Hi there. Well, if you didn't know, I'm Lachlan, author of the series, The Children of Light (written under the pseudonym Alexander Phoenix). I am 32 years old, living in Auckland, New Zealand and am currently back at uni studying Social Science. I am of English, Scottish and Maori descent.
I started writing The Children of Light in early 2013 and posted them on Nifty around the end of October. It came into existence from another novel I was writing, loosely based around the events of my life, with a little fantasy thrown in to soften the doom and gloom.
To explain, the Children of Light is something I've been working with for about 10 years or so, after reading the fantastic series, Earths Children, by Jean M. Auel. In her series she describes the Neanderthal as a cognitively progressive species, having incredible mental abilities (genetic memories, spirituality and telepathy, of sorts). After reading her fantastic series I got to thinking that perhaps her neanderthals, or The Clan, didn't just give up and cease to exist, being killed, but instead were bred out by the other species of human. And with the interbreeding of the two human species, a sub-species was created, looking like modern man, but with the mental capabilities of The Clan, and even more so, considering the potential of the modern human brain. Thus, The Children of Light came into existence. Heh.
The characters in the story, well, the main characters at least, are in some way connected to me. They all have personality traits and quirks that I have personally had at some point in my life. Quinn is based on an 18 year old me. Young, innocent, bubbly, adorable. Alex is based on a mid to late 20's version of me. Head strong, confident, loving, loyal. Mikhail is mostly the protective part of my nature, willing to jump in front of a bullet for his friends and loved ones. And there are a few more characters based around other personality traits I have. I don't want to spoil it for new readers.
I absolutely love writing this novel, and am still working on my "story telling". I am trying to work on filling out the details more, adding a bit more visible emotion into it and making it a good fleshy story to sink your teeth into. Initially I wasn't going to include any detailed sex scenes in the story, but of course people like a good "shag scene", no?
When it comes to writing, I absolutely adore and welcome any and all forms of feedback. How am I to improve if I don't know where I'm failing? So please, flick me an email, leave me a post, jump a plane and come to New Zealand, and tell me what you think. Tell me what you like. Tell me what you dislike. Tell me who your favourite character is, who annoys you the most. What you think doesn't quite work. Or an idea you think might work. Just tell me. I love hearing from you.
I also want to make mention of my fantastic and brilliant editor, Sam, who has done the most amazing job in helping me with this story. He is a gem, and fantastic source of information and conversation, and does an amazing job correcting my poor grammar, spelling and as he refers to them, Americanisms, which isn't my fault! It's the bloody American English dictionary on Word!!! Thanks for being there Sam. He also put this website together! Big round of applause folks!
And finally, a great big thank you to all of you. I am so glad you're still reading, and enjoying the series.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I started writing The Children of Light in early 2013 and posted them on Nifty around the end of October. It came into existence from another novel I was writing, loosely based around the events of my life, with a little fantasy thrown in to soften the doom and gloom.
To explain, the Children of Light is something I've been working with for about 10 years or so, after reading the fantastic series, Earths Children, by Jean M. Auel. In her series she describes the Neanderthal as a cognitively progressive species, having incredible mental abilities (genetic memories, spirituality and telepathy, of sorts). After reading her fantastic series I got to thinking that perhaps her neanderthals, or The Clan, didn't just give up and cease to exist, being killed, but instead were bred out by the other species of human. And with the interbreeding of the two human species, a sub-species was created, looking like modern man, but with the mental capabilities of The Clan, and even more so, considering the potential of the modern human brain. Thus, The Children of Light came into existence. Heh.
The characters in the story, well, the main characters at least, are in some way connected to me. They all have personality traits and quirks that I have personally had at some point in my life. Quinn is based on an 18 year old me. Young, innocent, bubbly, adorable. Alex is based on a mid to late 20's version of me. Head strong, confident, loving, loyal. Mikhail is mostly the protective part of my nature, willing to jump in front of a bullet for his friends and loved ones. And there are a few more characters based around other personality traits I have. I don't want to spoil it for new readers.
I absolutely love writing this novel, and am still working on my "story telling". I am trying to work on filling out the details more, adding a bit more visible emotion into it and making it a good fleshy story to sink your teeth into. Initially I wasn't going to include any detailed sex scenes in the story, but of course people like a good "shag scene", no?
When it comes to writing, I absolutely adore and welcome any and all forms of feedback. How am I to improve if I don't know where I'm failing? So please, flick me an email, leave me a post, jump a plane and come to New Zealand, and tell me what you think. Tell me what you like. Tell me what you dislike. Tell me who your favourite character is, who annoys you the most. What you think doesn't quite work. Or an idea you think might work. Just tell me. I love hearing from you.
I also want to make mention of my fantastic and brilliant editor, Sam, who has done the most amazing job in helping me with this story. He is a gem, and fantastic source of information and conversation, and does an amazing job correcting my poor grammar, spelling and as he refers to them, Americanisms, which isn't my fault! It's the bloody American English dictionary on Word!!! Thanks for being there Sam. He also put this website together! Big round of applause folks!
And finally, a great big thank you to all of you. I am so glad you're still reading, and enjoying the series.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!