Seven years ago to the day, I was pretty angry. I’d just finished the film watching ‘Angels and Demons’ based on the Dan Brown book. It was only adding fuel to the fire because the previous year, I wrote a poem about a similar topic and dare I say it’s the best poem that I have ever written. It’s one I doubt I’ll ever be able to share as it could be deemed offensive, but the anger that fuelled it made it that good. The reason I was so angry was because of religion – namely religious terrorism. But not only was I angry, I was terrified. It scared me, it creeped me out how these people thought – how the extremists in all religions turned something that was intended to be peaceful into something divisive and hateful.

So, on that day, on a train journey up to London, I came up with an idea to write a book that could channel all that anger and changed everything for me a writer. The Signs Are Coming. The source of that book came through anger, and you can really feel it through the characters and the story. Unfortunately the book had to wait five years before I went back to it, but that kind of topic just doesn’t go away.

I find that anger is the best thing to fuel a book. Anger and fear. Not just fear in terms of horror (though that has helped too). For me, it’s fear of what would happen if the villain won. What would that world look like? Initially, the prologue of The Signs Are Coming was written in just that way – a horror story unlike any other because it was based on the truth of what’s really lurking in our world. Knowing that was all going on around us scared me – it scared me enough to turn something we don’t realise is all around us into a horror story. That’s why even though it’s technically a dark comedy, that book is quite frightening at times. Seven years and many words later, I never expected it to be quite so powerful.

Similarly, The Snowflake Trap is filled with anger of how millennials get treated and when I was looking at doing NaNoWriMo back in November last year, that was how I chose the topic to write about. I think that’s what made it so much easier this year than any other year I attempted it – because I had something that I cared enough about to write about. And of course, Luke’s situation is filled with struggles and anger. It was the dissatisfaction at the world that’s helped me stick with that book series.

I think it’s just about connecting to your emotions – what is it that you really feel is disrupting your/someone else’s life – what is it that really fuels you and gives you that drive to make a difference to the world. What is it that you can’t let go? Who is it you can’t let win? That’s what you have to write about, because the anger and fear will really show, and then the payoff if you do get a happy ending makes it seem more worth it. For you and your readers

So maybe next time you’re feeling particularly frustrated or scared about something, use that anger and fear to see whether you could write about it. Because even if you can’t make a difference in real life, you can make a difference by writing about it. That way, you’ve got the power in your hands and you can try to take control of the situation. And you might even get over your fears too.

Atlantic Split, At Liberty To Live and An Undercover Dream, the first three books in The Luke Bright Series are available to purchase NOW! The final book of the series A Long Lost Time will be released in 2020!

Please follow me on my blog and social media links below, and use the links on my website to purchase a copy of each if you have not done so. Don’t forget to leave a review! Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog post.

N.A.K