How it all began

I am often asked about my books, the first question being; “You write books, what are they about?”  Next, I’m asked about where I get my inspiration from and how I got into writing, so here are some brief details.

I began writing my first novel, The Belgae Torc towards the end of 2010.  At the time, I was heavily into painting, exhibiting my work with a local art society.  I enjoyed painting and was working hard on developing a reasonable style.  I liked to paint portraits, experimenting by making up faces based on photographs, but what I really wanted to do was to write.  I already had a basic plot for an action adventure novel and was keen to put words down on paper.  I like to read historical novels and knew that history would play a big role in my work, but I didn’t appreciate just how much research I would have to do.

The Belgae Torc is the first book in what has become known as The Torc Trilogy.
I did not set out to write a trilogy, but soon after The Belgae Torc was published in 2012, I began advertising in a magazine and for some reason the editor thought it was the first of three books.

I discussed this with my publisher who agreed that the characters were strong enough to be developed further.  Orlagh Gairne, Jerry Knowles and Jack Harrington  would have another adventure, so I began planning the next book which was going to be called The Gordian Knot.  There was just one small problem, I had already started work on The Witness and was well into it by this stage. 

The Witness is a very different story to The Belgae Torc, so much so that I considered publishing under a different name.  I was now writing in two very different genres and although a refreshing challenge and a test of my writing ability, it could prove to be confusing where my readers are concerned.  I decided to publish under my own name as I could foresee problems with marketing and promoting.  

Original artwork for the book cover.  500mm X 500mm box canvas painted in acrylic.
This is how I saw Josie MacDonald, the main character in The Witness.

The Witness was published in 2013 just over a year after The Belgae Torc and now I set out in earnest to write the sequel that my readers were waiting for.  

It would be another year before The Gordian Knot was finished and as I worked, I began to put in hooks and leave story lines unfinished in preparation for the final book.  The tale begins about twelve months after the conclusion of The Belgae Torc and with a fast moving plot things soon began to develop.  Some new characters emerged with others fading into the background and I had fun with the narrative.  The Gordian Knot was published in the summer of 2014.

It would be two years before the final book in The Torc Trilogy was finished.  Cutting the Gordian Knot (The Final Solution) begins directly after the conclusion of The Gordian Knot with my characters still exhausted from their previous adventure.  I wanted to keep this story closer to home.  Orlagh and Jerry had travelled extensively in the previous books so this time I decided to leave them in Ireland with Orlagh going about her daily work as an archaeologist at the National Museum of Ireland.  Jack Harrington on the other hand would bear the brunt of the action, but no more will be said about character or plot.

Again, I managed to use my own artwork for the cover design.  This time a pen and ink drawing of standing stones.  I did this drawing some years previously when exploring another style using different materials.

Original artwork for Cutting the Gordian Knot.
A3 cartridge paper with pen and ink and colouring pencil.

My latest book The Cellist was published on 1^st November 2017 and is the second book in a series that began with The Witness.  It is not a sequel, but does contain characters and places from The Witness.  The Cellist is a thriller and in many ways not as horrific as The Witness, but just as intense.  I managed to include a range of issues in order to spice up the plot and had great fun working with the characters.  Some writers rely on their characters to dictate the plot and this true with some of mine, but I did insist on keeping control of the story line although I’m sure that if my characters were real some of them would question that.

There will of course be more books in this series, I am planning five in total the next one being The Photographer.   Characters from both The Witness and The Cellist will appear in this book, but first I must write another adventure story featuring Orlagh, Jerry, Dr Pam Rose and of course Jack Harrington and his gang.

The Torc Trilogy

                                                                                                                  

          My books can be purchased from Amazon as a paperback and also on Kindle.

Alternatively go to my website and follow the link.

www.kevinmarshnovels.co.uk