story. The last thing I wanted to do was rush this project through and although I was at one time only 20 pages or so from finishing, I realized I needed to go back and re-evaluate everything. I am quite satisfied this was the best course of action.

I don’t impose deadlines upon myself any longer since I’ve never been able to hold to them. But I an at least predict with some degree of accuracy that I should finish the final draft of The Raven & the Wolf by the first week of March. I am exhausting some 14-16 hours a week to writing and am pleased with the results. Stay tuned….