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R.L. Blackhurst

Goodreads Author

Born

in Rochford, The United Kingdom

October 10

Website

http://rlblackhurst.weebly.com

Twitter

RBlackst

Genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Short Stories, Poetry

Influences

Carl Sagan, Walter Scott, Chretien de Troyes, my furry kids and my par ...more

Member Since

September 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomrblackst

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I was born in Essex but raised in Bahrain and southern Spain. Having fallen in love with the natural world at a young age, I studied for a degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences and went on to do a PhD in Astrobiology (looking for microbes that could colonize Martian rocks and that sort of thing!)

Now, I live in New Zealand and make "palm oil free" soaps and natural skincare products, and write fantasy and(hopefully soon) science fiction novels. I am crazy about wolves and have two of my own (well, close . . . Germans shepherds.) My other favourite beasts are sharks, rats (I have two) and all members of the crow family.

I like living in this century well enough, but often believe I was born too late or too early. The middle ages or a space f ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

R.L. Blackhurst When I was 8, my parents moved to Bahrain for my Dad's new job with Gulf Air. Before the move, we'd sold our house and were living with a friend in Wo…moreWhen I was 8, my parents moved to Bahrain for my Dad's new job with Gulf Air. Before the move, we'd sold our house and were living with a friend in Woodingdean, East Sussex. My parents enrolled me in a school in the area, just for one term before we headed to the Middle East.

The school was a private school, very posh, with most of the parents dropping their kids off in flash cars. My mum didn't drive, so we had to get the bus.
I hated it. It was an awful place with a credit and debit system. Credits were like gold stars and debits, basically black marks. I had a lot of debits!
Thankfully, I was only there for one term. It was called Queenscliff, was girls only and took boarders.

Many years ago, when I first moved to New Zealand, I looked the place up on the internet and found its website. Seeing a picture of the imposing building brought back memories of cold wintry mornings, heading to catch the bus, and long miserable days.

Then just a couple of months ago, I was compelled to look it up again. I am not sure why, but strangely I could not find any trace of the place! Mystified, I searched for it. I researched schools in the area and found all manner of them, but not Queenscliff. There are records of all sorts of schools, even ones in past decades that have since closed, but nothing of Queenscliff. How could this school disappear from history? I had seen a website of it! I understand if it had closed, but there would still be a record of it!

I was telling a friend about it, and she told me about the Mandela effect. Basically, it's people who have memories of things that didn't happen and of places that don't exist.

Could this be the case with me? Why do I have such vivid memories of this school? False memory syndrome? Parallel universe? Time travellers altering the past?

I'm still looking for it and it baffles me. But on the up side, it would be a great plot for a book!(less)

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If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?

R.L. Blackhurst One of my favourite books is Ivanhoe. With lines like, "Then look your last upon the Sun," for me it is a quintessential medieval adventure.
When I was…moreOne of my favourite books is Ivanhoe. With lines like, "Then look your last upon the Sun," for me it is a quintessential medieval adventure.
When I was about 12, long before I read the book, there was a TV mini series of Ivanhoe. I completely fell in love with the villain, the Templar, Sir Brian de Bois Guilbert, played by the wonderful Sam Neill. He lusts after, and kidnaps, the lovely Jewess, Rebecca (my namesake), played by beautiful Olivia Hussy. This miniseries was one of the things that started my love affair with all things medieval and also, if I think about it, influenced my take on villains.

I rather liked Sir Brian, and could only dream of being as beautiful as the Rebecca in Ivanhoe. Of course, I resolved that I would have rather liked to run off with Sir Brian. While he was rather dastardy in his kidnapping of Rebecca, I think he did revere her and wanted her love. So I guess I would like to travel to Ivanhoe's medieval England and change the ending of the story. I would be the beautiful Rebecca, and instead of resisting Sir Brian to the end, I'd be like, "Okay, let's go!"

Funnily, I live in the South Island of New Zealand, and Sam Neill has a residence in the area. Once, sat on my market stall in Queenstown one Saturday, he was walking around. As he neared my stall, I wanted to blurt out, "I'm your Rebecca!" But I didn't think he'd appreciate it, and nothing else, sensible or otherwise, came to me. So I sat frozen to my seat and he glid by, older, but still a fabulous Sir Brian!(less)

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Combine Editions
R.L. Blackhurst’s books

Average rating: 4.11 · 300 ratings · 22 reviews · 4 distinct works

	The Wolves of Solomon (Wolves of Solomon, #1) 4.03 avg rating — 232 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wolf (Wolves of Solomon, #2) 4.37 avg rating — 67 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wolf – 2014 ABNA Entry really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Count Grumpula and the Wood Witch (The Adventures of Count Grumpula, 1) by R.L. Blackhurst (Goodreads Author), Rachael Errington (Illustrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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R.L. Blackhurst's Blog

Smashwords Interview

Smashwords have just created a new feature "Author Interviews," in which every smashwords author can participate. I think it is a great idea! The perfect way to get to know more about an author you like, or an insight into an author whose books you would like to try.

Check out my interview by clicking the link below:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

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