Classical Themes #4 - Mythical Animals

 Myths, magic, rituals, quests, places, people and animals; all of these elements are helping to shape the tales in my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series.

Horses provide us with names of people, places, mythical creatures and months of the year. ‘Marrek’ is a Cornish name for ‘horseman’; ‘Equos’ in the Celtic month of June to July means ‘horse time’; ‘Whitehorse Hill’ and ‘Vale of the White Horse’ speak for themselves; Nix and Kelpies, Rhiannon and Epona are shape-shifting creatures that drag or transport the living to the land of the dead. Places like ‘Studley’ tell us there was once an equine stud farm at that location in Saxon times.

Animals have been pivotal in assisting deities, providing tales of destiny and immortality across the world.

Think of:          Athene, the Greek goddess of fate weaving wisdom and war;

Fairy Godmother in Sleeping Beauty, epitomising the ‘Fey’ or Crone spinner of destiny;

Serpents appear in tales from Sumerian, Hindu, Ancient Egyptian and Norse mythologies. A thousand years before the Garden of Eden and Genesis, Sumerian serpent-god ‘Nigizzida’ was consort of the Mother Goddess and Lord of the ‘Tree of Truth’. ‘Kundalini’ is the serpent coiled around the ‘Tree of Immortality’. Norse mythology has the ‘Midgard Serpent’; Egypt ‘Mehen the Enveloper’ who enfolds the sun god ‘Ra’ during his nightly sleep in the Underworld and ‘Ananta’ is the cosmic Hindu serpent in whose coils the gods sleep.

Medusa mosaic

You will have to read my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series to discover how these influences are woven into my stories, but these and other legends, beliefs and folklore are threaded through the series in various ways, with each tale leaning towards several themes. These layers wrap my saga into real-world legends, hopefully providing access to readers and leading them gently and comfortingly into my fictional legend.

Some underlying threads may be incorporated purely by accident, perhaps where my mind delved into a subconscious ancient memory I am not actively aware of. It would be pleasant to imagine, would it not, that we all possess an element of this ancient subconscious, bringing archetypal elements to us from deep in our paleo-lithic historical memory?

Classical Themes - Part 3 of 4

 Myths, magic, rituals, quests, places, people and animals; all of these elements are helping to shape the forthcoming tales in my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series. Part three in a series of four posts.

Immortality

This comes in the form of apples (among other things) and straddles Norse, Greek and Celtic mythology. Norse ‘Idun’ is the goddess who keeps the apples of immortality. Greek ‘Hesperides’ grows apples that give immortality, on a paradise island. The Garden of Eden is home to the fabled apple tree and ‘Avalon’, the ‘isle of apples’, is the otherworldly paradise King Arthur is taken to, where he meets the three fairy queens – the three fates – rather like the Norse Norns who guard the foot of the World Tree, ‘Yggdrasil’.

Cut horizontally, apples reveal a five-pointed star in their core: a symbol sacred to the Mother Goddess and still used today as a symbol of belief in Pagan or Wiccan faith. Gypsies call it the ‘star of knowledge’. Also a wild fruit that seeds in hedgerows, it contains ancient links to Hedge-Sitters or wise women and would have been a natural food source that could have saved the poor in hard times, as they can be stored through winter. You will find mention of apples and their trees in my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series.

Apple quarters

Magical Drinks

These can also bestow immortality or conjure transformations. Throughout history there are countless tales of magical brews and important drinking vessels, that cross cultures and continents. Eating and drinking communally is an important part of human life and is an ideal time for characters to be brought together. I use this constantly throughout my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series.

Consider:         The Holy Grail;

The Mead of Odin, which can confer the gift of poetry on whoever tastes it, made by the dwarves ‘Fjalar’ and ‘Galar’.

Gundestrup Cauldron

Enchantment

Through beauty, music and Ritual Bathing the theme of enchantment abounds in various mythology and folklore.

Think of:          Orpheus, who could bewitch animals and women with his lyre playing, but was then himself bewitched by a water nymph or ‘nix’;

Acteon, while out hunting with his hounds observes Artemis bathing naked. He is then changed into a stag and hunted and killed by his own hounds.

These men are doomed to die for witnessing female goddesses bathing. This reinforces the importance of the female deity sanctity in pre-patriarchal cultures. The priest or priestess figure, bathed by servants, is another element of this ancient theme. You will find this in my writing also.

