As part of my series of character introductions for Blood Inheritance, it would be remiss of me to ignore Garth. He’s not one of the main characters, but he does hold a very special place in my heart: he was the first character who made their appearance in my head.

I began writing the book that would become Blood Inheritance at the start of a 48 hour train journey. I had just left Adelaide, Australia, and was heading over to Perth. It was going to be a long journey and I had purchased a new notebook knowing that if nothing else, I would have plenty of time to write. Even though it is no longer the opening scene in the book, the chapter when we first meet Garth is largely unchanged from that first handwritten account.

For much of my writing, I don’t focus on physical appearance unless it is fundamental to the plot. Other than a few key features, I love it when I read books where I can picture the characters myself, so that’s the way I tend to write. Sometimes, I don’t even have an image of my own characters clearly defined in my head when I’m putting them onto paper. Personal feelings and journeys are more important to me than giving someone’s cup size. But everything about Garth was there in my head; his clothing, his hair, the way he moved his body. It was so detailed, I ended up putting more into his description than probably anyone else.

He was so vivid to me straight away, that man-boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. And although he falls into the category of supporting character, his own story arc is one of my favourites planned across the entire seven books.

So there needs to be a thank you to the man-boy on that train journey with me, who walked past and reminded me of an old friend from home, causing the two images to collide and spark that first ever scene from the book that was originally titled The Hunter. Without Garth, the entire book would have been entirely different.

You can pre-order Blood Inheritance now (or if you’re reading this at some time in the future, download a copy straight away!)