WEBVTT

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Episode seven of Valhalla Conversations, where

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I, a self -obsessed Viking fanatic and Norse

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myth nut, get to talk to lots of Norse creatives,

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people who neither know the subject inside out

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through academic study, or have actually used

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that knowledge to create art in different mediums,

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from comics to films to TV series, and of course

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books, as you may have guessed from my bookshelves

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behind me. In today's episode, I am delighted

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to welcome one of my favorite comic book artists

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and writers of the day, Asa Wheatley, let me

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just check, I am pronouncing that name correctly?

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, perfect. It is a bone of contention

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sometimes, but perfect pronunciation. Thank you

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very much, it's always good to get names right

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from the get -go. Asa? is the wonderful writer

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and creator behind not one, not two, but three

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volumes of Sheil Maiden comics. They were funded

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and created especially on Kickstarter and I've

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also met the lovely man himself at Thought Bubble

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Comic Con, several years running. Come to Harrogate,

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it's in November. Meet him there, get your books,

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it's brilliant. But yes, Shieldmaiden, as the

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title suggests, is all about a woman who can

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wield a sword as well as a shield, although in

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some cases she does also wield a spear and an

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axe depending on who she's fighting and what's

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available. Very versatile weapons. So I guess

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for viewers and dear listeners who are new to

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the wonderful collection of comics and artists

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that you've worked with a whole host of, we might

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as well start with the beginning. And how did

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your work on Shieldmaiden begin? So originally,

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I think I've got the kind of startings of it

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somewhere. But originally, so I went to university

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for film and TV production. And I studied that

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for a few years. And at the end of that, when

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I was kind of thinking that, oh, do I want to

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direct? Do I want to write like films? Do I want

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to kind of move into that industry? And I started

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writing a short film. which eventually would

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become one of the stories in the first book,

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the bounty story and so that's kind of how it

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started. I always had loved westerns and I always

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had really enjoyed kind of like Viking history

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and like Norse mythology and I wanted to do both

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but couldn't. because doing one like especially

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like short films I mean it's kind of the same

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with comics as well but especially with short

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films funding that kind of thing for one of them

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would be hard enough so instead of doing them

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separately I just kind of put them together I

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took my love of both kind of things the western

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genre and then also like the viking kind of setting

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and put them together started writing something

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it didn't really go anywhere I had the kind of

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basis of an idea and then I put it down for a

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bit when I moved away from kind of like film

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industry stuff and I think I picked it back up

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again a couple of years later and I thought oh

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maybe I can like write a book. My writing's not

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good enough to write prose. I'm too lazy sometimes.

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And so I started writing comics, which has always

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been a love of mine. The first thing I wrote

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was Tales of Mystery, which is a noir book about

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a private detective that gets trapped in the

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body of a black cat. And so that was kind of

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how I started making comics, realized it was

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doable and I really enjoyed doing it. And so

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I kind of picked Shieldmaid back off the shelf

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and was like, oh, what can I do with this? I've

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got this one short story. Is this enough? And

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then I kind of thought, oh, what if I did it

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where it's kind of that one character, but multiple

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stories in both a very kind of comics way, because

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there are a lot of things like that, but then

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also in a very Viking way with the kind of like

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sagas and... here's a story about this person

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and then here's a story that's totally unconnected,

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it's got nothing to do with that first story

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but it's about the same like character or it's

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maybe them 30 years later or something like that.

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And so I quite liked that idea and then transferred

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it slowly but surely into making the first book.

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Wonderful and did you always have an interest

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in Vikings mythology? Yeah I think so, I think

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it kind of like everything that I'm interested

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in. It has its hills and valleys, sometimes I'm

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really really interested in it and sometimes

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it's just in the background and it kind of just

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like dips between. I think obviously in, I mean

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especially since writing Shieldmaiden, but in

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the kind of lead up to that when I first kind

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of came up with the idea, that's when I kind

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of got into it more and more, started reading

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like more about it, more of the like sagas and

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the The mythology and stuff like that as well,

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and just how insanely weird it is. I especially

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like that element of it. It's very, very strange.

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straightforward, which is kind of a blessing

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and a curse. It's, it's a very much an attraction

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because I like that kind of stuff, just stuff

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that's like weird. But at the same time, it's

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kind of like, wait, what is going on? Like, who

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is who are these people? Why has this person

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changed seven times or whatever? So, but yeah,

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so I've always had some kind of interest in it.

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It just depends how in deep I've been, but writing

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the book, I've definitely gotten more and more

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like in and learned a lot. along the way as well

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which has been fun. Wonderful so how did you

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go about setting up with so many wonderful talented

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artists on volume one? Well so volume one was

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probably maybe the easiest I'm not sure. It was

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back when social media was actually good and

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useful and I found apart from Sammy Ward who

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is my partner so working with her was very easy

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and connecting with her was very easy. Everybody

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else was either somebody that I had found online

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via Twitter or like call -outs and that kind

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of thing or somebody that I had worked with on

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a previous book. So there's a lot of crossover

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between the first Shield Maiden and another a

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horror book, horror comic that I did called Campfire

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Stories. Again, it's an anthology thing. I did

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a lot of anthology comics. I found that it was

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a good way for me to get something out more quickly

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and work with a variety of different people where

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I could I could write kind of four different

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short scripts send them all to artists at the

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same time and everybody works all at the same

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time and so instead of waiting months or like

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years for kind of a full complete issue or book

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or whatever because everybody's working at the

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same time is they're only working on five pages

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or so or 10 pages but then suddenly you get a

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50 page book because everybody's done it all

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at once so I really liked that. and it was it

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was a way for me to easily get stuff made especially

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in indie comics it can be quite difficult to

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have a continuing series with the same team all

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the way through and so I found doing that for

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Shieldmaiden I kind of just picked up some of

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the people I'd already worked with who I knew

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I liked working with and then otherwise the rest

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of the people I just found on Twitter contacted

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them and was like this is this is what I got

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would you like to work on it and yeah and it

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and it worked out and that's kind of how I've

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continued to do it ever since I mean I've got

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a list of like every book I do I write a list

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of people I would like to work with and then

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some of them I take off and some of them I just

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save for the next book so it's quite a a nice

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way to do it is I feel like I'm never going to

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run out of people to work with. Well I think

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it's worked wonderfully especially with the episodic

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time jumping about timeline that you've set up

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from the very first book which has about four

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or five stories in it and then the volume two

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has just the three but slightly longer, volume

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three also has three but slightly longer in length

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and it's just nice to see those different art

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styles following the same character but at different

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points in her life because it really does treat

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them as different times, different viewpoints,

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different experiences because some of them you

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see kind of like some of her witty side, some

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of her humor side, slightly romantic side but

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she's kick -ass in nearly all of them really.

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Yeah that's the theme running through everything.

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Yeah I mean I think as well the and uh this is

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not something I thought about beforehand but

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I now retrospectively think oh yeah that's a

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that's a great uh like selling point an idea

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that I can't kind of take credit for but I think

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the idea especially with like Viking history

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because so much of it was uh like just spoken

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rather than written for like so long and a lot

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of it is about like uh how Viking history changes

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over like the years because it is just it's spoken

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and stories change as people say them like one

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person tells another person tells another person

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doesn't and the story changes and so I thought

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it was really interesting reflecting that with

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using different artists for each story that although

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you know it's the same character she might look

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slightly different in every story because it's

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like another person is telling that story. Although

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I'm writing all of them, the artist is bringing

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their own version of that character in the same

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way that somebody told a story and then they

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tell the same story might bring their own embellishments

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to it. But that was something I only realised

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after doing the book. Oh, well, of course, I've

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loved all three and I've happily thrown money

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at you every time your plot kicks out of volume

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one and volume two and three. And of course,

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got these lovely exclusive A5 clips. I've got

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some of them on my wall, dear viewers, so you

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can't see all of them. There is more lovely artwork.

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I was going to ask, a lot of volume one and volume

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two seems to be more historically setting and

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then it's really just a tip at the end of volume

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to a big chunk of volume three is where the mythology

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starts blending in a little bit. So in terms

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of the historical settings and stuff, because

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there are a few places and names, in particular,

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I think it's in volume two, we meet Cain Asa

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of, I'm going to say Denmark and you're probably

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going to correct me in telling me it's Norway.

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Am I right or am I wrong? I think it's Norway.

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I don't have my notes in front of me. There's

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not enough queens and they always get them mixed

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up. But yeah, but you've got a nice little insert

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at the end explaining how you came across Queen

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Aysa as a historical figure and why you've ended

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up using her in quite a significant way with

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the life of the shieldmaid. Would you mind telling

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us more about that? Yeah, yeah, of course. So

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kind of on top of that, the kind of element of

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adding kind of historical, like prehistory pre

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-established historical stuff especially for

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like Viking history like we talked about is a

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lot of is is very just spoken down and so there's

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a lot of Viking history that is not necessarily

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100 % correct or is interpreted by different

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people in different ways and I think that's a

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really interesting thing for a writer to come

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into to be able to be like okay well here's this

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story about this person but there are four different

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versions of the same story so it doesn't necessarily

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mean that I can't just make a fifth version and

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I quite like that it's a little bit of freedom

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and it's a little less obviously there is some

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stuff that Yes, historically accurate is still

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important to a degree but I think especially

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for fiction and for Shieldmaiden in particular

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for like my writing, I wanted to be somewhat

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historically accurate but not let it worsen the

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stories or the book. I didn't want it to impact

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too much and so yeah finding Queen Elsa and looking

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at that kind of history and seeing how she's

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like possibly the one of the bodies on the Osberg

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ship and possibly like related to Harold Fairhair

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and all that kind of stuff I just thought was

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really interesting but that actually came about

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because I discovered her because as you know

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and as your viewers might know if they've seen

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the title our names are spelt exactly the same.