Stag in misty forest

Hunting, Hounds and Wolves

Hounds and wolves devouring various people and things runs through Norse, Celtic, Ancient Egyptian, Asian and Native American mythology. Wolves are ancient creatures from the oldest forests on earth and so are entwined in the lives of humans and their mythological tales. The hierarchical make-up of wolf society also reflects the same social relationships found in the human world, with leaders, their bodyguards, their marital partners and foot soldiers. Like humans, wolves have nannies to watch over the young while the rest of the pack hunts and these are usually older, trusted females who were often former alphas. Wise-wolves, if you will. Strong, female components essential to the survival of the pack and its future. There is much to draw on from these classical themes and as you will probably guess, I use them frequently in my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series!

Consider:

Hel’s Hounds; the Hounds of Arawn;

Anubis the Jackal-headed god;

Up-Uat, the wolf-god;

Native American ‘Opener of the Way’ – the coyote that helps Mother Earth give birth to the human race by scratching an opening in her side.

White wolf

What classical themes do you seek to include or allude to in your writing?

Let me know in the comments below!

~ ~ ~

E S MOXON has had a lifelong passion for history and writing. A childhood filled with family visits to ancient burial sites and stone circles fuelled her imagination. Inspired by classic medieval tales and Norse sagas, Elaine imagined herself inhabiting these Dark Ages and exploring the landscapes in her mind and continues to do so through her novels. The first in her ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series is ‘WULFSUNA’ and books two and three will be out soon. When not lost in pages of the past, she lives in the Midlands with her family and their chocolate Labrador.

WULFSUNA - Wolf Spear Saga 1 and Tales of the WULFSUNA

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

Capturing vivid memories of members of the 'Wolf Sons' Saxon tribe, they emotively convey the sagas that shaped their lives, in their own ancient language and in their own humble way.

A fictional feast for lovers of Old English with alternative views of events from the novel 'WULFSUNA' - Six tales presented in both Modern and Old English. A unique companion with detailed forewords by author E S Moxon and Prof. Stephen Pollington (author, speaker and historian) who says "the opportunity to produce fresh Old English songs proved too tempting".

TALES OF THE WULFSUNA

Classical Themes - 2 of 4

Classical Themes within the ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series

Myths, magic, rituals, quests, places, people and animals; all of these elements are helping to shape the forthcoming tales in my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series. Here is the second of FOUR posts.

The Dark Goddess

She is a pre-patriarchal, ancient belief from Neolithic culture in many countries. Tomb burials, caves and the deep, dark ocean introduce us to the Dark Goddess. She rules the world’s ocean as well as the inner tides (our emotions, passions, psychic perceptions and soul regeneration). The ferryman of souls can deliver us to her in his glass boat, to the Sacred Isle where we enter the cave and pass through the veil to the Otherworld - the land of the dead. There is much to explore here in terms of characters’ responses to water and its powers, but also human emotions and how these fluctuate in various circumstances.

Grey beach of rocks leading to the sea

Boats

Boats and their contents have more than a passing link to the land of the dead. As well as ferrying those near death across a sacred lake to the afterlife, boats can take the form of offerings to the gods and vessels transporting offerings to the gods - treasure hoards defaced and buried in thanks for victory. Found most profusely in Denmark (though also in other countries), boats of war and the weapons of their defeated warriors have for millennia been deposited in lakes in gratitude of the gods’ protection. As well as afterlife journeys for characters, this provides us with response to conflict within societies and the rituals invoked. Boats themselves can have souls and characters, as can weapons such as valued swords or even amulets of the gods and goddesses of the time. Many of these themes are integral to my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series.

Consider:      Hjortspring and Nydam boats from Denmark – deliberately sunk into lakes, these boats contain a multitude of offerings from vanquished enemies: swords; axes; spears; shields; chainmail; knives; horse tack; brooches; tweezers; ear spoons; bones of horses, lambs, calves and dogs.

