Once there was a Union. Tied by the bond of peace and harmony, were the four kingdoms of Ariath, who’s soldiers each was together a brotherhood, and apart were nothing. But that peace can be disturbed, not even the strongest bond can remain true if there is a disease amongst it. Power and greed.
Once the Union is broken war is sure to follow, and it does. Only one man can save the last kingdom of the Union. Jayk, chosen by the Great High spirit himself who descends from his high council and takes the mortal form of a wolf. Man and beast connected in a bond so fierce it can bring back all others. Though, this destined chosen one, Jayk and the High Spirit, Sheenan, is only to set the example. Death befalls the two and leaves the remaining fate and hope in the hands of a boy, who might not be ready for the weight of the Last Kingdom.
Hey! Are you new to story-telling? Well I've got just the thing for you! I've got a new YouTube channel dedicated to helping emerging story-tellers! That includes all forms of stories, not just writing, but movies, comics, tv, and more! I've got a video on everything you need to know on how to tell a story so check it out!
Want a copy of my book? Link's down below!!!
Buy the first installment of The Last Kingom here! "BUY PADLING"
See The Progress Of "The Last Kingdom"
"The Art of Story-Telling" An Evaluation On What Makes A Great Story
Writing Villains - An Essay on Morally Grey vs. Pure Evil Villians
About The Author . . .
The Journey To Arnidia . . .
Saige is a teen author, who loves writing fantasy. When she was six she participated in NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) and wrote her first novel, all be it a short one. Since then she has written a book every November until just a couple years ago when she began planning the early stages of The Last Kingdom series.
The original draft was a series called "The Guardians". The protagonist was a boy named Robin destined to fulfill the prophecy of the Guardians.
"One of my very favorite series, when I was younger, was a series called "Spirit Animals", Saige begins, "It centers around special animals bonding with humans. I knew I wanted some sort of trope like this in my book."
In the Guardians series, there was a wolf named Shinka, who helped the protagonist, Robin, along the way. But, later after writing the second book the plot was scrapped.
"The plot was getting nowhere," she said, "I didn't have an outline or any planning. Honestly, I didn't even know the end!"
Then she began to write a second plot.
"In this one, I got rid of the idea of a bond with an animal," she started, "This series centered around a boy named Dallon and his older brother, Ephir. This plot was very interesting and one of the most in-depth I've ever made! It's also where a lot of the ideas that would turn into the Last Kingdom were brought to light."
Dallon of the Dalves was the main protagonist in this story. A Dalf was a cross between a human and an elf. They were highly mistreated in society even lower than slaves.
"But Dallon is a bit different," Saige said, "He senses something wrong, maybe something about why Dalves are mistreated. He begins having these weird day-dream type things. During one of these, he discovers the king is using dark magic to block the minds of everyone in the kingdom from knowing the truth."
This is very similar to how the king of Tluthundra lies to his people about Arnidia. But once again, this idea was scrapped.
"I had no idea what my problem was at the time," she continues, "My plots felt like they were going perfectly, and then once everything got going it just plummeted! After a couple other tries, I just gave up."
It was almost an entire year with no writing, no planning, no thinking about plots at all. Though soon that would all change as Saige discovered a book one day that would change all that.
"It was called "The Dragonrider Chronicles", she said, "The author is Nicole Conway. As soon as my eyes found the page I instantly became submerged. I finished both series in just two weeks, and as soon as I did, I began re-read, and then another re-read. It was, and still is, THE best series I have ever read!"
Very soon after that Saige's love for writing became revitalized.
"I decided to put all my prior ideas together and also generate some new ones," she said, "This time my protagonist was a boy named, Ephir. He had a sister named Marin and an older brother, Epin."
These three characters are the exact same ones in the actual book just with different names.
"I knew to generate some interest, in the beginning, the sister needed to be sick, and the protagonist and his brother either at work or slaves," Saige begins, "I also added the wolf from the Guardians Shinka. But, in the Guardians Shinka was male, in this book the wolf was female."
Eventually, after going through almost five more plots, Saige knew something wasn't working.
"About that time COVID struck," Saige continued, "Online classes began popping up everywhere. And that's when Nicole Conway started a class on a Facebook page she created called "Tell Your Story Writing Class, which I believe is still there. Being such a fan of her work and stuck in a weird position in my writing, of course, I took the bait."
During this class is when her ideas began really shaping.
"Eventually, I came up with Jaygin, his sister, Linny, and brother, Ephir, and of course, his wolf Shina," Saige said, "And then the whole plot came together. I saw my problem, why none of my plots were working. The answer? Outlining. That was it!"
So Saige's advice to all the other young authors out there in the world ...
"Number one read "The Dragonrider chronicles," Saige laughs, "But, seriously it is very good. Number two though is take classes, or even watch YouTube! There's a ton of book channels out there. One good one I watch is called "Merphy Napier", she's got a great playlist titled, "Dear Authors ..." it's from a reader's perspective and what they want to see from books. My third and final most important advice is an outline."
This is Saige J. Oliver's author journey through the world of "The Guardians" to "Kingdom Chronicles" and at last to the final piece, "The Last Kingdom".
If you are curious to follow Jaygin Fallow on his quest, keep checking this blog for details and follow the link down below for updates on the progress of the book. At this moment her first book, "Padling" will be coming out soon, so stay tuned for more information about its release!