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She has a little overing over the first A, which

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I think, I don't speak any Scandinavian languages,

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but I think it gives it more of an AUSA rather

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than ASA. But that's just not, that's not historically

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or linguistically accurate. But I was fascinated

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that I had the same name. as somebody who could

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have been important in history having such a

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unique name and so I originally found her because

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I was going to write a little zine about people

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with the same name isn't it? So I was just it

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was just going to be like a small little thing

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something that I could do just kind of written

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and maybe a couple of like work with a couple

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of artists get one or two illustrations and then

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just publish it. Having a slightly more uncommon

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name is always interesting to see the other people

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who have it. It seems to be throughout history

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in countries a fairly unisex name and so there

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was a lot of kind of different sides of people

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who had the same name and then I stumbled across

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Queen Elsa and I was like oh this is this is

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interesting and I kind of looked into learning

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more about her and realizing there's not actually

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that much there's kind of little bits about maybe

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where she came from her start and so the the

00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:18.419
story that's in book two is the kind of main

00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:22.519
story that there is about her that she was taken

00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:26.620
by this other king of a different area and he

00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:28.759
basically kind of like took her for his wife

00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:32.720
he already had another child but they had a child

00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:37.860
together and then the story goes that she kind

00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:41.820
of enlists maybe like a servant or a slave to

00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:45.309
basically help her escape and I thought wouldn't

00:16:45.309 --> 00:16:47.490
it be interesting if that's Shieldmaiden instead

00:16:47.490 --> 00:16:52.509
and so I kind of I tried to keep most of it the

00:16:52.509 --> 00:16:56.370
same but then just was like okay where does Shieldmaiden

00:16:56.370 --> 00:17:00.690
fit in and with the kind of the general look

00:17:00.690 --> 00:17:05.190
at how I put historical and mythological stuff

00:17:05.190 --> 00:17:09.349
in the Shieldmaiden books as well it is a lot

00:17:09.349 --> 00:17:12.289
of about okay what's interesting and then how

00:17:12.289 --> 00:17:17.789
does Shieldmaiden fit into that and I don't sometimes

00:17:17.789 --> 00:17:21.589
I don't necessarily think oh Shieldmaiden won't

00:17:21.589 --> 00:17:24.849
fit into that so I can't include it I just worm

00:17:24.849 --> 00:17:28.690
her in and find a way to to put her in as long

00:17:28.690 --> 00:17:32.980
as it makes an interesting story Well, they're

00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:35.119
certainly all interesting stories and that one

00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.359
in particular was Really kind of nice because

00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:40.940
it sees the shield made and not fighting the

00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:43.640
silver or indeed kind of like for glory She's

00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:46.119
fighting of her own choice. And of course out

00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:51.720
of love because there is a Relationship that

00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:55.279
blossoms which I think was a really nice touch

00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:58.039
because we kind of like always think of course,

00:17:58.079 --> 00:17:59.759
it was just always man and woman in the Viking

00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.609
Age, but we don't really know because the sources

00:18:02.609 --> 00:18:05.289
are so mixed and always written by people centuries

00:18:05.289 --> 00:18:07.130
afterwards and those who are literate and those

00:18:07.130 --> 00:18:09.829
who are in power and hierarchy positions more

00:18:09.829 --> 00:18:12.369
than the common folk so we don't really know

00:18:12.369 --> 00:18:16.970
how diverse their relationships were. But thinking

00:18:16.970 --> 00:18:20.710
of in terms of the histories I know she goes

00:18:20.710 --> 00:18:23.549
to a few different places I know she I think

00:18:23.549 --> 00:18:27.759
it's in I'm gonna say out of the volume one,

00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:30.460
volume two. I did reread them all this morning,

00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:32.619
dear viewers, I did reread them all and they

00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:35.140
are just as brilliant as I remembered. But there's

00:18:35.140 --> 00:18:37.180
so many, so many stories and because the timeline

00:18:37.180 --> 00:18:39.019
jumps, you can't always quite remember either

00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:41.420
which volume it's in, let alone what year she's

00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:45.480
in. But I think she sails with a group to East

00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:49.559
Anglia. Yes, that's in book one. Book one. Yeah.

00:18:50.609 --> 00:18:53.509
Yes and of course did you base that on kind of

00:18:53.509 --> 00:18:56.490
like the start of the Great Heathen Army invading

00:18:56.490 --> 00:18:58.650
or was it just a very nice convenient place because

00:18:58.650 --> 00:19:01.430
of course a lot of that side of the UK has history

00:19:01.430 --> 00:19:05.549
with the Vikings. Yeah so I mean there is a lot

00:19:05.549 --> 00:19:10.069
of, although I haven't intrinsically included

00:19:10.069 --> 00:19:12.910
the Great Heathen Army in any of the books yet,

00:19:13.750 --> 00:19:16.809
it will probably come at some point. I've got

00:19:16.809 --> 00:19:19.910
a little timeline of a kind of big important

00:19:19.980 --> 00:19:24.940
Viking history events and where they fit in with

00:19:24.940 --> 00:19:27.700
what I've done so far and so there's always a

00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:30.200
chance that I will and that Great Heathen Arm

00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:32.740
is something that's so big I kind of can't not

00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:34.680
include it I think I'm gonna have to do it at

00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:39.240
some point but yeah that one in particular I

00:19:39.240 --> 00:19:46.960
think is set a bit earlier and is more the kind

00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:53.609
of smaller raids that are going over but that's

00:19:53.609 --> 00:19:56.390
also an example of kind of stories following

00:19:56.390 --> 00:20:00.109
on from each other because that story ends and

00:20:00.109 --> 00:20:05.269
leads almost directly into the Queen Elsa story

00:20:05.269 --> 00:20:09.509
in book two but was not necessarily something

00:20:09.509 --> 00:20:12.650
that is super obvious until you maybe look at

00:20:12.650 --> 00:20:17.470
the timeline or read kind of some of the post

00:20:17.710 --> 00:20:20.950
uh story descriptive like backup material stuff

00:20:20.950 --> 00:20:23.950
as well yeah it's certainly kind of like i do

00:20:23.950 --> 00:20:26.430
see the threads now forming the very intricate

00:20:26.430 --> 00:20:28.869
and complicated tapestry that you've woven for

00:20:28.869 --> 00:20:32.009
this wonderful character because one of my favorite

00:20:32.009 --> 00:20:35.910
stories in volume one is and i'm going to quickly

00:20:35.910 --> 00:20:39.329
look at my notes dear viewers give me a second

00:20:39.329 --> 00:20:43.730
a matter of fate with art by kevin keen because

00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:46.539
i just quite like the element of introducing

00:20:46.539 --> 00:20:50.799
her with a CRS, a prophetess, kind of like the

00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:53.099
Norse, believed in magic and all sorts and quite

00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:55.220
often it was a female's domain more than a male's

00:20:55.220 --> 00:20:59.400
domain. And that hints ever so vaguely until

00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:01.759
you kind of like reach the end of volume three

00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:05.299
about the special quality that the shield maiden

00:21:05.299 --> 00:21:09.220
has and I'm trying really hard not to spoil it.

00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:14.200
But also she and the CRS have another adventure,

00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:19.119
equally as dramatic but not as dramatic as that

00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:21.640
one I think in volume three so you kind of like

00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:24.299
see them in another part of their lives together

00:21:24.299 --> 00:21:28.299
and equally you do kind of acknowledge the Earth

00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:31.720
Blood Burial quite nicely in volume three with

00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:36.579
the passing of Queen Aesir so I really quite

00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:39.920
liked that but in terms of the mythological stuff

00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:44.460
there is a story in here called a humble shipbuilder

00:21:44.460 --> 00:21:47.380
or the quiet shipbuilder and it actually made

00:21:47.380 --> 00:21:49.799
me think back to your discussion about your name

00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:52.220
and how unique it is because of course in all

00:21:52.220 --> 00:21:54.960
three volumes we never actually hear the name

00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:56.680
with the shield maiden she's just obviously dressed

00:21:56.680 --> 00:21:59.880
as shield maiden often in a kind of like a derogatory

00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:01.859
kind of like i can't believe you can wield that

00:22:01.859 --> 00:22:03.619
sword kind of thing and of course she proves

00:22:03.619 --> 00:22:08.279
everyone wrong but in this one that one story

00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:11.900
she does actually take a name albeit Cephal,

00:22:11.900 --> 00:22:14.640
which is a name I've not heard before. Does that

00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.380
have some genuine linguistic history connection

00:22:17.380 --> 00:22:19.799
to the Scandinavian language or is it just? Yes,

00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.640
it does. Good. And you're going to now ask me

00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:28.240
what it means and I don't remember. So when I

00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:31.359
was writing that story, so A Humble Shipbuilder

00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:33.740
is one of the earliest stories that I thought

00:22:33.740 --> 00:22:37.140
of. It was originally going to be in book one.

00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:43.180
but then because of, and as we dance around it,

00:22:43.579 --> 00:22:49.900
a certain specific quality slash heritage of

00:22:49.900 --> 00:22:53.640
the character, I didn't want to include it straight

00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:58.119
away. So I knew that that was there from book

00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:03.599
one. And so I was, I kind of, I wrote a very

00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:06.819
early draft of Humble Shipbuilder. It was fairly

00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:12.160
different but one of the parts of the kind of

00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.920
like western genre as well as just kind of like

00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.619
action in general, one of the parts of those

00:23:18.619 --> 00:23:23.279
genres that I really like is the idea, it's like

00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:28.519
the John Wick idea, it's the person who was a

00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:32.279
very deadly person, lives a nice peaceful life

00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.039
someone comes in and messes that up and then

00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:37.799
they live to regret it. That's a genre of film

00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:41.119
that I will enjoy forever and is also very prevalent

00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:44.420
in in westerns and so it was why it's something

00:23:44.420 --> 00:23:50.099
that came to me like quite early and so when

00:23:50.099 --> 00:23:53.960
I was writing it I wanted to give her a name

00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:57.619
that she would take on not necessarily what her

00:23:57.619 --> 00:24:02.180
actual name is but a name that would reflect

00:24:02.180 --> 00:24:06.579
the time that she's trying to have there and

00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:10.039
her trying to just be a humble shipbuilder. And

00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:13.599
if I remember rightly, and I maybe should have

00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:19.920
looked at this beforehand, it means like peace

00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:24.380
or peaceful or something like that. She describes

