Goodreads asked S.L. Briden:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

S.L. Briden Since I was a child, I always loved writing stories and reading, but as I grew
to maturity, I’d found that some fantasy stories, including historical fantasy
ones, tell of the battles and feats of the heroes and heroines conquers, but
didn’t give a realistic feeling of how anyone would cope mentally to be a
part of it, even if the characters are made up and can perform sorcery.

To believe you would be brave and just carry on with life as normal was
completely absurd to me, the same as if the weight of a prophecy was placed on your shoulders which states that you are the one to bring peace, so that is where the idea came to me that there needed to be a story out there that showed the true effects these things could have upon someone and the mistakes they make along the way. That a prophecy is nothing to be rejoiced about when you are the one prophesied.

I have always been fascinated with the Arthurian legend and, later on in life, the dark ages of the UK. my late husband shared this fascination with me and together we spent many years researching the myths and legends within this time period across the UK within our research, we discovered that the roman era of the UK displayed strong possibilities that their gladiators who used two swords in battle, could have extended over to the UK, thus, we drafted the series, ‘Shadows of a Phoenix.’

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