By Dominic Hodgson
When I saw the posting for being among the authors contributing to this series, the examples given for the kinds of topics that could be covered included discussing why I got into writing in the first place. Well, the answer to that is that I always have been, at the latest since the age of four, wherein toys would become characters and rooms their terrain.
Of course many of the ideas from that time weren’t ones that I’ve subsequently looked to pursue, plus to this day my head will at any moment offer me yet more premises big and small that cannot all be explored.
However, there were nevertheless favourites among them that lingered, granted they evolved over time into stories that don’t sound like they were made up by an infant, and as these chosen ideas were collected, I would make note of them upon numerous A5 slips of paper. This then led to a day when I was around ten where upon looking at all these papers together across my desk it occurred to me that with a little tweaking they could conceivably exist within the same continuity.
Thus timelines were drawn and elements were made officially recurring, leading to The Ragnarök Chronicles being born, albeit not in exactly the same form as it’s in today. I decided this would be what I would spend my life doing, getting this grand science fiction saga to publication so that the world could join me in getting to know this connected multiverse.
With this always having been my driving passion therefore, almost every pursuit I have taken in life has been chosen because it might help me in getting to this goal.
I found ways to do my writing for school assignments, I did work experience in a publishing house. I elsewise read plenty alongside, mainly series of fantasy. I was fortunate enough to additionally have a hand at alternatively telling stories through the likes of theatre, both scripted and improvised.
At university I studied English & Creative Writing, during which I finished writing the four books that would comprise the first chapter in this franchise I am creating. In the meantime I also worked as a tutor of Maths and Science, with those being just as much passions of mine, even if I don’t want to properly go into those fields beyond using interesting parts from them to strengthen the worlds of my books.
It’s at this point that we come to the current wider societal circumstance. It had always been my plan to, after finishing with tutoring, take at least something of a break to completely dedicate myself to my writing, so when it came to now spending more time at home I made sure I made the most of it in that regard.
As such in the last couple of months I’ve re-edited my first manuscript, Gift of the Mancynn, and gone through the process of having it self-published, as well as building the foundations for a greater online presence to aid in the spreading of word to go with it. With how long it can take, and because I already had most things ready, it didn’t seem best to me to pursue traditional publishing routes in, once more, the present situation.
I can’t know what the future is going to hold, I can’t assume that this state of dedicated writing will last, but while it does I shall push forward still, with the rest of this first set of four books similarly set to be able to be released at apt times, hopefully regularly over the course of the next year so that readers won’t be left waiting long for the following instalment.
So enough about me. What is this Gift of the Mancynn I mentioned actually about? 2016 was a turbulent year for many, especially for Philip Quint, who learned of his apparent role in a plan for the wider scope of reality. He has always possessed special abilities, ones he cannot explain yet is also aware must be kept secret.
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He’s therefore otherwise had a pretty regular adolescence, however at the end of his latest school year things take a turn of the uncertain, this coinciding with him being approached by mysterious otherworldly figures. They inform him that they gave him these abilities so that he could, when the time is right, take on the position of their emissary on Earth.
Philip and his friends are hence swept up in a journey around the globe and further, discovering en route just some of the ways in which it has been shaped from the outside, all the while the chosen teen knows he must decide whether he should embrace or reject this destiny, if he can in the second case at all.
There’s an ancient conflict spanning the dimensions that’s reached its way to Earth, the immortal Brethren Lords seeking to turn our world to their own devices, meanwhile other forces may be looking to manipulate these powerful beings in turn. The wheels are already in motion, all that can change is whose side anyone’s on. Who can Philip trust?
The Ragnarök Chronicles, as the broader series, seeks to combine various avenues of science fiction with interpretations of just as many world mythologies in stories set across time, space and beyond. Just as how the likes of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books can be read relatively independently of each other while all existing within the same world, there just being some weaving threads through recurring characters, so too can the different areas of The Ragnarök Chronicles be dipped into on their own yet if consumed together build towards a wider history (although here the respective ‘sub-series’ are denoted by the year in which they’re set as is made clear on each book’s cover).
With it planned to ultimately consist of fifty-five entries in total, this is to be an endeavour that shall continue to play a major part in my life overall. That being said, there are other works also buzzing around my head that I’d secondarily like to get to if I get the chance, including ideas for other franchises that already exist; people who know me will likely have heard me say that I want to write for the likes of Doctor Who someday.
Even if that doesn’t come to pass that again won’t stop the thoughts being there all the same, for instance I have even less of a chance of ever being involved with Nintendo yet that hasn’t prevented me right now from coming up with twenty-one new Mario game concepts over the course of much more time than is good for my efficiency with more important matters.
Well, on that lattermost note, I probably should actually be getting back to work. I’ll leave you, reader, with just this then: whatever it is you are reading, I hope it’s a good one.
You can check out Gift of the Mancynn for yourself over on Amazon.
Booklytical 
Sounds just like my cup of tea. Will put this on my list for sure.
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