00:24:24.380 --> 00:24:29.420
it, you like her to say those words. So yeah,

00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:31.559
it was something, because originally, I think

00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:36.059
originally I wrote it and she had taken her mother's

00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:42.140
name. And then the editor I was working with

00:24:42.140 --> 00:24:44.859
had said, oh, it's strange that she's taken her

00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:48.539
mother's name, who earlier in the books is very

00:24:48.539 --> 00:24:52.779
much a kind of, is a warrior, is where she gets

00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:57.569
her warrior kind of like lifestyle from. If she's

00:24:57.569 --> 00:24:59.269
trying to be peaceful, she wouldn't necessarily

00:24:59.269 --> 00:25:01.589
take that name and so on. Then I kind of had

00:25:01.589 --> 00:25:04.009
to re -evaluate what she was doing. That's a

00:25:04.009 --> 00:25:07.069
very good point. Yeah. I just thought of it as

00:25:07.069 --> 00:25:10.309
a like, oh, here's a cool nod. She's trying to

00:25:10.309 --> 00:25:13.690
be someone else. But it is very much so. But

00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:16.430
if she's trying to be someone peaceful, she wouldn't

00:25:16.430 --> 00:25:19.789
take the name of like a great warrior who died

00:25:19.789 --> 00:25:23.710
in battle and would... and is the reason that

00:25:23.710 --> 00:25:28.950
she is this travelling warrior. So yeah, so I

00:25:28.950 --> 00:25:32.809
think I kind of I did some research into like

00:25:32.809 --> 00:25:37.849
Old Norse names. I like to try as much as I can

00:25:37.849 --> 00:25:42.410
to use Old Norse stuff. Obviously I'm not a linguistic

00:25:42.410 --> 00:25:45.390
scholar, so some of it is probably wrong somewhere,

00:25:45.769 --> 00:25:49.970
but I try and use that kind of stuff. a bit more

00:25:49.970 --> 00:25:53.930
than maybe just using kind of like modern Scandinavian

00:25:53.930 --> 00:25:57.549
names and yeah that was the one that I found.

00:25:57.750 --> 00:26:00.750
I think I had a list of about three or four and

00:26:00.750 --> 00:26:03.230
that was the one that I found that I think fit

00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:08.569
the best. So we now know that you know what her

00:26:08.569 --> 00:26:11.130
mother's name was and we do meet her mother briefly

00:26:11.130 --> 00:26:15.640
in a very cleverly staged I say staged. Framed

00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:18.299
is the right word. Story in volume one where

00:26:18.299 --> 00:26:21.920
we kind of get flashbacks of her as a youth escaping

00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:25.319
some bad men who just decided to pick a fight

00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:27.160
with her mum for various reasons we have yet

00:26:27.160 --> 00:26:29.680
to learn. Her mum valiantly fights them off but

00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:31.599
of course she's mentally wounded and she takes

00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.200
up the sword and shield and carries on but it

00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:38.019
also mirrors with her own passing which is why

00:26:38.019 --> 00:26:40.000
there's such a timeline jump because we see both

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:43.140
her beginning and end all in one which is Very

00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:46.519
interesting. But we don't really know why her

00:26:46.519 --> 00:26:48.940
mother was fighting, who she was fighting, what

00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:53.079
her name was. So then if the shield maiden wasn't

00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:56.160
going to take on her mum's name in previous stories

00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:57.900
that you may have written that we have yet to

00:26:57.900 --> 00:27:01.960
see, do you actually already know her independent

00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:05.140
individual name then? If not from her mum? The

00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:18.619
shield maidens. Partially. Because of Norse culture,

00:27:18.900 --> 00:27:25.019
Viking culture, which is still kept up in Iceland,

00:27:25.579 --> 00:27:29.839
half of her name is dictated by her parentage,

00:27:30.099 --> 00:27:33.000
which is great for me because that makes my life

00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:35.420
so much easier because half of her name is chosen

00:27:35.420 --> 00:27:43.859
already, which is in book three. but her first

00:27:43.859 --> 00:27:48.359
name, I have, kind of like thinking up her fake

00:27:48.359 --> 00:27:53.400
names, I have a few things that I am flitting

00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:59.859
between. I know what it's probably going to be,

00:28:01.180 --> 00:28:04.079
but every now and then I think, oh, maybe this

00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.000
would be better. And then I kind of go back on

00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:07.880
myself and I'm like, no, no, my original thought

00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:14.000
is right. And because there is a there is a character

00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:19.319
in a kind of lesser known character in Norse

00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:22.339
mythology that she was originally going to be

00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:29.180
based on. But I think but as the kind of it went

00:28:29.180 --> 00:28:33.680
on, that changed and I didn't really want to

00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:39.029
base on that. um I I so then changed that and

00:28:39.029 --> 00:28:44.069
so dropped that name um very much trying to dance

00:28:44.069 --> 00:28:50.549
around spoilers um but uh but yeah so I I'm like

00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:55.430
90 % sure of uh of what her name is gonna be

00:28:55.430 --> 00:29:02.359
but I that might change That's fine. I like them

00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:04.500
like this was still as readers We haven't got

00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:07.160
the complete story yet at all by all means in

00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:09.460
these three volumes And that is why I'm delighted

00:29:09.460 --> 00:29:12.559
to say dear viewers that he is now kick -starting

00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:17.400
for volume 4 the link in the blurb below Throw

00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:20.599
money at it because I certainly will And all

00:29:20.599 --> 00:29:22.980
sorts of goodies and stories to come. So will

00:29:22.980 --> 00:29:25.039
you be following the same format with volume

00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:27.930
2, volume 3 of just having three slightly longer

00:29:27.930 --> 00:29:30.130
stories? Are you going to have more individual

00:29:30.130 --> 00:29:35.049
shorter stories? Yes, so from book three onwards,

00:29:36.609 --> 00:29:40.569
so book four will continue. So book three has

00:29:40.569 --> 00:29:44.809
two main stories, two slightly longer stories.

00:29:45.369 --> 00:29:48.269
One that takes place, so Humber Shipbuilder takes

00:29:48.269 --> 00:29:52.059
place when Shieldmaiden is... a fair bit older

00:29:52.059 --> 00:29:56.740
and through pain and suffering the one that starts

00:29:56.740 --> 00:30:00.240
with the death of Queen Elsa takes place when

00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:04.500
she's much younger and so what I'm now gonna

00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:09.019
do because I used to I loved writing anthologies

00:30:09.019 --> 00:30:12.640
I really enjoyed that element working with different

00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:14.599
artists but I wanted to kind of keep that but

00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:17.730
I wanted to also move into writing more like

00:30:17.730 --> 00:30:22.529
ongoing stories so from every book forward I'm

00:30:22.529 --> 00:30:24.470
essentially going to follow both of those two

00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:29.869
timelines quite canonically so each thing will

00:30:29.869 --> 00:30:34.490
follow on from the last and they will be a bit

00:30:34.490 --> 00:30:37.829
a bit more closer and maybe a bit easier to follow

00:30:37.829 --> 00:30:42.009
as well rather than having three wildly disconnected

00:30:42.009 --> 00:30:46.250
stories in time. because I just wanted to write

00:30:46.250 --> 00:30:50.490
something that was more sequential and followed

00:30:50.490 --> 00:30:55.369
a single story and then also like we talked about

00:30:55.369 --> 00:31:00.490
because in book one I know where her story ends

00:31:00.490 --> 00:31:05.930
which I did purposefully because as a writer

00:31:05.930 --> 00:31:08.349
one of the hardest things to write is an ending

00:31:08.349 --> 00:31:11.490
and I did it immediately and I know now don't

00:31:11.490 --> 00:31:13.359
have to worry about it. I just get to write the

00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:15.019
fun bit. I just get to write all of the middle

00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:18.960
and not have to think about, oh, how am I going

00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:20.940
to like wrap all this up? Because I've done it

00:31:20.940 --> 00:31:24.980
already. I just need to get there. So it's yeah,

00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:27.299
it's going to continue with two stories, a younger

00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:30.559
and an elder. And then there will be one shorter

00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:33.440
story in the middle. And that will be the same,

00:31:33.859 --> 00:31:35.859
my plan, at least that will be the same for all

00:31:35.859 --> 00:31:39.240
of the continuing books that I do. So every issue

00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:41.759
will be like that. It will have the younger timeline.

00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:44.380
the older timeline and then a story in the middle

00:31:44.380 --> 00:31:47.720
that kind of takes place at anywhere in her life.

00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:51.160
Sometimes it will be a story that relates to

00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:54.819
one of the other two stories and sometimes it

00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:58.619
would just be something interstitial that maybe

00:31:58.619 --> 00:32:01.500
relates in theme but not necessarily in characters

00:32:01.500 --> 00:32:06.140
or in story. But yeah, so that's my plan is to

00:32:06.140 --> 00:32:09.500
now all of the books will be three stories, two

00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:12.829
following a specific timeline. each and then

00:32:12.829 --> 00:32:16.849
one free reign one in the middle. That sounds

00:32:16.849 --> 00:32:19.609
delightful and I can't wait just for more just

00:32:19.609 --> 00:32:22.430
like you've got my support and my money from

00:32:22.430 --> 00:32:25.390
volume one all the way through because as I was

00:32:25.390 --> 00:32:27.230
talking to you before we started recording I

00:32:27.230 --> 00:32:29.509
couldn't quite remember when volume one came

00:32:29.509 --> 00:32:33.309
out so how long has it been now? So I'm pretty

00:32:33.309 --> 00:32:40.089
sure the first book came out in 2020. So I think,

00:32:40.130 --> 00:32:46.650
yeah, I think I ran the Kickstarter in maybe

00:32:46.650 --> 00:32:53.230
May of that year. I then remember being at the

00:32:53.230 --> 00:32:55.410
digital version of Thought Bubble that they did

00:32:55.410 --> 00:33:02.390
that year and having book one for that and then

00:33:02.390 --> 00:33:06.779
I did book two the year after. So that'd be,

00:33:06.779 --> 00:33:10.720
so 2021 and having it at the first Thought Bubble

00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:15.359
that I attended in person as an exhibitor, I

00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:19.160
remember having the first two books. So yeah,

00:33:19.220 --> 00:33:22.880
it was, I'm pretty sure it was 2020 was when

00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:28.460
it started. So almost a book a year, not quite.

