Between Darkness and the Light
by Paul Mitchener
Summary: A young, bored and confused teenager is thrown into an adventurous world that he believed only existed in books and dreams. Henry is destined to become the next Host Master and to lead the everlasting fight between the darkness and the light. The Wyvern, an ancient creature of mythical powers and defender of all things living, has to find a host to be able to dwell in this world. It chooses Henry. After his encounter with Bert and the odd dog Ben in the woodland, Henry s life would never be the same again: as well as finding his only true love, he s told that his mother and aunt had kept from him that they were creatures of nature and guardians of the woodland and commanded great powers. Henry has to find a way to grow up fast and find the strength to face up to both his own demons as well as those sent by the Shadow Master, a powerful sorcerer, who has the power and the aid from dark allies to destroy life and spread darkness across the world.
Information about the book
Title: Between Darkness and the Light
Author: Paul Mitchener
Release Date: 14th March 2018
Genre: YA Adventure
Publisher: Brown Dog Books
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40498514-between-darkness-and-the-light
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Between-Darkness-Light-Paul-Mitchener/dp/1785452428
Author Information
I now live in a small picturesque village called Penton Grafton in Hampshire, which consists a large duck pond, a village green where cricket is played most Sundays during the summer and a 14th century church. Penton Grafton is about four miles away from our nearest large town of Andover. Andover is briefly mentioned in my book.
One of seven children and a son of a farmer, I spent all my childhood playing in the countryside. I was born in the same house that my parents lived in for all their married life. Unfortunately, I had very pour education. That, added to the fact that I suffer from dyslexia, meant that I didn’t just struggle with the written word all of my life, but I also had to work twice as hard as others in many aspect of life. That said, I have never allowed it to hold me back from anything I wanted to achieve. I’m now retired but before that, I was a Managing/production director of company that made armoured and stretched luxury limousines for royals and dignitaries, mainly in the Middle East. I spent the best part of fifteen years travelling the world on business and met many of the royals as well as famous celebrities. Since retiring, I took a two year full time collage course in countryside conservation which is a subject that I’m very passionate about and despite my disorder, I achieved top grades and best student of the year.
Between the Darkness and the Light is my first novel but I’m now in the process of writing a sequel, my motivation for this book comes in two parts. Firstly, to become a published author has been on my bucket list for years now. I’ve always envied anyone who could write, especially writers like Terry Brooks, who have the skill to capture a moment in time and develop such interesting strong characters, so, I needed to prove to myself that someday I could write a novel. Dyslexia can be a very debilitating condition which is often overlooked, so I wanted to prove not just to myself but to others that suffer from it, that if they really worked at it, they could do the same and nothing should hold them back from reaching their own potential. I managed to achieve more than most and much more than I had hoped; but it has been a long hard uphill battle.
Secondly, I have a passion for nature and although my book is fantasy it is set in the here and now. The message I wish to get across to my readers (especially teenagers) is that we must start caring for the world in which we live. One of the main reason for choosing a teenager as the main character was to try and take others of the same age on a journey of discovery but with a teenage prospective, his first love, his new-found passion for nature and other living beings; but more importantly, discovering himself. What makes my book important to me are the characters and the location in which my book is set. Most of my characters are a mix of people that I know or have known in the past, although the people I know are interesting characters in their own right, it was fun putting them all in a mixing pot and creating new and more interesting characters. The location is set in and around the town of Whitchurch, an area where I was born and raised, the woodland was where I used to play as a child, there’re both places I still hold very dear to my heart.
The whole story of my book is set around one teenaged character (Henry Harris). Henry a confused, lazy and often very moody young man and now having left full education he has no idea what he wants from life. I’m sure most, if not all teenaged readers can relate to him, especially his relationship with his family. Henry eventually finds himself but only with the help, support and love from those that care for him most. The only message I wish to get across to teenagers is, that they don’t have to face life’s trials alone, if they have family and friends that love them and support them there is nothing in this world that they couldn’t get through.
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Top Five Inspirational Authors.
