This month the UK, indie author, Martin Ferguson is under the spotlight. Martin's debut series, Relic Hunters, is written with young adults in mind.
Q&A
I wanted to write stories that I would read. Myths and legends have fascinated me since I was a young lad, especially those where there is a hint or possibility of truth to them. I grew up on King Arthur, Atlantis and Robin Hood. Part of me always wanted those stories to be real and in writing the Relic Hunters series I can make that happen.
When I was in school my English teacher would set us weekly homework of writing a one-page story. I took this a little further – and really bugged my teacher by writing 5, 8 or 10-page stories instead…meaning they had more to mark! My parents then started setting me challenges of re-writing endings to films or potential sequels. I still think my original sequel to Independence Day was much better than the film that came out a couple of years ago!
Yeah, I think I was a rare one who was either kicking a ball or had his nose in a book. I started reading Bernard Cornwell at an early age, mainly due to the Sharpe Sean Bean TV series watched by my family every Wednesday night. The Star Wars expanded universe was a good favourite among some of my friends as was Harry Potter when it was first coming out. Put those three series together gives quite the surprising range.
‘Eagle of the Empire’ began it all. It started as a story for children but I quickly realised it was far bigger and had far more potential as a young adult series. I wanted to write something about treasure hunters, traveling the world to investigate myths and legends. Something else stuck in my mind though, the thought that the history behind the relic was never told. The idea then struck me for a book which was really two stories – the modern treasure hunt and the historical fantasy entwined.
I rewrote from scratch ‘Eagle of the Empire’ from scratch and I haven’t looked back since, with its release in 2016 followed by Curse of the Sands in 2017 and War of the Damned in 2018.
Your first book in the series, Eagle of the Empire was published July 2016, the second, Curse of the Sands May 2017 and your latest, War of the Damned July 2018 can you give the readers a little insight into your protagonist/s?
Throughout the series, there are always two stories at play. The first is the modern-day treasure hunting story and the second story is the historical fiction, the adventure behind the relic or myth.
The main protagonist throughout the Relic Hunters series is 17-year-old Adam Hunter. When we first meet Adam he is reckless, rebellious and certainly without purpose. When his older brother goes missing Adam discovers this entirely new life of adventure, investigating myths and legends and protecting powerful, mystical artefacts from those who would use them for evil.
Alongside Adam is operative and fellow adventurer Emma, former-soldier Dave, historian Abbey and Adam’s older brother Matt who is the team leader. Together, this team operates from the British Museum and travels the world in their adventures.
For the historical stories, we follow the journey of the Centurion turned Gladiator in ‘Eagle of the Empire’, an Egyptian Queen / Goddess in ‘Curse of the Sands’ and a soldier in the Suffolk Regiment during the Second World War in ‘War of the Damned’.
Absolutely – there are at least two more entries in the current series arc to come. After that…let’s just say I have plans! In fact, there are some very clear hints regarding where the series will go next in the final chapters of War of the Damned. Let’s just say it involves a certain Romanian Prince…
I'd like to thank you for this fabulous insight into your writing world Martin. Readers you can find out more about Martin and his books on the links below.