00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:32.180
That makes sense because I've got a vivid memory

00:33:32.180 --> 00:33:36.579
now of me either holding my then baby girl or

00:33:36.579 --> 00:33:39.099
having her in my tummy when I got volume one

00:33:39.099 --> 00:33:41.460
in the post and was reading it because I remember

00:33:41.460 --> 00:33:44.960
tweeting about it back when Twitter was a bluebird

00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:48.279
and not an X even though it has the URL of Twitter

00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:50.319
but I'll still always call it Twitter I just

00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:54.549
kind of call it X. as I mentioned before mythology

00:33:54.549 --> 00:33:57.190
definitely comes in with a bang in volume three

00:33:57.190 --> 00:33:59.630
so going forwards will he now be kind of like

00:33:59.630 --> 00:34:03.730
having a balance of historical events and mythological

00:34:03.730 --> 00:34:06.730
encounters or would he be taking her more on

00:34:06.730 --> 00:34:10.110
historical timeline as she moves forward? Yeah

00:34:10.110 --> 00:34:13.590
I think it will always be a mix of both, it will

00:34:13.590 --> 00:34:17.260
be whatever the stories dictate and wherever

00:34:17.260 --> 00:34:21.860
I kind of want to take the character next. So

00:34:21.860 --> 00:34:29.400
the mythological element of her life is very,

00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:33.739
as shown in book three, is very intrinsic to

00:34:33.739 --> 00:34:40.119
her, but so is the kind of historical element

00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:45.710
because of her connection to Queen Elsa and those

00:34:45.710 --> 00:34:50.449
kind of characters and so we've already seen

00:34:50.449 --> 00:34:55.829
a little glimpse of Harold Fairhair, albeit as

00:34:55.829 --> 00:35:00.929
a very small child, but there is always that

00:35:00.929 --> 00:35:02.590
in the background and I think that's kind of

00:35:02.590 --> 00:35:06.650
what my aim is, is to just have both of them

00:35:06.650 --> 00:35:09.590
always kind of being there. Sometimes a story

00:35:09.590 --> 00:35:15.670
might take a more mythology based term. Sometimes

00:35:15.670 --> 00:35:18.690
it will be more linked to historical events,

00:35:19.110 --> 00:35:22.929
sometimes it will be a bit of both. I think continuing

00:35:22.929 --> 00:35:27.949
through the way that I'm going to with the two

00:35:27.949 --> 00:35:33.590
timelines, it might end up that one a timeline

00:35:33.590 --> 00:35:36.510
is going through kind of like a mythology phase

00:35:36.510 --> 00:35:38.230
and the other timelines going through a historical

00:35:38.230 --> 00:35:41.530
phase and maybe they'll switch around or they'll

00:35:41.530 --> 00:35:44.769
both be the same but yeah book three I kind of

00:35:44.769 --> 00:35:47.469
went in very heavy because they were all stories

00:35:47.469 --> 00:35:50.530
that I so all three of the stories has some kind

00:35:50.530 --> 00:35:54.849
of myth like mythology to it and but they were

00:35:54.849 --> 00:36:00.309
all stories that I had thought of at least when

00:36:00.309 --> 00:36:03.929
I was working on book one and book two, but I

00:36:03.929 --> 00:36:07.289
knew I couldn't write them yet because I needed

00:36:07.289 --> 00:36:11.110
that reveal to happen. I needed to write through

00:36:11.110 --> 00:36:14.289
pain and suffering first before I could write

00:36:14.289 --> 00:36:16.789
any of the others. So knowing it was going to

00:36:16.789 --> 00:36:18.909
be in book three, I thought, okay, well, let's

00:36:18.909 --> 00:36:22.869
go whole hog and let's just put three mythology

00:36:22.869 --> 00:36:25.989
based stories in this one because the first two

00:36:25.989 --> 00:36:28.409
books there is. like some historical based stuff,

00:36:28.510 --> 00:36:30.170
there's some stuff that I've just kind of invented.

00:36:32.170 --> 00:36:34.730
It's a mix of places I've invented and places

00:36:34.730 --> 00:36:44.250
that might have really existed. I know what book

00:36:44.250 --> 00:36:48.789
four is because I've written them and I'm getting

00:36:48.789 --> 00:36:53.829
the art in and book four is definitely more historical

00:36:53.829 --> 00:36:57.650
than mythology. but there is that mythology always

00:36:57.650 --> 00:37:02.869
kind of hanging over like the character and yeah

00:37:02.869 --> 00:37:08.570
I've got a word document of maybe like one or

00:37:08.570 --> 00:37:12.670
two lines describing a story and I've got a word

00:37:12.670 --> 00:37:14.510
document that every single time I go to write

00:37:14.510 --> 00:37:18.369
a book I add to that document rather than take

00:37:18.369 --> 00:37:23.159
away from it. The document gets longer. So yeah,

00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:25.440
I've got a lot of stories to come and some of

00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:30.280
them are very mythology based. So yeah, it was

00:37:30.280 --> 00:37:32.500
definitely something that will be continuing.

00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:38.920
Because without giving too much away, those viewers

00:37:38.920 --> 00:37:41.260
and readers who may be familiar with the Lay

00:37:41.260 --> 00:37:45.840
of Thrim, that has a slight appearance of sorts

00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:48.800
in this book in not the traditional way, it's

00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:51.750
very outside of the central myth. But that's

00:37:51.750 --> 00:37:54.989
always been my favourite. So when I saw a certain

00:37:54.989 --> 00:37:57.530
character mention a certain god in a certain

00:37:57.530 --> 00:37:59.610
wedding dress, I was like, yes, I know that one

00:37:59.610 --> 00:38:01.849
is my favourite. So I guess that brings me onto

00:38:01.849 --> 00:38:04.409
my next question. Are there any myths that are

00:38:04.409 --> 00:38:06.949
your favourite that you kind of like absolutely

00:38:06.949 --> 00:38:10.750
love or do you just like all of them? Like how

00:38:10.750 --> 00:38:13.349
deep did you go into reading all the great adventures

00:38:13.349 --> 00:38:17.750
and chaos at all? Your question is better than

00:38:17.750 --> 00:38:22.289
the answer that I'm going to give. So I think

00:38:22.289 --> 00:38:28.429
for the most part, I will read bits and pieces

00:38:28.429 --> 00:38:32.099
and I'll just read. like kind of Norse and Viking

00:38:32.099 --> 00:38:34.860
stuff for entertainment as well as for for research

00:38:34.860 --> 00:38:38.039
although now it's kind of it's always research

00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:42.019
no matter what my intention is it's always accidentally

00:38:42.019 --> 00:38:45.980
researched but I find that a lot of times I will

00:38:45.980 --> 00:38:49.820
actually it will be when I'm thinking about what

00:38:49.820 --> 00:38:55.199
I'm going to do next so the interstitial story,

00:38:55.420 --> 00:38:58.980
the shorter story in book three, sorry, about

00:38:58.980 --> 00:39:08.739
the wolf. That came from because I read an article

00:39:08.739 --> 00:39:21.760
or like a historical essay about wolves and I'm

00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:23.460
gonna spoil it a little bit. because there's

00:39:23.460 --> 00:39:26.659
no way to talk around it and werewolves in Norse

00:39:26.659 --> 00:39:30.880
culture and I saw it and I was just like oh wow

00:39:30.880 --> 00:39:32.739
this is something that I just like didn't know

00:39:32.739 --> 00:39:36.920
about at all and there's so much of Norse mythology

00:39:36.920 --> 00:39:40.840
and like Viking history that although I know

00:39:40.840 --> 00:39:43.699
some of it there's loads that I have like no

00:39:43.699 --> 00:39:46.760
idea about or what their view on this thing was

00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:49.619
or and so seeing the werewolf thing I was kind

00:39:49.619 --> 00:39:52.570
of like oh wow that's that's really cool and

00:39:52.570 --> 00:39:56.070
really strange and different. And so I was kind

00:39:56.070 --> 00:39:59.130
of like, oh, I've got to find a way to incorporate

00:39:59.130 --> 00:40:02.170
that. And it tends to be a lot of my writing

00:40:02.170 --> 00:40:05.150
tends to be, I'll see something and then it will

00:40:05.150 --> 00:40:06.929
just, it will kind of like spark a little bit

00:40:06.929 --> 00:40:12.289
of an idea. And, and so with Humble Shipbuilder

00:40:12.289 --> 00:40:17.929
with Fire Mirror, I had the idea for Humble Shipbuilder

00:40:17.929 --> 00:40:23.179
first. and then he fit in as a good antagonist

00:40:23.179 --> 00:40:30.960
and I very much enjoy his story with Thor and

00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:35.699
like the wedding and I kind of read a version

00:40:35.699 --> 00:40:40.679
of it or I read it and it was kind of just like

00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:44.559
oh yeah and then it happens and then it ends.

