The location for The Viking's Apprentice

How do authors choose the locations for their books?

I can't speak for everyone, but for The Viking's Apprentice I chose the location based on a town I know well. My wife grew up in a very small town in West Scotland called Furnace. Furnace is located on Loch Fyne and is several miles from the nearest town in any direction. At night it is deathly quiet and the stars shine like nothing you would see in the city.

There is one Inn, one shop, one very small school and several small streets. To me it was the perfect location for The Viking's Apprentice. A place where children go on their summer holidays to stay with relatives. I. myself, used to go to a town not far away for my summer holidays to stay with my aunt and uncle.

To turn Furnace into Campbell's Cove all I had to do was remove the quarry and replace it with a cave system and a new street. I turned Loch Fyne into the Ocean and my perfect location was born. Once you read The Viking's Apprentice you will appreciate the atmosphere that the location helps build.

Here is a photo of Furnace from the air. On the right hand side is the quarry which has been taken out of my village otherwise the layout remains pretty much the same.

As you can see from the photo the town is very secluded and right on the water, perfect for the story line of The Viking's Apprentice

Please visit my website at www.kevinmcleodauthor.com or email me @ kevinmcleodauthor@gmail.com

my twitter account is @bannon1975

What's in a title?

One of the most common questions I have been asked is how did I come up with the title for my book. The Viking's Apprentice began life with no title then moved on to be called Campbell's Cove. I stuck with this title right through writing the book until the final month. In June 2012 with the first draft almost complete my wife pointed out that title didn't really say anything about the book. It did not convey to the reader anything that would let them know what they were in for.

This proved quite a problem for me as I actually quite liked the name. I liked the town I had created and the name meant something to me. That was just the point though. It meant something to me because I knew all about Campbell's Cove, I had been writing about it for 18 months. Laying out the town, thinking about the people, the smells, the views everything. The reader, picking up the book for the first time would know nothing about the town and the name would tell them nothing about the book.

My solution was to read my book through from cover to cover and wait for the title to jump off the pages. When it did it made perfect sense. I knew straight away that it was the correct title and so The Viking's Apprentice was born.

Not only will this be the name for the first book it will also be the start of the name for every book in the series. Book 2 is under way and I will be writing about that in the near future.

Tomorrow's post will have an ariel shot of Campbell's Cove...

visit the website www.kevinmcleodauthor.com email me at kevinmcleodauthor@gmail.com
Follow me on twitter @bannon1975

First author interview

On Wednesday I took part in a short author interview with Rebecca Bennett of Rebbie Reviews, you can visit the website here. Author interview

We discussed The Viking's Apprentice and what inspired me to write. A full transcript of the interview is below.

Interview with Kevin McLeod, Author of The Viking’s Apprentice by rebbiereviews I am delighted to have had the chance to interview this newly discovered author, Kevin McLeod. I recently reviewed his book "The Viking's Apprentice". So Here it is! So Kevin, what made you want to become an author? My inspiration to become an author came when I was about 12 and read The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. He had taken a break from writing horror to write a story for his kids. Simply put, it was brilliant. I started writing short stories for fun and did that for a few years. Life took over then I rediscovered my passion when I turned 30 and starting writing again. I just love it, I can lose hours at a time writing. Do you have a favourite author? Favourite author is a tough one, I guess from my previous answer you would be expecting Stephen King or going by my chosen genre maybe Rick Riordan or Joseph Delaney. However it has to be R.J. Ellory, his books are fantastic. So well written and the characters and places draw you into his world. Why Vikings? Why Vikings? I think there is always this mystery and interest around Vikings, these wild warriors that traveled the seas to conquer and pillage. The image of a Viking is so striking I was able to use that imagery to draw the reader into the book. Although I have not cast them in their regular role I think the role they play works well. Trying hard not to give away too much with that answer! The cover of your book is beautiful, I understand your brother is the artist. Does he do a lot of cover work? My brother did do the cover art, he is an excellent artist with skills that far out do most I have seen. By day he is a web designer but by night he zones into his artwork. This was his first cover art. Could other authors contact him for cover work?  I am sure Paul would not mind be contacted by authors, they can contact him throughkevinmcleodauthor.com and leave a message entitled FAO Paul. You’re currently writing the second book of the “The Viking’s Apprentice” Series, how many are you planning? Originally I was planning 3 books in the series, but recently I had an idea for a prequel to The Viking's Apprentice which would be set in the era of the Vikings. Don't want to say too much more in case I give away any plots! How long did it take you to write the book? The book took two years to bring to completion. I have two daughters and a day job so I was, like many others, fitting writing in around my life. Book 2 will not take as long to finish as I already have location maps, characters defined and stronger coffee :) Are you interested in exploring other genres, or do you feel your feet are firmly planted in Adventure? I don't feel my feet are planted only in adventure or only in YA fiction, but for now they are as I love the books I am writing and I am enjoying it so much I am not ready to let it go yet! And finally, do you have any words for aspiring authors? Don't ever give up, if you have a story inside you that you feel is worth sharing. It probably is. Also don't let edits and corrections get you down, they are part of the process and the end results will speak volumes. One last thing, when the characters in your book seem real to you, they will appear that way to other people. Thank you very much for your time Kevin, I am very pleased to have had the chance to do this interview with you. For more information on Kevin McLeod please check out his websitekevinmcleodauthor.com The Viking's Apprentice Please visit my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheVikingsApprentice or talk to me on twitter @bannon1975

