This is the camper-caravan that was my home and the home of my family for the first ten years of my life.  It was a 1951 Victour Housecar that my father obtained from a Christian missionary organization.  Today it would be considered vintage, but over the years the wear and tear from the African bush, dust, wind, rain, heat, and constant travel took its toll, and it seemed that we were constantly replacing bits and pieces of it, so that it ended up looking quite different from what it originally was.  This picture was taken when we were en route from one location in Zambia to another.  During the summertime, we parked it in the shade of trees, preferably on a hilltop, because we did not have the funds for air conditioning.  We also rarely had electricity.

When I see pictures of this old vehicle, which ended up literally falling apart, I become nostalgic.  Our lives in it were Spartan, but it reminds me of the love and warmth of my childhood.  It also represents how my parents made the most of what they had, reserving much of the space inside the caravan for foodstuffs (There was a refrigerator, but it wasn’t always in use.), medicines, and books and learning materials for Joyce and I.  The theme of having to create something out of hardly anything, which my parents had to do, and which the poor people of Africa still have to do, is one that carries through to my books, for my characters have to do it too.

I took this picture in Mozambique in 1987 when my mother took Zetta, Joyce, and myself there to try and find out what had happened to Zetta’s family.  No trace of them was found, and Zetta never recovered from the loss, which is probably what contributed to her untimely death a few months later.  This was not the village that Zetta was actually from, but it was similar.

In this photograph, I find all the elements that make up the complexity of life.  On the one hand, you see the exquisite beauty of the surroundings and of the African bush, as well as the idyllic innocence of rural life.  On the other hand, there’s a certain bleakness about it, and a sense of grinding poverty and despair.  The people who live in villages like this one have to live with that tension every single day.  Their lives are difficult, but they find comfort in family, community, and tradition.

Though my books may be fantasy, in them I try to portray a world very much like this one.  It is a world of primeval forests, pastoral farmland, and colourful people, but on the other hand, it is also full of threats.  Orren, Haxel, and Marett simultaneously experience both sides of their world as they travel through it.  The combination of good and bad, of beauty and suffering, also influences their relationships, as each one tries to make sense of his or her place in the world, and why he or she is on their quest.

This painting represents what was probably the lowest point in my life.  My family was in Ethiopia from 1984 to 1986, during the famine.  My parents worked in the relief camps, dispensing medicine and medical care.  Everywhere there was suffering, but in addition, there was an incredible disconnect within my family.  My parents used to pull inward when things were rough; it was their way of coping.  This behavior was magnified in Ethiopia, where they had no time for Joyce and I, except to continue our education.

Because my parents were in such a state, Zetta and Joyce were as well, and it made me angry.   It was a time in my life devoid of humor, beauty, affection, and any meaningful companionship, and besides, the suffering around me was all pervasive.  These are not easy things for a boy of 14 to have to experience.  I was angry with God and the world, and felt alienated from my family and from life in general.  It is fortunate that there were no addictive drugs in the refugee camps or I might have experimented with them (Well, there probably were, but I was too naive to know about them.).

My father’s closest friend, Richard Freund, was also in Ethiopia at that time.   Like us, he was involved in bringing food and medical aid to starving people.   The memories of the intense human tragedies he witnessed, haunted him for years.  He finally found an outlet for his emotions in art, and produced this painting of a group of destitute and starving people, making their way through a famine-blasted and dusty landscape, toward a relief camp.  He captures the despair and suffering that was ubiquitous at that time.   This work of art captures my own experience as well.

This dark time also influenced my writing, because in it, my characters have to confront the dark spaces that exist within them, which result partially from the injustices and suffering of the world around them, and partially from having to deal with their own personal demons.

Technorati Tags: despair, devoid of humor, dusty landscape, Ethiopia, hellish condition, intense human tragedy, lowest point in my life, made me angry, personal demons, rage, starving people

Having not read many novels in the genre of the Three Fugitives, it was a rather interesting journey for me. I found the book to be reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in that the characters reminded me of some Tolkein’s famous protagonists. Nat Howler writes in intricate detail, his characters delicately crafted – almost three-dimensional. I gained a true sense of who they were in the opening chapters.