00:40:46.599 --> 00:40:51.300
I guess moves on or yeah something happens and

00:40:51.300 --> 00:40:53.500
there's not massively a conclusion because he's

00:40:53.500 --> 00:40:57.340
not the more interesting of the characters and

00:40:57.340 --> 00:41:00.480
so I was kind of thought oh what would like what

00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:06.960
would his retaliation be um and and yeah and

00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:09.500
I just I found that so I don't know if there's

00:41:09.500 --> 00:41:12.800
necessarily at the moment there's I don't know

00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:14.079
if there's necessarily something that I would

00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:18.710
definitely go oh I want to include this but like

00:41:18.710 --> 00:41:23.309
if I'm writing book five and that week I happen

00:41:23.309 --> 00:41:27.610
to read about a certain element of north mythology

00:41:27.610 --> 00:41:29.289
or I read one of the stories or I'm just kind

00:41:29.289 --> 00:41:32.230
of reminded of oh yeah do you remember that time

00:41:32.230 --> 00:41:36.010
that Loki did this insane thing I might be like

00:41:36.010 --> 00:41:38.889
oh that would actually fit perfectly into this

00:41:38.889 --> 00:41:41.429
thing that I'm I'm writing so so yeah it's not

00:41:41.429 --> 00:41:46.349
necessarily a I'll choose them that far in advance

00:41:46.349 --> 00:41:49.130
it will be as I'm working on stuff and I think

00:41:49.130 --> 00:41:54.050
how does how can I work in some mythology or

00:41:54.050 --> 00:41:56.590
I'll just read something like the werewolf thing

00:41:56.590 --> 00:41:58.710
and go that's cool I need to write a story about

00:41:58.710 --> 00:42:02.869
that. I guess that's going to be my next question

00:42:02.869 --> 00:42:06.250
kind of like how far in advance if at all have

00:42:06.250 --> 00:42:09.449
you plotted regarding book four which of course

00:42:09.449 --> 00:42:12.679
is more or less I presume scripted at least,

00:42:12.820 --> 00:42:14.980
and being worked on by artists, which we will

00:42:14.980 --> 00:42:18.139
discuss at a very soon, Debrary Artists. I haven't

00:42:18.139 --> 00:42:21.420
forgotten you because I love your art. But obviously

00:42:21.420 --> 00:42:23.539
with your jumping timeline and you having to

00:42:23.539 --> 00:42:26.659
navigate that and make sense for you as the writer

00:42:26.659 --> 00:42:28.639
and then make sense for us as the reader, do

00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:31.039
you know what stories you might feature in book

00:42:31.039 --> 00:42:33.360
five, say, or book six, or are you just kind

00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:37.199
of doing it with one volume at a time? So I have

00:42:37.199 --> 00:42:44.909
a loose general plan to ten. A lot of my writing,

00:42:45.809 --> 00:42:49.750
my plans differ from my final results. Like we

00:42:49.750 --> 00:42:52.429
were talking about, book one originally was going

00:42:52.429 --> 00:42:56.170
to include stories that are in book three. And

00:42:56.170 --> 00:42:58.369
there are stories that I planned for book one,

00:42:58.409 --> 00:43:03.889
but I still haven't gotten to yet. So it really

00:43:03.889 --> 00:43:08.969
does depend when I plan stuff, but I've kind

00:43:08.969 --> 00:43:13.699
of got the vague uh more the thematic plans up

00:43:13.699 --> 00:43:19.780
to maybe 10 I'd say um and yeah book four is

00:43:19.780 --> 00:43:24.820
all written and I'm getting art in uh as as we

00:43:24.820 --> 00:43:29.500
speak and so that's all kind of sorted story

00:43:29.500 --> 00:43:35.090
wise Book five I have plans for because of like

00:43:35.090 --> 00:43:37.789
you say the kind of especially in the first two

00:43:37.789 --> 00:43:41.530
books the timeline isn't necessarily always as

00:43:41.530 --> 00:43:44.530
as clear as it is in the third book which is

00:43:44.530 --> 00:43:48.010
exactly why I put a literal timeline in the third

00:43:48.010 --> 00:43:52.329
book because I have a like an excel document

00:43:52.329 --> 00:43:57.079
where I have the Shieldmaiden's life timeline

00:43:57.079 --> 00:44:01.320
written out and marked by books and that kind

00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:03.460
of oh this happens in book one, this is a thing

00:44:03.460 --> 00:44:07.760
that happens in like actual Viking history, here's

00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:12.420
a moment that I want to get to but I know is

00:44:12.420 --> 00:44:16.380
important but I just haven't got to yet. So yeah

00:44:16.380 --> 00:44:19.639
so I have a personal timeline too so that I can

00:44:19.639 --> 00:44:21.300
keep track because I don't think I would be able

00:44:21.300 --> 00:44:26.280
to otherwise. and and yeah in terms of so yeah

00:44:26.280 --> 00:44:30.599
four is done on my part pretty much it's just

00:44:30.599 --> 00:44:34.920
art and then it'll be letters five i have an

00:44:34.920 --> 00:44:37.559
idea of the stories that i would like to put

00:44:37.559 --> 00:44:41.860
in but if while i'm working on them something

00:44:41.860 --> 00:44:45.900
more important uh in terms of the character kind

00:44:45.900 --> 00:44:50.059
of like pops up or i think about should be there

00:44:50.059 --> 00:44:54.530
um then that is why i will kind of shift it to.

00:44:55.110 --> 00:44:58.610
It has made it slightly both easier and harder

00:44:58.610 --> 00:45:02.230
knowing that the stories are going to more directly

00:45:02.230 --> 00:45:05.670
follow on from each other because in the first

00:45:05.670 --> 00:45:07.989
two books I had the luxury of oh I want to write

00:45:07.989 --> 00:45:10.809
a book about a story about this it doesn't really

00:45:10.809 --> 00:45:13.090
connect to any of the other stories but I want

00:45:13.090 --> 00:45:15.150
to write it and I can because all of the stories

00:45:15.150 --> 00:45:19.050
are set in wildly different time periods. Whereas

00:45:19.050 --> 00:45:23.260
having the the kind of more strict, like, oh,

00:45:23.280 --> 00:45:28.039
this is going to follow on, means that I know

00:45:28.039 --> 00:45:30.199
where the character is left. So I know where

00:45:30.199 --> 00:45:32.860
the character is going to start the story or

00:45:32.860 --> 00:45:35.780
who she's going to maybe be with or where she's

00:45:35.780 --> 00:45:40.079
going to be. But it restricts me a bit more to

00:45:40.079 --> 00:45:42.239
I can't just go, oh, well, I want to write this

00:45:42.239 --> 00:45:46.559
story. And then I look at my timeline and I go

00:45:46.559 --> 00:45:50.369
over that. happens 50 years later or something

00:45:50.369 --> 00:45:52.349
like that and it's like okay well I can't write

00:45:52.349 --> 00:45:54.489
that story now I have to wait a little bit or

00:45:54.489 --> 00:45:56.389
I write it in the elder time line rather than

00:45:56.389 --> 00:46:02.090
the younger and so yeah I I've planned vaguely

00:46:02.090 --> 00:46:05.610
a fair bit ahead and yeah like I said earlier

00:46:05.610 --> 00:46:09.010
I've got a document of stories that are either

00:46:09.010 --> 00:46:12.969
titles just titles and nothing else or a one

00:46:12.969 --> 00:46:16.260
or two sentence description of what is going

00:46:16.260 --> 00:46:20.480
to happen in it and quite often when I start

00:46:20.480 --> 00:46:22.760
writing a new Shieldmaiden book I will look at

00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:25.320
that list and go right is there anything from

00:46:25.320 --> 00:46:29.960
here that will immediately work and fit what

00:46:29.960 --> 00:46:33.840
I'm trying to achieve because I still want as

00:46:33.840 --> 00:46:37.219
much as they are continuing narratives I still

00:46:37.219 --> 00:46:40.300
want each book to be kind of approachable as

00:46:40.300 --> 00:46:43.300
the first book that you read. so that you can

00:46:43.300 --> 00:46:47.000
look at it and go oh well yes if you've read

00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:49.719
book one two and three you're definitely going

00:46:49.719 --> 00:46:53.119
to get more out of reading book four but if you

00:46:53.119 --> 00:46:55.860
read book four without any of the previous knowledge

00:46:55.860 --> 00:47:00.039
i still want it to be understandable and you

00:47:00.039 --> 00:47:02.000
to be able to follow even if you're just following

00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:05.139
it from the idea of oh these are three separate

00:47:05.139 --> 00:47:09.070
stories about this one character kind of like

00:47:09.070 --> 00:47:13.170
they're presented in the first book. So yeah.

00:47:13.650 --> 00:47:16.250
That's a very kind of like great deal of fairness

00:47:16.250 --> 00:47:18.670
to any new readers coming along because of course

00:47:18.670 --> 00:47:22.489
hopefully with Kicks Out Of Four now live, I'm

00:47:22.489 --> 00:47:24.190
going to throw money to soon as this video goes

00:47:24.190 --> 00:47:28.670
live, people will be able to order back copies

00:47:28.670 --> 00:47:32.150
I assume of one, two, three? Yes, so yeah I've

00:47:32.150 --> 00:47:37.369
got digital and physical like copies of the first

00:47:37.369 --> 00:47:40.250
three volumes as well as the fourth one. Brilliant.

00:47:40.369 --> 00:47:42.789
And what artists are you working with on volume

00:47:42.789 --> 00:47:45.909
four? Oh, now you're gonna make me pronounce

00:47:45.909 --> 00:47:50.449
names that I've only ever seen written. Right,

00:47:50.750 --> 00:47:56.690
so I'm working with Laura Halsby who did work

00:47:56.690 --> 00:48:00.969
on, they did a pinup for book three and I've

00:48:00.969 --> 00:48:03.239
been wanting to work with them a while. And so

00:48:03.239 --> 00:48:07.760
they are working on a story that is set in the

00:48:07.760 --> 00:48:11.440
younger Shield Maidens timeline that takes place

00:48:11.440 --> 00:48:15.519
just after Through Pain and Suffering from book

00:48:15.519 --> 00:48:19.199
three. They are being coloured by JP Jordan,

00:48:19.780 --> 00:48:23.820
who did the colours on Through Pain and Suffering.

00:48:25.059 --> 00:48:29.639
I very much, when I work with someone I like

00:48:29.639 --> 00:48:32.440
working with, tend to work with them again, as

00:48:32.440 --> 00:48:36.039
you can see from both of those. Then there is

00:48:36.039 --> 00:48:40.199
a story that is in the Elder timeline that is

00:48:40.199 --> 00:48:47.420
taking place just after the story from book one,

00:48:48.019 --> 00:48:50.780
Bounty Paid, if I remember the titles correctly.

