My first book is finally finished and edited, though I’m sure there are still some mistakes. There are about 87,000 words in 31 chapters. Here is the first chapter for a taster. If you like it, please let me know. If you hate it, also please let me know, but gently.

Now available on Amazon

Thomas, Wizard’s Son.

This is a classic good overcoming evil novel aimed at children / young adults.

Tom is a normal teenager, full of rebellion and distrusting of adults because of his father who left their home in South Wales when Tom was two weeks old, taking with him his brother Jonathan who was two, leaving Tom with a disabled mother, crippled by life as she would say. He was then fostered by the dreadful
Hadley-Smythes who lived a few doors from his mother and basically at the
bottom of a big heap called society.

The story revolves around thirteen-year-old Thomas Jones who is then taken from his home in South Wales into the magical land of Trymyll by a purple dragon named Howel.

Tom doesn’t believe in magic, wizards or dragons, but is led on a pathway of
discovery by various characters including a 60-foot purple dragon, his father,
who, unbeknown to Tom, is a very powerful wizard called Llewellyn the Brave and various other colourful characters and wizards. The story covers the reuniting of Tom with his father and brother and all the angst involved in that.

For some reason, the magic is draining out of the land of Trymyll and the story is about the struggle to restore magic in Trymyll and the arrival of an evil and
misanthropic wizard called the Master. Can he be defeated, if so, at what cost?
So, the story plots Tom’s bumpy and eventful path from being someone who does not acknowledge that magic exists through to him and his brother both becoming powerful wizards. There are dragons, there are phobls (non-magic people), there are wizards, elves and the occasional dwarf.

There are four main themes.

1.   Tom’s training as an acolyte and the development of his own powers of magic.

2.   The problem of the magic which is slowly disappearing in Trymyll.

3.   Tom and his brother and a couple of dragons which become their friends for life.

4.   The Master, an evil and misanthropic wizard from another land who seeks to dominate or destroy the land of Trymyll and the battle to defeat him..

Most of the names used for people, wizards, castles, and cities are of either of
Welsh origin or suitable to the ethnicity of the owner.

There is humour in the book and some angst and pathos to balance it out. The story is fast paced with relatively short chapters in keeping with the age group it is targeting.

Although aimed at the children / young adult audience, my draft has been enjoyed by both children and adults, who like me, have never fully embraced maturity. There is no swearing, sexual innuendos, or anything of an unpleasant nature unsuitable for children.

I am not currently represented by any agency, nor is my manuscript with any
publisher.

The book is approximately 87,000 words.

Richard J Kirk is my real and official name. Joseph R Mason is my birth and pen name, my mother died when I was 4 days old. I was adopted and subsequently renamed Richard J Kirk at adoption. For a short, unbelievable, but perfectly true biography, please see: https://josephmasonauthor.com/about/

Synopsis