Cover artwork

Today I am going to talk a little about the cover art for my book The Viking's Apprentice

Some of you will know that the very talented artist who designed the cover is my brother, Paul. Paul can be contacted through  my website kevinmcleodauthor.com Just leave a message in the contact page FAO Paul.

When I asked Paul if he could do the cover art he agreed, and I thought it would just be a question of he drew the picture, coloured it and that would be that. How wrong I was.

Paul started by drawing each of the Vikings on their own. For this he used his graphics tablet to enable him to draw straight onto his PC. I posed for one of them holding a long broom (spear) while Paul took photos of my hand positions. Here is the Viking I posed for.

Next came the second Viking that we named 'Viking right' very inventive I'm sure you will agree. I'm not a writer for nothing you know :). Again Paul drew him in isolation so we got this picture.

Once the Vikings were drawn Paul drew the the third cover character (not revealing his name) and blended him with the background. He then 'dropped' the two Viking's on to the background and this is where the real work started. Paul explained he had to now change the skin tone of the Vikings and the light and shadow. The new background effects changed the shadows and the light sources so these had to be reflected in every element of the Vikings. This is the part of the process that took the longest, but the finished work was worth the wait...

You can see the difference in skin tones when compared to the original drawings. You can also see how the light has changed the shadow. 

Those of you who know history may point out that it is extremely likely Vikings did not have horned helmets in reality. However ask people to draw or describe a Viking and the horned helmet takes pride of place. So we went with the image people relate to. Please visit the webpage at www.kevinmcleodauthor.com and also the Amazon page The Viking's Apprentice

This ends the art lesson! 

Interview and review

Today has been a good day so far. I had my first author interview which I will post a link to once it goes online.
I also received another 5 star review for which I am thankful and I appreciate the reader taking the time to write it. I think it is a real compliment for a writer when a reader feels so connected to the book that they want to take time out of their day to write a review. One line or ten lines, one star or five star every review is valuable feedback in  my opinion.

 Definitely worth reading!5 stars 4 April 2013

By Mrs. Karen Baird

Amazon Verified Purchase

This story is aimed at older children/young adults. It moved along at a good pace. The characters were engaging with the "goodies" appearing real and likeable and the "baddies" bad enough that you definitely wanted them sorted out. I felt a real sense of involvement in the plot and read it in 2 sittings - would have been one if I hadn't had a previous engagement! This will appeal to readers who enjoy books along the lines of Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl and could be enjoyed equally by boys or girls. Definitely one worth having on the bookshelf.

My author interview went very well and enjoyed the questions and the discussion. There will be a link  here as well as on the website www.kevinmcleodauthor.com 

My next blog I am going to talk about the cover art and the artist involved. His work on The Viking's Apprentice is greatly appreciated and the finished product was outstanding. 

Website goes live

Just a quick post to say I am a man of my word and the website is now live.

Please visit www.kevinmcleodauthor.com

Let me know your thoughts on the new site and please share with your friends. Use the comments form to get in touch with me. I will answer all your questions personally.

The Viking's Apprentice post 3

I am beginning to get used to using twitter and I am finding my way around goodreads.

I have my own author page there which you can find @

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7031977.Kevin_McLeod

Next up is to finish my book website.

When I began writing The Viking's Apprentice I set myself goals. So far the achieved goals are:

Goal 1: Complete the story
Goal 2: Edit it to an acceptable standard
Goal 3: Convince my talented graphic artist brother to design me a cover for free.
Goal 4: Get my book on Kindle
Goal 5: Make a sale!

Other goals are still in progress, and here is a list of them:

Goal 6: Get into the top 10 in my genre (highest place so far 15)
Goal 7: Break into the best seller list on Kindle
Goal 8: Get the book on sale on Ibooks and Nook (currently being considered)
Goal 9: Hold a physical copy of my book (almost there on that one)

Check my blog for updates on my goals and lots more info on the book and what is happening in the world of The Viking's Apprentice