My favourite part of the book was when Richard spoke to Orren on the old man’s deathbed. It showed clearly the type of young man Orren was, a man who hadn’t lost his will to live and who showed his deep sense of loss at the passing of Richard, even though he was forced to live in a pig-sty for most of his life and could very easily have lost all sense of humanness during this torturous time. I believe the author shows a great deal of promise, and readers who liked the Lord of the Rings (of which there are millions, obviously) will do well to take a look at the Three Fugitives by Nat Howler.

Heidi Baugh – Cardiff, Wales

Technorati Tags: characters delicately crafted, Heidi Baugh, Nat Howler, reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings, Three Fugitives, Three Fugitives Book Review, who liked the Lord of the Rings

The Six Stones Trilogy

The six gwellen are ancient magical stones that were hidden centuries ago in the vast wilderness.  The ruthless Lord Berthus Randolphus has found one of them and has discovered that he possesses the rare ability to use its powers.  His despised thirteen-year-old half brother, Orren, has the same ability.  Berthus desires the gwellen for his own purposes, and sets off on a quest to find them.  Orren embarks on a similar mission, intending thereby to foil his brother’s nefarious plans.

Book Two – Everywhere Foes Lurk by Nat howler

Here is a quick introduction to Book Two in the Six Stones Trilogy

Young Orren Randolphus and his friends, Haxel the goblin and Marett the heiress, have escaped into the Forest of Doom and, by doing so have foiled Lord Berthus’s pursuit of them.  They have gone from one bad situation to another, however, because the forest is full of terrifying monsters from the evil past.  Should they make it out alive, their quest for the fabled gwellen will still be fraught with peril.

Ahead lies the land of Rivulein, which is full of human enemies, including Berthus’s new allies.  Beyond that, are enormous mountains that seem to be impassable, but which the trio has to cross.

Two unusual allies aid Orren and his friends, but one only intends to stay with them long enough to fulfill a single duty, and the other one has unclear intentions.

Most disturbing of all, however, is a message imparted to Orren in a dream that, unless he can find a safe refuge for the six gwellen, there will always be the danger of their powers being abused.

Book Two is now completely written and just waiting for the publisher. We’ll let you know as soon as it is available in the stores.

Nat Howler.

Technorati Tags: ancient magical stones, Book Two in the Six Stones Trilogy, Everywhere Foes Lurk, land of Rivulein, Nat Howler, Orren, six gwellen, Six Stones Trilogy, terrifying monsters, the Forest of Doom

Three Fugitives

The Three Fugitives, by Nat Howler is a great read, a fantasy adventure book for all ages …

A  teenage boy, Orren, terrorized and kept in a pig sty by his older half-brother, Lord Berthus, finally escapes from his childhood cage, together with the fabled gwell stone that Lord Berthus treasures.  Enraged, Lord Berthus raises an army of thugs to pursue the boy and k ill him, take the stone back , and abuse its power to become the evil master of all . . .
Will Orren get away?  He unexpectedly finds himself together with two unlikely companions, a clumsy goblin and a pompous girl from an ancient bloodline.  Together they flee for their lives through dangerous territory, facing wild beasts, terrifyingly active thorn bushes, and a cult with a sinister reputation.  Meanwhile, Lord Berthus is always hot on their tail. . .
Praise for Nat Howler’s Three Fugitives
Three Fugitives  pulls readers into a fantasy realm with action, adventure, and characters that are easy to love.  Even though Howler has created a world full of monsters, mayhem, heroes, and heroines, the novel is also a mirror of our own disturbing reality where the borders of good and evil are not clearly defined.  – Review from ForeWord Magazine

It moved through an imaginative but credible world at a rattling good pace.  The three fugitive characters are a delight.  I would call it a howling good read.  – Kathie Bundock

An uplifting and insightful tale about extreme alienation and the tumultuous path to redemption experienced by an abused boy, an orphan girl and a pitifully clumsy and self-doubting goblin.  – Malcolm Monussen

Three Fugitives  kept me hooked.  The pace of my reading met the pace of the chase of Orren and his little posse.  This is a classical tale of friendship, love, mystery, and enchantment with an unpredictable and intricate plot.  –  D r. C. Rael

Technorati Tags: about extreme alienatio, an abused boy, childhood cage, classical tale, clumsy goblin, credible world, disturbing reality, enchantment, fantasy adventure book, fantasy author, fantasy book, fantasy realm, good and evil, gwell stone, insightful tale, intricate plot, Lord Berthus, Nat Howler, orphan girl, Orren, pompous girl, swine boy, teenage boy, three fugitive characters, Three Fugitives