Oseberg ship burial

Rainbows

Another way to the afterlife can be via a bridge, often linked to rainbows, found in Christian, Norse, Greek, Chinese and Australian aboriginal cultures, among others. Water was a sacred element through which one could travel to the Otherworld, so to cross it was to, in some respect, cheat death and almost magical. Tales of dangerous creatures inhabiting the undersides of bridges come from this concept, such as Norwegian Trolls, river sirens like the 'nix' and Celtic Kelpies in the form of horses or women, who would drag people down to their deaths. Flag Fen is an excellent example of how bridges over water held magical properties, where Iron Age people deposited metal, stone, ceramic and food gifts from the causeway. Bridges can also represent boundaries between earthly realms like county borders, or unearthly realms, both of which can present characters with problems depending on the purpose of their journey. I tinker with this theme in ‘Wulfsuna’ and also forthcoming ‘Wolf Spear Sagas’.

Think of:

Bifrost – linking Earth to Asgard;

Sword Bridge – crossed by Lancelot to rescue Guinevere from the Castle of Death;

Bridge of Heaven;

Greek goddess ‘Iris’, who guarded a rainbow (from where ‘iridescent’ is derived)

Wooden bridge in dark forest

• What classical themes most interest you?

~   ~   ~

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

Classical Themes - 1 of 4

Classical Themes within the ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series

Myths, magic, rituals, quests, places, people and animals; all of these elements are helping to shape the forthcoming tales in my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series. Here is the first of FOUR posts.

Magical beasts and food; feuding siblings; rags to riches; death and rebirth; initiation and rites of passage; serpents, dragons and treasure – drawing on ancient and classical themes are of utmost importance in providing familiar storytelling arcs that readers can naturally connect with. Whether we realise it or not, most stories will resonate with an ancient theme and ‘remind’ us of something we have encountered previously in our conscious or subconscious. Fairytales are but one example of how repeated themes provide a wide variety of stories. 

Consider:

Sleeping Beauty                      Beauty and the Beast

Cinderella                               Snow White

King Arthur                              Chronicles of Narnia

Red Riding Hood                     Alice in Wonderland

Lord of the Rings

Stag in misty forest

I have immense pleasure incorporating these fascinating myths, legends and beliefs into my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series and hope you, my readers, have as much pleasure hunting for the morsels embroidered into my tales; small threads weaving through the whole. In my second ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ novel I have elements of the following themes:

Rights of Succession of Kings

This is deeply rooted in Indo-European mythology. There is an underlying, ancient archetype of a son or grandson killing their father or grandfather in order to marry and/or rule alongside the queen or mother goddess. The son has a hand in despatching the father (not necessarily a blood descendant and not necessarily with malice) and the son-lover joins the female sovereignty until the next ‘son’ arrives and repeats the cycle.

Think of:          Perseus and Acrisius, or

                        Oedipus and Laius

Celtic warrior aloft a war chariot drawn by two horses

Feuding Siblings

These also appear frequently in my sagas, though not all are blood-related. Brothers and sisters can be actual relatives, or bonded kinsfolk in religious orders or warrior bands. For my second ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ I was inspired by the half-brothers Nissyen (who wished for harmony) and Evnissyen (who wished for discord) from the ‘Sorrows of Branwen’ in the Mabinogion. Where there is disharmony, there is always interesting conflict!

Pair of wolves

Cinderella Stories

These are another recurring theme in many cultures: a hero or heroine undergoes a series of trials at the domestic hearth or in the wilderness, their true worth revealed at the story’s climax. This crisis-initiation-resolution appears in several forms. I’ve already used it for two main characters in my first novel in my series ‘Wulfsuna’ and expect to see it again in future sagas.

Midnight pyre

• Can you think of other classical themes repeated in literature?
• Do you like to include ancient themes in your writing?

~   ~   ~

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

NEW BOOK RELEASE!

A New Release is Coming!

I am very excited to announce a new publication, connected to my 'Wolf Spear Saga' series.

With an official release date of 1st August 2020, I shall soon be able to share more details with you.

I've seen the final cover proof and I love it - it encompasses all the ideas I wanted, linking it to 'Wulfsuna - Wolf Spear Saga 1' in terms of colours and key symbols.

Visit my website for blurb and cover reveals, as well as a forthcoming pre-order link and subscribe for regular updates - be the first to know!

Last Rites and Burial

When writing in any era, the end of a life can take on various meanings, depending on the beliefs of the deceased individual. There may be an exotic afterlife to consider or particular funerary rites to adhere to. Tossing history into the mix brings with it layers of archaic ritual, older cultural boundaries and long-extinct practices. Therefore, this can be a complicated yet fascinating aspect of writing historical fiction.

