Steve Griffin's Blog, page 13
September 2, 2018
Autumn Writing Update
People have been asking what I’m up to now that I’ve finished writing The Secret of the Tirthas. So here’s my Autumn Update….
I’ve taken the summer off from writing! After spending the last 4 summers writing and publishing novels (albeit with short hols thrown in), this year I decided to have a break. What did I do? I went here with my family:
That’s Niagara Falls by the way, for those who don’t recognise it. Wow. I mean, wow…
Now I’m back, I’m compiling a book of poetry that I’ve written ov...
July 26, 2018
TigerFish – a gripping story of a young Vietnamese refugee
“Do you see how beautifully this hardship has shaped and formed the stretching branches and foliage, like long slender fingers pointing toward the sea?”
Hoang Chi Truong’s autobiography of her experience as a young girl fleeing the Vietnam war is fascinating on many levels: as an insight into Vietnamese culture, both before and after the war; as a harrowing tale of the upheaval and existential terror of having to flee your own country to save your life; of the nuanced and changing feelings to...
July 15, 2018
The Artefacts of Power in The Secret of the Tirthas
In The Secret of the Tirthas, the demons and their followers are desperately seeking to capture the Artefacts of Power. These magical items have gained their power from the devotion of worshippers over the centuries.
Each Artefact in the story is based on a real life sacred object, from a different religious tradition. Here’s a list of them, with the culture or religion they came from:
Nkisi statue – a wooden figure from African shamanistic religion. People drove iron nails in to release the...
July 7, 2018
OUT NOW: The Unknown Realms!
The wait is finally over…
What’s going to happen to Lizzie Jones? Did she make the right decision at the end of The Lady in the Moon Moth Mask?
You can find out today by ordering your copy of The Unknown Realms, the fifth and final book in The Secret of the Tirthas!
Click here to get your copy now:
The post OUT NOW: The Unknown Realms! appeared first on Steve Griffin.
June 25, 2018
Venice as a setting for The Unknown Realms
When I started The Secret of the Tirthas, Venice was high on the list of possible portals for Lizzie’s garden. However, it wasn’t until the fifth book, The Unknown Realms, that I finally found the right storyline for it.
I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend in Venice a few years ago, when a friend got married there. My wife had visited before so she knew some interesting spots – and cut throughs – that were less crowded.
Venice has a special hold on the imagination of many people in E...
June 21, 2018
The Unknown Realms – proofing
One of the best moments in any writer’s life is the arrival of the proof. Seeing over a year’s worth of hard work all neatly captured between that (hopefully!) stunning cover and on those cream pages is indescribable!
Not long now until it’s out. And just a reminder that the ebook is available to pre-order now at all major e-retailers.
The post The Unknown Realms – proofing appeared first on Steve Griffin.
April 28, 2018
Who are your Inspirational Authors?
I’ve started a new A-Z of authors who have inspired my writing on my Instagram page, using the hashtag #stevegreads.
I’ve just got to D, which was a tough choice between Helen Dunmore, a fantastic author and poet who died sadly last year, Bob Dylan, whose biography Chronicles lived up to his epic career of songwriting, and Roald Dahl.
In the end I had to choose Roald Dahl, whose irreverent, joyful stories were a high point of my childhood reading. And which are now making me happy for a seco...
April 22, 2018
The Unknown Realms – Taster
The Unknown Realms is the fifth and final volume in The Secret of the Tirthas. In it, Lizzie faces her most perilous challenges yet as she seeks to stop the demons and their followers from corrupting the power of the tirthas for their own treacherous ends. And worst of all, she must face them alone, as she has lost all hope of reuniting with her friends.
Here’s a short excerpt from the second chapter, The Cannaregio Shrine:
Alessandro’s grandfather, Nazario, told him that the shrine of the M...
April 16, 2018
Where do you belong?
Last week I had a short break with my family in Kenilworth, a small town in Warwickshire. I was born in Eastbourne but moved to the Midlands when I was very young, and spent most of my childhood there. Despite not having lived in Kenilworth for 20 years, I was surprised at the deep connection I still felt with the place.
We rented a small cottage near the ruined but impressive Kenilworth castle. The castle was owned in its prime by Robert Dudley, the probable love interest of Queen Elizabeth...
March 18, 2018
The real City of Light: Varanasi, the most sacred city in India
Kashi – The City of Light
The city that Lizzie discovers through the portal in her garden in the first book of The Secret of the Tirthas is based on a real city in India.
Kashi is one of the oldest cities in the world. Some estimates put it at up 2,000 years old! It has had several names, including Benares, also spelt Banaras, but it is most commonly known as Varanasi. The meaning of Kashi is the ‘City of Light’. It’s the holiest city of Shiva, the Hindu god responsible for destruction. ...