00:48:52.340 --> 00:48:54.300
So it takes place just after that and that will

00:48:54.300 --> 00:48:57.050
be illustrated by Rachel Todd. who is a British

00:48:57.050 --> 00:49:00.550
artist that I've seen, I can't remember what

00:49:00.550 --> 00:49:03.750
her book was called, I think it's called Metal

00:49:03.750 --> 00:49:09.110
Saga, that could be wrong, but a very cool kind

00:49:09.110 --> 00:49:13.050
of like fantasy -esque book that I read that

00:49:13.050 --> 00:49:19.210
I really enjoyed and then the smaller interstitial

00:49:19.210 --> 00:49:24.210
story that's set kind of outside of those two

00:49:24.210 --> 00:49:29.480
timelines. is going to be illustrated by a French

00:49:29.480 --> 00:49:34.239
artist who, first name's easy, Alice, and I think

00:49:34.239 --> 00:49:39.340
it's Lecette. And then they are going to be coloured

00:49:39.340 --> 00:49:43.099
by a colourist that I worked with on book two

00:49:43.099 --> 00:49:49.199
called Fabi Marquez. And she will be, or they

00:49:49.199 --> 00:49:52.940
both will be working on a story set in the middle

00:49:52.940 --> 00:49:59.489
that is set back when Shilmaiden is a bit younger

00:49:59.489 --> 00:50:02.590
than either of the timelines and when she's with

00:50:02.590 --> 00:50:07.269
Queen Elsa so it's kind of like a story that's

00:50:07.269 --> 00:50:10.809
more thematically appropriate for the book and

00:50:10.809 --> 00:50:13.289
it's just kind of showing them and their life

00:50:13.289 --> 00:50:16.949
together because obviously from book three we

00:50:16.949 --> 00:50:21.590
know that she dies at the beginning of book three

00:50:21.590 --> 00:50:26.119
so this is obviously taking place before that,

00:50:26.260 --> 00:50:30.500
kind of in between book two and book three. Fabulous.

00:50:30.900 --> 00:50:33.019
Oh, that all sounds very exciting. I look forward

00:50:33.019 --> 00:50:35.579
to seeing both the returning artists and the

00:50:35.579 --> 00:50:38.260
new artists and lettering and the colouring because

00:50:38.260 --> 00:50:40.119
they're all so distinctive. I think that's why

00:50:40.119 --> 00:50:45.510
I quite liked my notes keep disappearing where

00:50:45.510 --> 00:50:48.030
are they a matter of fate i keep wanting to say

00:50:48.030 --> 00:50:49.929
when fate decided but it's not quite the same

00:50:49.929 --> 00:50:52.769
title in that one just because it was so striking

00:50:52.769 --> 00:50:55.650
out of all the other stories in that but there's

00:50:55.650 --> 00:50:58.929
one question that's always been teasing my mind

00:50:58.929 --> 00:51:01.030
and it'll be interesting to see whether you can

00:51:01.030 --> 00:51:05.090
and what your answer is when deciding to do this

00:51:05.090 --> 00:51:11.059
do kind of like a western style Viking saga adventure,

00:51:11.639 --> 00:51:14.599
did you always intend for it to be a woman and

00:51:14.599 --> 00:51:16.559
thus a shield maiden when it could have easily

00:51:16.559 --> 00:51:19.500
just been a lone Viking warrior going off and

00:51:19.500 --> 00:51:21.599
having these ventures? What made you decide to

00:51:21.599 --> 00:51:26.519
make her a woman? That is a great question that

00:51:26.519 --> 00:51:28.260
I don't think I have an interesting answer to.

00:51:28.500 --> 00:51:32.000
She was always a woman. There was never a point

00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:35.719
where I kind of like changed her sex at all or

00:51:35.719 --> 00:51:38.079
swapped it around. I just thought it was more

00:51:38.079 --> 00:51:46.039
interesting. Although they are historically debated,

00:51:47.780 --> 00:51:49.900
I thought it was interesting that it's one of

00:51:49.900 --> 00:51:55.300
the cultures where female fighters are slightly

00:51:55.300 --> 00:51:59.219
more accepted, whether historically accurate

00:51:59.219 --> 00:52:03.059
or not. I've seen a lot of stuff either way.

00:52:07.210 --> 00:52:12.590
I don't really have a kind of interesting, oh,

00:52:12.610 --> 00:52:15.090
this is definitely why I did it. I wanted to

00:52:15.090 --> 00:52:17.710
show this thing. I just thought it was cool.

00:52:18.630 --> 00:52:19.789
Because I guess it leads me to my second one,

00:52:19.869 --> 00:52:22.789
like, did you do much research into Shield Maidens

00:52:22.789 --> 00:52:26.889
within the original source text or even kind

00:52:26.889 --> 00:52:29.630
of? I guess mythology to a degree because I've

00:52:29.630 --> 00:52:32.329
read a lot of Norse fantasy and I am finding

00:52:32.329 --> 00:52:35.130
more and more baking in comics and there is one

00:52:35.130 --> 00:52:36.929
I'll mention to you to see if you've actually

00:52:36.929 --> 00:52:39.989
come across that one which has echoes of yours

00:52:39.989 --> 00:52:46.409
to a degree. Is it eternal? Read that one, yes,

00:52:46.429 --> 00:52:48.889
but there's another one called Sword Daughter.

00:52:49.349 --> 00:52:51.789
Okay, I've not heard of that actually. I will

00:52:51.789 --> 00:52:57.630
pull it off myself. It echoes yours a lot. Oh

00:52:57.630 --> 00:53:02.349
okay cool cool cool. It's got a similar theme

00:53:02.349 --> 00:53:06.909
and of, without spoiling too much, a daughter

00:53:06.909 --> 00:53:09.590
of a father who is shamed when his village gets

00:53:09.590 --> 00:53:11.590
burned and they lose their mother and she decides

00:53:11.590 --> 00:53:15.309
to take up his sword and again that timeline

00:53:15.309 --> 00:53:17.969
jumps about a lot but it doesn't kind of like

00:53:17.969 --> 00:53:20.429
get mixed up it just takes leapfrogs throughout

00:53:20.429 --> 00:53:22.789
her life so you kind of see her go up and become

00:53:22.789 --> 00:53:26.289
very much a shield maiden like this one. Oh cool.

00:53:26.570 --> 00:53:28.289
And it also deals with the same kind of like

00:53:28.289 --> 00:53:30.309
pagan versus Christians because I do like that

00:53:30.309 --> 00:53:32.369
you've acknowledged that even from the very first

00:53:32.369 --> 00:53:34.590
story in volume one. Yeah. So I remember there

00:53:34.590 --> 00:53:37.469
was that, I think, I think your name was Freydis?

00:53:37.690 --> 00:53:39.849
I can't remember the other character, the shield

00:53:39.849 --> 00:53:44.309
maiden helps. Oh Ingrid. Ingrid, thank you, thank

00:53:44.309 --> 00:53:47.230
you. But she, well she and us you, because it's

00:53:47.230 --> 00:53:49.989
your words, put it so well about how the Christian

00:53:49.989 --> 00:53:53.079
culture is taking over. the Norse one, and so

00:53:53.079 --> 00:53:55.260
that soon they'll all be left his stories. I

00:53:55.260 --> 00:53:57.119
thought, oh guys, it's so poignant, so powerful,

00:53:57.199 --> 00:54:00.059
just so in a nutshell of what they must have

00:54:00.059 --> 00:54:02.460
felt like. So that was something actually that

00:54:02.460 --> 00:54:06.199
when I was adding in the kind of the Western

00:54:06.199 --> 00:54:10.440
genre elements of the stories, that was something

00:54:10.440 --> 00:54:13.119
that I kind of really latched onto as well, because

00:54:13.119 --> 00:54:18.260
it's very similar to a period of kind of like

00:54:18.260 --> 00:54:23.670
early like Western American history called the

00:54:23.670 --> 00:54:28.889
Taming of the West and it's the idea of civilized

00:54:28.889 --> 00:54:32.809
people coming over to America and taming the

00:54:32.809 --> 00:54:36.889
Wild West, like bringing in industry and what

00:54:36.889 --> 00:54:41.909
they perceive to be like civilization and I've

00:54:41.909 --> 00:54:46.550
found it very much reflected the idea of Christians

00:54:46.809 --> 00:54:51.329
going into kind of more like pagan places and

00:54:51.329 --> 00:54:54.190
bringing Christianity with them and kind of like

00:54:54.190 --> 00:54:58.130
forcing it upon and changing the culture for

00:54:58.130 --> 00:55:03.110
their own their own gain essentially and I thought

00:55:03.110 --> 00:55:04.809
that was really interesting how it reflected

00:55:04.809 --> 00:55:10.489
in both the idea of the Wild West being changed

00:55:10.489 --> 00:55:14.699
and then also Norse Scandinavia being changed

00:55:14.699 --> 00:55:17.320
I thought they reflected each other really well

00:55:17.320 --> 00:55:19.800
so wanted to make sure that that was a thread

00:55:19.800 --> 00:55:22.519
that was kind of constantly there even if it's

00:55:22.519 --> 00:55:24.380
not necessarily in every story it's something

00:55:24.380 --> 00:55:27.639
that is is aware of because it's something that

00:55:27.639 --> 00:55:32.579
is also in kind of slightly more likely in a

00:55:32.579 --> 00:55:38.500
matter of fate where the Jarl talks about the

00:55:38.500 --> 00:55:43.599
King becoming Christian and wanting uh the like

00:55:43.599 --> 00:55:45.719
the vulva and the people who practice like the

00:55:45.719 --> 00:55:49.920
savor magic to be eliminated um and it isn't

00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:53.699
necessarily done by the yarl as something of

00:55:53.699 --> 00:55:58.800
like oh i must do this because i like it is my

00:55:58.800 --> 00:56:02.719
faith now uh it's more done as a oh i i gotta

00:56:02.719 --> 00:56:04.920
do this because if i do it will impress the guy

00:56:04.920 --> 00:56:09.039
who is christian um and and i thought that was

00:56:09.039 --> 00:56:12.059
really interesting and kind of having that lie

00:56:12.059 --> 00:56:15.500
there in the background of that's how the world

00:56:15.500 --> 00:56:18.119
is starting to change and I think especially

00:56:18.119 --> 00:56:21.420
in the older Shieldmaiden timeline as we kind

00:56:21.420 --> 00:56:24.599
of like get further into that that will probably

00:56:24.599 --> 00:56:28.039
become a bit more prevalent as that change begins

00:56:28.039 --> 00:56:33.000
to happen in her world as well as it did historically.