Terry Brook was certainly my main inspiration for writing. The Shannara series was written across a span of 8 years or more, his first book “The Sword of Shannara” was my first fantasy and I was blown away with his wonderful world of wizards and druids. Although the Shannara series was impressive and has often been unfairly called a pale imitation of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, an opinion in which I don’t agree. All authors are inspired by other writers, and often borrow ideas from other authors, in Terrys case, the Landover series was I believe inspired by the Wizard of Oz, there are certainly similarities in his discription of the landscape. However, when it comes the “Angels on fire” and “Knight of the word” This is all his own work, in this series, he takes you away from a world of wizard and elf and introducing you a post apocalypse world where children fight for survival in a world devastated by war and is now inhabited with demons. Brooks has always managed to create strong characters that are believable and easy to relate to, some characters you love and others you hate, and his storys line just drags you in. If it were not for Terry Brooks, I would never have considered writing, it’s his seer genius and his ability to create incredible characters and story lines that had inspired me. I would say without hesitation that Terry Brooks was the inspiration I needed to put pen to paper.
Trudi Canavan “Black Magician Trilogy”. Trudi is possibly the best award-winning fantasy writer to come out from down under. To me at least, all her books seem to be written at quite a fast pace, that said, they are still good light reading full of intrigue and mystery. Her storylines are extremely enjoyable, and her characters believable. The only reason I started to read her books was because it would be a few months before Terry Brooks release his next novel and I was scanning book shops to find something else to read in the meantime. After reading “The Magicians Guild” I was spurred on to read the rest of the trilogy. The use of clever of magic is one of the most interesting aspects of her books, through the protagonist magical training, we get a peek into the process of how magic works in Canavan’s interesting but dark world. Unfortunately, when all the battles are fought, there seem to be an anti-climax, this I believe to be due to the steed of her writing. It’s possible for any writer to learn from other authors, some good points and others not so. Possibly the most important thing I learned from Trudi Caravan was to ensure I had a good and solid ending to my book. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that her writing inspired me, but certainly, she helped highlight aspects of writing that I hadn’t considered before reading her novels.
Chris Bunch “Dragon Master” Whilst Trudi Caravan and Terry Brooks write fantasy, Chris Bunch writes action! Be ex-military himself, his tends to have incorporate a military aspect to his novels, they are tactical and very much full of action. However, like Trudi Caravan, his endings didn’t exactly build up to be as exciting as they could have been. I approached his books knowing that they would be veering away from the worlds of Landover and fairy creatures, and boy; I wasn’t disappointed, a world of war and political upheaval, where the lines between good and bad are not clearly defined. At first, I was worried that politics would overpower the whole novel; but I was swiftly proved wrong. Chris Bunch had the ability to be able to twist things about so as to keep the plots interesting, even after several books of the series. The main thing I’d taken away from his books, was not to be afraid to be different, we all have our own method of writing and regardless what others say, there is no right or wrong way, it’s what works you.
J.R.R Tolkien. Tolkiens books are the plateau and skeleton of all fantasy books. A bold statement to make’ but I’m sure most, if not all fantasy readers would agree that Tolkien has had as much influence as any when it comes to fantasy, and I truly believe that fantasy wouldn’t be as popular as it is today if were not for his genius. Although Terry Brooks “Sword of Shannara” was my first fantasy novel, I quickly went on to read the “Hobbit” and then “Lord of the Rings” but I must say, it wasn’t easy reading. If you are truly into fantasy, and you haven’t read these books, then my advice would be that you really must, because you’d no idea what you are missing out on, the films were fine and true to Tolkiens books, but the books offer so much more. From the beginning, for me at least, they were both a little difficult to understand, because I was new to fantasy it took me a while before I was comfortable with it. But once I’d really got into them, I couldn’t put them down and wanted more once I finished them. I believe that all good books leave you feeling that way, so I suppose it was this feeling of needing more that drove me on to write. Writing gives me the freedom to experiment with different worlds and characters, and I’d say its help fill that little space in me that yawns for adventure.
Terry Pratchett. Terrys works of science-fantasy Discworld novels are some of the best-selling works in English fiction around the world. Sadly, this mad-cap genius died in 2015 but sold more than 85 million books worldwide, and like his book he was full of wit and wisdom. His writing is inspiring, Terry Pratchett never held back in his writing and allowed his imagination to run away with itself, as a result he produced works of pure genius. As an author, it’s easy to question ones own method of writing, if it’s taught me anything from reading his novel, it’s not to be afraid to allow your own imagination to run away with itself, no matter how strange or wacky it is. I can’t help but wonder what must have gone on inside that brilliant mind of his, but whatever it was, sadly, it’s lost to us now. To me, Terry Pratchett’s wasn’t just inspiring, but I feel he introduced a fresh and unencumbered approach to writing and has left a lasting legacy to all writers.
