Who knew?

I wanted my story to be accurate in every way I could and, as I have already mentioned, research played and important part. I found a piece of information that staggered and astounded me; C S LEWIS based Naria on the Mournes. I felt as though I had missed a week off school when every one was learning their multiplication tables. I wondered how long had every one else known this fact but never told me. It was like a giant secret.

The one good thing that I love telling people is that a dandelion is the same yellow weed that turns into the delightful white puffball that you make a wish on. I'm still surprised  how many people don't know this. They are probably smirking on the inside at my ignorance of Narnia and the Mournes.

I had decided early on that the Mournes were going to be used in all their glory. I was not going to make up place names, I had no need to, as they were so inspiring anyway. The characters who dwell in the mountains were to come from reality as well. As I researched the flora and fauna of the hills I came across wonderful names e.g. Erica Tetralix, Erica Cinerea and Erica Ling. These three names are the species of heather that cover the mountains. In the story they became the Three Sisters of the Heather who hold the secrets of the Mournes and are unwilling to share them with anyone. Bannon and Veronica and legend in their own lifetimes as great walkers and mountaineers so they easily fell into the story. The Planda: the louseworts, milkworts, tormentils are more species in the hills. Pierce is a Samundine, a man of fire and water.There are Nairulis and Hornfels, Ousters and Lichens. There are Staghorns and Sylomes, Nieron and Usher. I would love to name them all. They only have small parts but a bigger part of the whole story.

I noticed on the Ordinance Survey map for Northern Ireland a place in Annalong called Springwell Port but when I asked anyone from the local area they said they'd never heard of it. That became an instant choice for Jack Turner's home. Jack is my son's name and Turner is my mother's maiden name and this trend continued in the book too. Martha is my wife's middle name. Jack's father Matthew fishes for mackrel and herring (McElherron), Old man Russell is a friend from Kilkeel who was an old fisherman.

So many truths were woven into fantasy.

What makes the book unusual, I think, is that it is geographically accurate but the magic of the Mournes is ever-present.

I was working happily away, and the story was complete, until I had another meeting with Declan Carville and John Farrelly in a nice restaurant in Newry. Declan handed me a leaflet and said that it was important I apply. It was for a chance to get my manuscript accepted by a programme called LitNetNI. I told him I would be wasting their time but he told me to get on with it.

I left it for a week or so then finally I Googled the address and I saw that the Shimna Rd was very close by. Of all the places on the planet the word Shimna had come up, since the evil creature in my story was a Shimnavore I took this as another omen. I rang and a very patient and charming lady called Catherine McInerney listened to my ramblings and said that it sounded original enough to send her the manuscript.

To cut a long story, and a good few months short, I was a accepted and I was paired up with a mentor in Scotland called Lindsey Fraser. The next 6 months plus was the steepest learning curve I have ever experienced.

Lindsey is so good at what she does. She is part of Fraser Ross Associates and knows her craft really well. She gave of her time and her knowledge and at the end I had a manuscript I felt a lot more proud of than when I had begun.

Now what?....