00:56:34.440 --> 00:56:37.340
I remember reading that and it was just the way

00:56:37.340 --> 00:56:41.630
he phrased I think excuse me, it's like oh when

00:56:41.630 --> 00:56:44.289
they come to baptises let us sacrifice this vulva

00:56:44.289 --> 00:56:46.389
to show much how much we love their new garden.

00:56:46.690 --> 00:56:50.269
I'm thinking that's so backwards and equally

00:56:50.269 --> 00:56:52.429
I don't think the monks and the priests coming

00:56:52.429 --> 00:56:54.570
to baptise you will find it that appealing but

00:56:54.570 --> 00:56:58.570
yeah if you want to do that go for it kind of

00:56:58.570 --> 00:57:03.309
thing but it's true it makes me think of a historical

00:57:03.309 --> 00:57:05.349
anecdote and I'm probably going to get the king's

00:57:05.349 --> 00:57:08.510
name wrong it was when France wasn't France but

00:57:10.369 --> 00:57:12.849
separate feudal kingdoms and it was united under

00:57:12.849 --> 00:57:15.550
Charlemagne and then when he died it passed to

00:57:15.550 --> 00:57:18.730
his three sons. I think one of them was called

00:57:18.730 --> 00:57:22.269
Charles the Bald and I remember reading in one

00:57:22.269 --> 00:57:25.449
of my many historical books up above mine but

00:57:25.449 --> 00:57:28.199
he was trying to appease the Vikings to not basically

00:57:28.199 --> 00:57:30.599
raid his lands he said oh come baptize you and

00:57:30.599 --> 00:57:32.579
then we'll welcome you to faith and look you

00:57:32.579 --> 00:57:35.280
can get this nice silk robe as you do and so

00:57:35.280 --> 00:57:37.280
they kept coming back he'd like me baptizing

00:57:37.280 --> 00:57:39.179
the same people because they'd come get the robes

00:57:39.179 --> 00:57:41.280
go again come and get the robes and go again

00:57:41.280 --> 00:57:43.780
he ran out of robes which i just thought i thought

00:57:43.780 --> 00:57:46.159
that's the vikings they are opportunists they

00:57:46.159 --> 00:57:49.420
are the magpies of humanity i do often think

00:57:49.420 --> 00:57:53.420
they're the most adaptable and everything. But

00:57:53.420 --> 00:57:56.320
going back to why she's a shield maiden, did

00:57:56.320 --> 00:57:59.440
you do any research into shield maidens in history?

00:57:59.980 --> 00:58:01.360
Because of course you've mentioned how it is

00:58:01.360 --> 00:58:05.900
debated and in 2017 the Burka warrior became

00:58:05.900 --> 00:58:09.219
a warrior to warrior s because science evolved

00:58:09.219 --> 00:58:12.380
and actually did better coding on their DNA and

00:58:12.380 --> 00:58:16.340
bones and whatnot. She's one of very very few

00:58:16.340 --> 00:58:18.019
and of course it's a matter of debate because

00:58:18.019 --> 00:58:19.739
although she was buried with these things we

00:58:19.739 --> 00:58:23.239
don't know if they were hers or if she just likes

00:58:23.239 --> 00:58:28.599
them. Yeah so I mean I definitely did some. I

00:58:28.599 --> 00:58:32.440
didn't want to get bogged down in, again like

00:58:32.440 --> 00:58:34.199
we kind of talked about earlier, getting bogged

00:58:34.199 --> 00:58:36.920
down too much in, oh this has to be perfectly

00:58:36.920 --> 00:58:40.000
historically accurate, because if it did none

00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:43.840
of the books would exist. and so I kind of I

00:58:43.840 --> 00:58:49.460
did some I did enough I think that I was I was

00:58:49.460 --> 00:58:52.360
confident to write the character and knowing

00:58:52.360 --> 00:58:54.880
especially from the first book knowing that it

00:58:54.880 --> 00:58:59.420
was always going to enter a like kind of mytho

00:58:59.420 --> 00:59:04.929
mythology area I felt kind of a bit freer uh

00:59:04.929 --> 00:59:09.329
with what i could do um but yeah i mean i uh

00:59:09.329 --> 00:59:11.789
this was actually after i had already started

00:59:11.789 --> 00:59:14.489
but i read a really interesting book that i'm

00:59:14.489 --> 00:59:17.210
gonna not remember what it's called i think i

00:59:17.210 --> 00:59:20.489
think it's called valkyrie the like life and

00:59:20.489 --> 00:59:23.230
times of viking women or something like that

00:59:23.230 --> 00:59:26.789
oh oh i've got it i'm sure you i'm sure you probably

00:59:26.789 --> 00:59:34.780
do yeah i have valkyrie this one This one? Yes,

00:59:34.960 --> 00:59:37.239
that one. I've literally just finished reading

00:59:37.239 --> 00:59:40.199
it. I've had it since 2020, it's taken me a while.

00:59:40.599 --> 00:59:45.699
Parenthood viewers, it ruins your reading. But

00:59:45.699 --> 00:59:49.099
yeah, I thought that was really interesting and

00:59:49.099 --> 00:59:53.599
her, if I remember rightly, her view is very

00:59:53.599 --> 00:59:59.019
much that there weren't Viking warriors but that

00:59:59.019 --> 01:00:02.159
women were important in a different way and they

01:00:02.159 --> 01:00:06.280
still had they still had restrictions and that

01:00:06.280 --> 01:00:08.059
they still also had kind of things that they

01:00:08.059 --> 01:00:10.280
could do that in the rest of the Western world

01:00:10.280 --> 01:00:13.280
were very uncommon. And so I thought that was

01:00:13.280 --> 01:00:15.579
really interesting, but I did read that after

01:00:15.579 --> 01:00:19.320
the fact. But yeah, I did, like with all of Shieldmaiden,

01:00:19.460 --> 01:00:25.519
I did some historical research, but I'm not a...

01:00:26.139 --> 01:00:29.760
historian by any means. I write made -up stories

01:00:29.760 --> 01:00:34.800
so I kind of I let it inform things but I don't

01:00:34.800 --> 01:00:38.059
necessarily let it massively restrict me too

01:00:38.059 --> 01:00:43.739
much. I think that's why Norse fantasy dominates

01:00:43.739 --> 01:00:49.579
my bookshelves because it is It's different interpretations,

01:00:50.300 --> 01:00:52.579
different uses, the mythology and indeed the

01:00:52.579 --> 01:00:54.920
history because they're both so entwined with

01:00:54.920 --> 01:00:56.940
each other. You can't really have Vikings without

01:00:56.940 --> 01:00:59.719
Thor. We can't have a horned helmet without having

01:00:59.719 --> 01:01:03.880
a shieldmaiden. Although shieldmaidens are probably

01:01:03.880 --> 01:01:05.719
more slightly accurate than a horned helmet,

01:01:05.900 --> 01:01:09.239
which is definitely not. There's no such thing

01:01:09.239 --> 01:01:11.219
as a horned helmet. That's seemingly the only

01:01:11.219 --> 01:01:14.360
thing that... uh every uh everyone who has a

01:01:14.360 --> 01:01:16.559
mild interest in Viking history is agreed on

01:01:16.559 --> 01:01:19.199
that horned helmets never existed that's like

01:01:19.199 --> 01:01:22.360
the only one that everybody is on the same level

01:01:22.360 --> 01:01:25.099
everyone's like yes this is the one thing but

01:01:25.099 --> 01:01:27.280
everything else is like always up for debate

01:01:27.280 --> 01:01:29.320
some things are different depending on which

01:01:29.320 --> 01:01:32.500
translation um but yeah I do find it funny that

01:01:32.500 --> 01:01:34.860
that is the one thing that everyone's like no

01:01:34.860 --> 01:01:41.630
horned helmets are wrong and I think That's why

01:01:41.630 --> 01:01:44.090
I like Norse fantasy in particular, although

01:01:44.090 --> 01:01:46.010
I do like my historical fiction, I've got loads

01:01:46.010 --> 01:01:50.210
of that above my shelf as well. Just the way

01:01:50.210 --> 01:01:53.570
we can experience their culture and their world,

01:01:53.730 --> 01:01:56.130
both historical and mythical, through either

01:01:56.130 --> 01:01:58.550
having different points of view, different narrators,

01:01:58.769 --> 01:02:02.150
different contexts. And the way I've always described

