The Stronghold Series of Novels

People's lives.

Ordinary lives.

Some extraordinary ones as well.

They cross and diverge, weaving a tapestry of events and encounters.

And the picture?

No-one can know how seemingly insignificant events can change the world.

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Thursday, 23 February 2012

Hidden Patterns

I must confess I have a sneaking admiration for those people who take a book, TV show or film and work out where all the references and in-jokes are.

Terry Pratchett's marvellous Discworld books, for instance, are packed full of them.

That's why I thought, when I put together Stronghold: Exodus, I would  hide little (and big) puzzles in the story.

So far, no-one has contacted me and said that they had found anything, but I am still hopeful.

I am doing something similar in Stronghold: Genesis, but not to such a great extent.

So, if any of you spot any of my puzzles, please let me know.

Thursday, 16 February 2012

Story So Far

The story of Stronghold begins back in 2005.

Well, it goes back way before that,

When I was young (and not so young), I used to read graphic novels. OK, comics. Super hero comics. I had a preference for DC rather than Marvel, and for groups rather than individuals (why read about one super hero, when you can read about a dozen?)

Being something of an analyst, I categorised the various abilities these characters had. Then I created my own heroes. The names varied, but it went something like this;

1) Physical - strength, speed, resilience/invulnerability
2) Mental - intelligence, super-senses, knowledge, languages
3) Psychic - magic, telepathy, telekinesis, other ESP
4) Chemical - create/change substances
5) Energy - heat, light, gravity, flight
6) Dimensional - time travel, teleportation
7) Construct - artificial, able to reform itself
8) Shape-shifter - able to change into other life forms/people

I think that covers them, broadly.

Anyway, I thought "What if there was this group of super powered people who were defeated by someone who seemed normal, and not evil?"

That is how Stronghold: Exodus started, with it's 200 or so named characters, and organisations such as the Wild Olive Shoot Community, National Security Command, the RRK, the Marracks, the Blue Lotus Collective, and those mysterious people who salute each other with "Fitzroy!"

The original Stronghold: Exodus was published in America in 2010, but was too expensive for people to buy. So, after almost 2 years of editing and reformatting, it was re-released in the UK for a much more reasonable price.

Stronghold: Exodus takes place over the course of a week. It is fast moving, and leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

So, Stronghold: Genesis - still being written. This goes from the 1920's through to the time of Stronghold: Exodus. It reveals a lot about how things came to be, with more than a few secrets uncovered.

Stronghold: Lamentation takes place after Stronghold: Exodus. Our community of people have to face new crises when disaster strikes, and everyone looks to them for help.

I will post news as things develop.