West Kennet Long Barrow

photo: E Moxon

In my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series I must consider many factors in relation to the death of my characters. For my Germanic characters, they descend from a warrior line. Kings and tribal leaders would have received the ultimate in ornate burials with plenty of grave goods. If he is an experienced horseman, he may even be buried with his ‘noble steed’. However, in times of danger when there is little time to linger for fear of return attack, they might resort to a funeral pyre. This may be inevitable after battle if they have several dead warriors and limited time. Cremation was for centuries an acceptable form of funerary rite, even when some turned to Christianity. Grave goods have been found in Christian burials, despite not being a religion that encourages the placing of sacred objects with the body or cremation urn.

photo: visualhunt.com

Religious beliefs come and go, evolving and overlapping throughout history. Forms of burial container exist in hundreds of designs that have beauty or function to carry the dead into whatever future they perceived lay before them. Some expected to be collected by fearless shield maidens who would deliver them to the feasting hall of a one-eyed war-god, in order to battle into eternity. Others would expect to meet other deceased relatives in a summer meadow, able to lead a fruitful, playful existence with their array of grave goods.

Snettisham Great Torc

photo: visualhunt.com

Deaths of religious figures, such as priests and priestesses also vary depending on cultural and religious differences. Evidence has been found of herbs in Coptic jars and headdresses or pillows made from the leaves of plants considered to have magical powers. Essences in bottles and flower garlands worn as funerary adornments can hint at the importance of incense or plant oils accompanying those who possessed the ability to see the future or read the messages from scented fires. Embalming is a particular ritual that was perfected by the Egyptians, though is not restricted to their ancestral history alone.

Stonehenge

photo: E Moxon

Finally, then there are the cultural rituals replete among warrior tribes and the elite among ancient peoples. The Welsh and Irish sagas abound with the ‘rites of passage of kings’, with several tales of fathers being brutally murdered by sons. This has a multitude of connotations, from disgruntled sons eager to remove fathers from thrones to the right of every warrior to die a noble death. To die ungracefully in one’s own bed would be a disgrace to many a brave king, but were a son to ‘send’ his father to a noble death via the sword, then the king’s reputation and warrior-status would remain intact. This act, a ‘rite of passage’ could send the king into his chosen afterlife.

Oseberg Ship Burial

photo: visalhunt.com

~ ~ ~

Do you consider the end of your characters' lives as much as their creation?

How much detail and thought do you employ when creating characters?

Has a character's death affected you when writing/reading it?

                                                                               

Tackling Diversity in Historical Fiction

Following on from 'Autism Awareness Week' I thought it apt to discuss a plot element in my forthcoming second ‘Wolf Spear Saga’. Some time ago I was involved in a discussion online about diversity in historical fiction. You can read the blog post I wrote about it here.

https://elainemoxon.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/diversity-in-historical-fiction.html

photo: visualhunt.com

Today, however, I want to focus on one factor from that discussion, which has become entwined in my second saga. When drafting book two, the conversation I had had with other authors about diversity lingered in my mind. I wanted to challenge many historical novels I had read in the past that ignored conditions that have modern names, but would have existed in the past nevertheless. I needed a strategy that would bring such a condition into my novel in a way that would be acceptable to modern readers, but also credible in a 5^th Century setting. My portrayal of this character would have to be true to my genre and my contemporary audience.

“Invisible disabilities we experience today, such as elements of the autistic spectrum, would have no name in the 5th Century…”

In choosing to have a character on the Autistic spectrum, I knew I would be unable to label this condition with terms and phrases we use today and that those around the character would also lack this knowledge and vocabulary to describe him and his behaviour. I knew at the outset this would present me with some steep challenges and I was ever conscious of creating something too stereotypical and offensive. I knew other characters in the story would be governed by their spiritual beliefs and fear of things they could not explain or that seemed to be evil or magical. My character began as a complicated being with some undesirable and inherited personality traits, even before I decided he would be autistic. I had to consider these traits carefully and calculate how his autism would effect or enhance these parts of his personality.

“Public responses to these conditions would be ruled by culture and spirituality.”