01:02:02.150 --> 01:02:04.849
fantasy, it's the ideal environment where you

01:02:04.849 --> 01:02:07.480
ask the question, what if? and then you can get

01:02:07.480 --> 01:02:10.340
the answer and run with it because there's no

01:02:10.340 --> 01:02:12.960
one in the realm of fantasy that can say no that

01:02:12.960 --> 01:02:14.900
didn't happen because it's fantasy it's made

01:02:14.900 --> 01:02:18.139
up it's imaginary but it explores so much of

01:02:18.139 --> 01:02:21.760
what makes us all human because nearly so besides

01:02:21.760 --> 01:02:24.519
like shield maidens a lot of my historical fiction

01:02:24.519 --> 01:02:27.139
is mainly the men it's always the men that go

01:02:27.139 --> 01:02:29.360
raving have adventures there are there are female

01:02:29.360 --> 01:02:31.320
characters but they don't necessarily get as

01:02:31.320 --> 01:02:34.809
proactive as this one does The only other type

01:02:34.809 --> 01:02:36.909
of female character that does get his act of

01:02:36.909 --> 01:02:39.849
a seal maiden is Valkyries who feature a lot

01:02:39.849 --> 01:02:45.349
in about 14 out of my 99 red lists so far and

01:02:45.349 --> 01:02:47.610
I just love how they, especially with their role

01:02:47.610 --> 01:02:49.750
of how they kind of like interact with the human

01:02:49.750 --> 01:02:51.909
world in the afterlife, at the point of death

01:02:51.909 --> 01:02:55.150
to the afterlife, they act as the ideal character

01:02:55.150 --> 01:02:57.989
that can explore both the human world and the

01:02:57.989 --> 01:02:59.610
mythological at the same time because they do

01:02:59.610 --> 01:03:03.139
cross that border, they can go in between. It's

01:03:03.139 --> 01:03:06.139
so interesting to see where Shieldmaiden goes

01:03:06.139 --> 01:03:09.320
now that she knows a certain thing. I think it's

01:03:09.320 --> 01:03:12.559
also interesting as well that and it is the same

01:03:12.559 --> 01:03:18.139
for a lot of Viking history but the idea of how

01:03:18.139 --> 01:03:21.539
kind of popular the Valkyries have like become

01:03:21.539 --> 01:03:25.880
but how little there is actually about them in

01:03:25.880 --> 01:03:29.760
kind of like Norse and Viking history is very

01:03:29.760 --> 01:03:31.980
interesting and I think think that is almost

01:03:31.980 --> 01:03:35.039
key to their popularity is that because there's

01:03:35.039 --> 01:03:39.119
so little very specific stuff about them they

01:03:39.119 --> 01:03:42.440
can be interpreted in like a wide variety of

01:03:42.440 --> 01:03:46.300
ways and I think there's a there's a lot of stuff

01:03:46.300 --> 01:03:48.480
that you can do that with Viking history there's

01:03:48.480 --> 01:03:52.300
not like this plethora of like very exact up

01:03:52.300 --> 01:03:55.679
-to -date very strict records of this happened

01:03:55.679 --> 01:03:58.159
exactly then and this was done by this person

01:03:58.159 --> 01:04:02.769
and that kind of thing and it does make and then

01:04:02.769 --> 01:04:07.769
because the mythology side of Norse culture is

01:04:07.769 --> 01:04:10.429
very intrinsically linked with their history

01:04:10.429 --> 01:04:16.409
it makes writing it historically very difficult

01:04:16.409 --> 01:04:19.550
because there's always going to be an element

01:04:19.550 --> 01:04:25.369
of that mythology in there but if you are like

01:04:25.369 --> 01:04:29.210
doing it as a more fantasy realm which the sheer

01:04:29.210 --> 01:04:32.889
maiden books essentially are. It does make it

01:04:32.889 --> 01:04:35.650
easy when it gives, especially I feel as a writer,

01:04:35.789 --> 01:04:38.949
it gives me a lot more freedom to be okay with

01:04:38.949 --> 01:04:41.510
dropping some of the historical stuff and going,

01:04:41.690 --> 01:04:45.150
oh yeah, we're gonna just delve into mythology

01:04:45.150 --> 01:04:48.849
very deeply here. and it doesn't feel out of

01:04:48.849 --> 01:04:50.710
place. I think that was something that I really

01:04:50.710 --> 01:04:54.210
wanted to make sure was I didn't want to, especially

01:04:54.210 --> 01:04:56.130
with book three has so much of it. I didn't want

01:04:56.130 --> 01:04:58.949
to have book three come out and it be like, oh,

01:04:59.030 --> 01:05:01.090
this is like changed entirely. And it's like

01:05:01.090 --> 01:05:04.570
a wildly different book now. I wanted it to always

01:05:04.570 --> 01:05:08.449
still feel the same. But then it's just, oh,

01:05:08.909 --> 01:05:11.949
there is some mythology to this this character

01:05:11.949 --> 01:05:15.409
in this story. And it's something that you can.

01:05:16.220 --> 01:05:19.260
still continue with without feeling like the

01:05:19.260 --> 01:05:22.679
book has changed drastically. Yeah I think you've

01:05:22.679 --> 01:05:25.360
captured that really well and the jump isn't

01:05:25.360 --> 01:05:27.960
too much of a jump when it comes because it's

01:05:27.960 --> 01:05:30.619
dropped out in different hints throughout all

01:05:30.619 --> 01:05:32.440
three volumes and of course I'm eager to see

01:05:32.440 --> 01:05:36.099
where it goes next in volume four but it's made

01:05:36.099 --> 01:05:39.239
me think kind of like the way the Vikings heard

01:05:39.239 --> 01:05:43.079
these stories or told them it was very much almost

01:05:43.079 --> 01:05:46.280
like a lived experience, like it's kind of like

01:05:46.280 --> 01:05:47.840
it's thunder and lightning, oh it's going to

01:05:47.840 --> 01:05:49.900
be Thor knocking giants, oh there's big waves

01:05:49.900 --> 01:05:51.659
on the beach, oh it's Rann's daughters doing

01:05:51.659 --> 01:05:54.440
a frenzy and kind of thing. I mean even in Iceland,

01:05:54.519 --> 01:05:56.780
even today when they build new roads, and I'm

01:05:56.780 --> 01:05:58.280
not sure if this is an urban myth but it's one

01:05:58.280 --> 01:06:00.539
I'm going to stick to, I'm sure they check for

01:06:00.539 --> 01:06:03.159
fairy mounds or even offering to the fairies,

01:06:03.380 --> 01:06:05.579
or they dig around fairy mounds and never disturb

01:06:05.579 --> 01:06:08.480
the fairies, never disturb the fairy. That's

01:06:08.480 --> 01:06:10.940
a strange thing as well but it just shows how

01:06:10.940 --> 01:06:13.610
these beliefs and traditions and perceptions

01:06:13.610 --> 01:06:17.309
carry on, and one of the things about the Norse

01:06:17.309 --> 01:06:21.050
legends in particular, they've been so able to

01:06:21.050 --> 01:06:26.309
stay so prevalent in society for tens, more or

01:06:26.309 --> 01:06:29.389
less a full millennium, also at least, since

01:06:29.389 --> 01:06:35.550
at least Iceland became Christian in 1080. It's

01:06:35.550 --> 01:06:38.570
just their adaptability, they're as adaptable

01:06:38.570 --> 01:06:42.639
as the people themselves are. to just surviving,

01:06:42.900 --> 01:06:45.840
keeping going and that kind of thing and I love

01:06:45.840 --> 01:06:47.840
it and I loved it especially when I came across

01:06:47.840 --> 01:06:50.719
it through but I mean I love the Viking Age history,

01:06:50.880 --> 01:06:53.000
I love the mythology and you bring it so together

01:06:53.000 --> 01:06:55.039
beautifully in your writing and working with

01:06:55.039 --> 01:06:57.820
so many different talented artists and I cannot

01:06:57.820 --> 01:07:01.460
wait for volume four. Will there possibly be

01:07:01.460 --> 01:07:03.760
any chance of you having them at Thought Bubble

01:07:03.760 --> 01:07:06.840
Comic Con this November? That is the plan, yeah

01:07:06.840 --> 01:07:12.280
that is the plan. So the Kickstarter is now and

01:07:12.280 --> 01:07:17.260
then I'm hoping that for Thoughtbubble will be

01:07:17.260 --> 01:07:20.059
the kind of like physical launch. I'll get everything

01:07:20.059 --> 01:07:24.360
shipped out to backers and then yeah I'll have

01:07:24.360 --> 01:07:28.599
them in my hand ready to show people at Thoughtbubble

01:07:28.599 --> 01:07:31.860
in November. yes so there you go you've heard

01:07:31.860 --> 01:07:33.480
it dear viewers and dear listeners if you want

01:07:33.480 --> 01:07:36.219
to go meet Acer in person to pick up any of the

01:07:36.219 --> 01:07:37.980
volumes i'm sure it'll have a selection of one

01:07:37.980 --> 01:07:40.440
two and three on display as well and of course

01:07:40.440 --> 01:07:42.440
get your copy signed so you don't you if you

01:07:42.440 --> 01:07:43.960
don't want to do the kickstarter that's fine

01:07:43.960 --> 01:07:46.099
i won't begrudge you but go to Thought Bubble

01:07:46.099 --> 01:07:47.900
Comic Con anyway because there's not just Acer

01:07:47.900 --> 01:07:50.480
there there's thousands of really wonderful artists

01:07:50.480 --> 01:07:53.300
and creatives there and it's if you love comics

01:07:53.300 --> 01:07:56.219
and comic art and comic writing Thought Bubble

01:07:56.219 --> 01:07:59.019
is the place to go MCM doesn't have a smidge

01:07:59.659 --> 01:08:01.900
on Thought Bubble Comic Con it really doesn't

01:08:01.900 --> 01:08:05.139
and that's in November in Harrogate. Gosh well

01:08:05.139 --> 01:08:07.780
we have talked about so much and I'm run out

01:08:07.780 --> 01:08:10.369
of questions amazingly because we've leapfrogged

01:08:10.369 --> 01:08:12.590
around so different ideas and themes and issues

01:08:12.590 --> 01:08:14.929
and thank you again for creating this wonderful

01:08:14.929 --> 01:08:17.149
series. I wish you the best of luck with volume

01:08:17.149 --> 01:08:20.750
four. I hope the Kickstarter flies off like Valkyrie

01:08:20.750 --> 01:08:23.770
into the sunset and brings glory and fame to

01:08:23.770 --> 01:08:25.649
you and the wonderful artists you've been working

01:08:25.649 --> 01:08:28.130
so delicately with over the next month and months

01:08:28.130 --> 01:08:31.270
to come as it all gets pulled together so beautifully.

01:08:31.649 --> 01:08:33.989
The link will be down below. Listeners and readers

01:08:33.989 --> 01:08:36.409
go click go throw money at it even if it's just

01:08:36.409 --> 01:08:39.210
a pound just to keep him going because I certainly

01:08:39.210 --> 01:08:42.899
will. and yes it's available via the Kickstarter

01:08:42.899 --> 01:08:45.500
or go see Acer at Thoughtbubble in November.

01:08:46.000 --> 01:08:48.560
Thank you very much for joining me Acer. Thank

01:08:48.560 --> 01:08:50.779
you very much for having me it has been lovely

01:08:50.779 --> 01:08:56.000
to chat all things Shilmin. Thank you I've really

01:08:56.000 --> 01:08:56.560
enjoyed it.