New Map of The Corcadine Peninsula where the story of the “Three Fugitives” begins…

This is where Book One starts, and in the book you can also find how the Corcadine Peninsula links ups with the mainland of South West LeFain.
The Three Fugitives fantasy book is available for sale online at Amazon.com and through additional wholesale and retail channels worldwide. Buy it for only $15 at Amazon click here
Also available as an electronic book for instant download to your smartphone, PC, Mac or e-book reader. Download it for only $9.99 at Kindle click here

Technorati Tags: Corcadine Peninsula, electronic book, Map of The Corcadine Peninsula, Three Fugitives fantasy book

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog posts lately you’ll know I’ve come to adding a few news posts from around the web on this subject. I’ve got a couple more today that are new and updated, so let me know what you think of em…

Fantasy Blogosphere: December 27, 2010 | Fantasy Book News

Reviews of The White Luck Warrior, The Lost Gate, A Mage in the Making, Warcraft: Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: fantasy book

Whenever I meet someone who has read my book, Three Fugitives, I am almost invariably asked a version of the following question.  “Where, Mr. Howler, did you get the inspiration for your ideas?”  My dull and uninspiring answer is always, “It’s a long story.”  To this, my readers reply, “oh,” before walking away unsatisfied.  They deserve a better response, so here goes.

I was raised by two of the kindest, most loving people in the world.  My father was a doctor and my mother a nurse.  They could have stayed in the United Kingdom, pursuing lucrative careers, and living lives of privilege, but instead they chose to treat poor and disadvantaged folks in the Third World.  They were always on the move from country to country dispensing medical care and going wherever they were needed most.

At the same time, however, they bestowed great love upon my sister Joyce and I, educated us, provided us with books and simple toys, adopted a young Mozambican refugee named Zetta, and even took in an abandoned puppy.  All of this they did while living on a shoestring budget that depended entirely on donations.

Their lives were anything but easy.  My father was from a poor background and his every achievement was a struggle.  My mother’s partisan North Irish Catholic family cut her off completely because she married an “English enemy.”  My parents threw themselves into their work, but there were always people they could not save, and conditions they were powerless to change.  All of it took an emotional toll on them.  My sister Joyce and I shared many of their experiences and mourned together with them when our beloved Zetta died in an accident.

We were sensitive children, and we responded to the suffering around us in different ways.  Joyce became a Buddhist nun, and I retreated into a

fantasy world of my own.  I read numerous fantasy and science fiction books, and made up my own stories.  During my college years in America, I spent most of my spare time writing, but sharing what I wrote with nobody, because I did not have the self-confidence to imagine that anyone would be interested in my stories.

To cut a very long story short (My apologies for saying this, everyone.), I ended up living in Atlanta, working in a video store, and sharing a little house with my cousin Greta.  It was she who introduced me to Phyllis, who would become my life partner.

Phyllis loved me for who I was, but she was troubled by the fact that I did not have any aspirations toward doing anything different with my life.  I was, in her words, stuck in a “comfort zone,” and though it was not the most fulfilling existence, it was safe and secure.  Then one day she saw some samples of my writing and showed them to Greta.  Whenever those two put their heads together, they can be very persuasive, and that was how I discovered my destiny as a writer.

What about those who perpetrate evil?  I have never myself come across a truly evil tyrant or criminal type, but I have seen the destruction that such individuals can wreak.  Where do the Hitlers, Pol Pots, bin Ladens, and the men and women who follow them come from?  I have endeavored to show the perspective of one such villain, while at the same time condemning what he does.  By understanding evil, we should never excuse it; rather we should use our understanding of it to fight it at its roots.  Above all, we should always remember that good and evil is a matter of our own personal choices.

I want my fantasy books to speak to all of us and for my readers to relate the quest for the gwellen, to their own lives.  Above all, I want them to realize that the real gwellen are the ones each one of us has in his or her heart.

Nat Howler – Author of   Three Fugitives and Everywhere Foes Lurk

Technorati Tags: By understanding evil, Can I make fantasy speak, comfort zone, disadvantaged folks in the Third World, discovered my destiny as a writer, English enemy, Everywhere Foes Lurk, get the inspiration for your ideas, loved me for who I was, metaphor for my own life’s journey, Nat Howler’s Inspiration, North Irish Catholic family, Three Fugitives, write with a difference, young Mozambican refugee