I drew on experiences from my own life and enrolled the help of someone with daily, personal knowledge to also assist me. After some deep discussions with this individual I began embellishing my character and those around him who would be there to assist or abuse him, because of his outward behaviours and responses. I wanted to provide him with a very small circle who understood him and were there for him. I also wanted to explore those who were scared by him or deemed him dangerous and those who would exploit his behaviour for their own ends. Once I had completed my first draft, I had the specific scenes featuring the character proof-read to ensure the content was acceptable to a modern audience, but that it also contained authentic references and behaviours.

photo: visualhunt.com

 Here is a description by his older brother:

‘His brother was ruled by the Dark Mother. She held sway over the tides of his inner ocean, tossing him on wave after wave and drowning him in his own emotion. Their Queen had been his steer board; …adrift on an unrelenting, storm-ridden voyage, [he] heard no one else, for they were mere morsels of windswept words. Wulfsieg realised he would be wasting his breath. Like land-locked onlookers crying out from the shore through wind and rain, [his brother] would never hear him from his lonely one-man vessel.’

While language used to describe this character is embedded in the 5^th Century, as I wrote I became more aware that attitudes to Autism continue to challenge wider society; that there exists even today, those who misunderstand the struggles of being on the spectrum. I found myself writing provocative scenes, displaying others abusing the vulnerability of my autistic character and contrasting, deeply emotional scenes revealing the extreme fragility of my character, despite his roguish outward persona.

I hope my readers will find reading about him as interesting as I found it to create him on the page.

And I hope others will be encouraged to be diverse in their fiction.

Have you tackled a difficult subject in your writing?

How did you decide to include it in your writing?

What were some of the challenges you faced?

Diversity in Historical Fiction

A while ago I became involved in an online discussion about diversity in historical fiction. It covered all aspects of inclusion, though mostly became centred on disability. While there are certain restraints put upon histfic writers by the very nature of history (what groups of people were where at given periods; what roles they possessed), there remains an element of freedom to include diversity.

Taking disability as one aspect of this, what comes to mind in modern life is someone who is physically aided by a wheelchair or crutches or perhaps has an artificial limb. Asking people to consider a more historical viewpoint can trigger stereotypical imagery of the wooden-legged pirate with eyepatch. Unless that is what you are striving for in your novel, there needs to be further consideration of the nature of the period in which you are writing and what disabilities will be prevalent.

In the times of the great plagues there would have been disease causing coughing and infections of the skin, or other ailments of putrefaction. In the dark ages of 5th Century sub-Roman Britain, where I set 'WULFSUNA', there are skirmishes and full-scale battles with hundreds of warriors. Being crushed in a shield wall, beneath horses' hooves and receiving spears, arrows or blades to the body would be common. Those who survived might walk/limp/crawl away with facial features or limbs missing/damaged.

These are physical disabilities. There are also the emotional disabilities, some as direct results of these same battle experiences mentioned above. Being 'battle drunk' is a documented Medieval condition, whereby men wander the battle field post-conflict as though drunk and unresponsive. We know today that this is a result of being thrust into the 'fight' mode of the body's natural 'fight or flight' response. Long hours spent in this heightened state literally poisons the body with high levels of cortisones and adrenalin, which take a long time to disperse. Add to that post-traumatic stress and you can imagine the vacant, trance-like euphoria of these wandering warrior-zombies. Not being aware of this modern science in the 5th Century, a familiar state is attributed and hence we have 'battle drunk'.

Here is where the level of understanding and translation of a disability into a historic period creates confines for the histfic writer. Research is imperative. People of the 5th Century do not know what adrenalin is or post-traumatic stress. Invisible disabilities we experience today, such as elements of the autistic spectrum, would have no name in the 5th Century either. Public responses to these conditions would be ruled by culture and spirituality. This fascinated me and has led me to create a character within this period to see how they, and those around them, would respond to this condition being expressed. However, one thing to remember when writing in any period, is that your audience is contemporary with a modern outlook. This creates a requirement to balance the realism of the historic period, while being empathic to your readers and their (in many cases) extensive knowledge or experience of these conditions.

What are your thoughts on diversity in historical fiction?

Have you created characters with a disability?

What types of diversity would you like to see in historical fiction?

Writing as ‘E S Moxon’, Elaine's debut historical fiction adventure ‘WULFSUNA’ was published January 21^st, 2015 and is the first in her Wolf Spear Saga series. She is currently writing her second novel, set once again in the Dark Ages of 5^th Century Britain, where the legendary Saga ensures a Seer and one named 'Wolf Spear' are destined to meet. You can find out more about Elaine’s novels on her website or follow her on Twitter or Facebook. Elaine lives in the Midlands with her family and their chocolate Labrador.

~ ~ ~

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

An ancient saga is weaving their destiny.

A treacherous rival threatens their fate.

A Seer's magic may be all that can save them.

WULFSUNA

Building Believable Characters

When people talk of 'building' characters I'm always reminded of the Sci-Fi film 'West World' with Yul Brynner. However, this is effectively what we are doing even though it is in our minds and the minds of our readers. We want our characters to be real and three dimensional, as though we could see them walking down the street. Every writer has their own method for moulding and sculpting paper creations into living, breathing, 'real' beings our readers will believe. I thought I would share some of the things I have done, some of which you may already do, or don't do and might find useful.

I begin with visual basics - hair/eye colour, height and build - so that when I am writing down first draft scenes and dialogue I can at least add simple descriptions. I consider their role: are they a warrior, a Druid, a peasant or noble? All of these suggest their standard of living and perspectives on life, which add to their personalities. If they have relatives that will be mentioned in the same novel, I write a brief background description of each relative and what their relationship was like with this individual; this adds depth to their upbringing and familial interactions.

Cultural, spiritual and linguistic heritage are all aspects of someone's character that can define them. Although all my characters speak English in my novels, I model their language use as much as possible on their mother tongue. For instance, my Saxon characters use dialogue with their roots in Old English words of Germanic origin [i.e. amid, become, wend, shield]. The sounds of these words add a Saxon flavour to their speech. Likewise, I have Romano-British characters who would be speaking an early form of Welsh, the P-Celtic language. In modern Welsh there is a word for yes [ie] but you can say 'yes' in many forms depending on how you answer a question:

e.g.

Does she understand? [Ydy hi'n deal?] Yes (she does). Ydy.

Are you coming? [Ydych chi'n dod?] Yes (I am). Ydw.

Were you there? [Oeddech chi yno?] Yes (I was). Oeddwn.

When the character responds with these answers of 'Yes she does' or 'Yes I was' despite being written in English in the novel, these formulate a hint of the Welsh grammar structure that this character would utilise in speech. Another layer or flavour if you like, that adds to the realism of the character.

Culture also denotes what social etiquettes a character is likely to follow, while spirituality forms their beliefs in certain morals, type of deity worship and afterlife concepts. Insert political viewpoints in relation to the period in which you are writing and you have even more material to play with. For a Druidic character, I have examined the sacrificial and divination practices of the Order. Reading the future from the entrails of dead animals and humans gives a grim insight into the beliefs held by this spiritual group. Another method of divination called 'imbas forosna' is to divine by chewing on raw flesh and placing your hands on your cheeks as you fall asleep. The future is then supposedly revealed through dreams. This presents the possibility of including all the senses in descriptive writing, bringing your reader within the character using touch, smell, taste, sight and sound.

Another interesting tool I use is the inclusion of animal traits in certain characters. The obvious one (writing about a tribe called 'Wolf Sons') is aspects of wolf behaviour. These wild canines show dominance through posture, rather than using aggression and have immense stamina and strength. They follow a strict social status within their family groups. Bestowing these attributes onto a character is more of a subliminal connection, but one that still can seep through to the reader and hopefully create a more intimate relationship with the character.

How do you begin to build a character?

What tools do you use to define them?

Writing as ‘E S Moxon’, Elaine's debut historical fiction adventure ‘WULFSUNA’ was published January 21^st, 2015 and is the first in her Wolf Spear Saga series. She is currently writing her second novel, set once again in the Dark Ages of 5^th Century Britain, where the legendary Saga ensures a Seer and one named 'Wolf Spear' are destined to meet. You can find out more about Elaine’s novels on her website or follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

Elaine lives in the Midlands with her family and their chocolate Labrador.

~ ~ ~

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

An ancient saga is weaving their destiny.

A treacherous rival threatens their fate.

A Seer's magic may be all that can save them.

WULFSUNA