Jonathan Frost
Author and prolific reader
Jonathan Frost
@jonathanfrost - Reader
Jonathan Frost
@jonathanfrost - Reader
Former archaeologist: UK, Syria, Israel, Sudan. Freelance foreign news journalist BBC/NBC Turkey/Iraq. TV scriptwriter: drama, corporate, commercials... more
Jonathan Frost commented on Jonathan Frost's update about 2 months ago
about 2 months agoI've often wondered what influences spark a nascent writer to find the courage to put pen to paper. What makes us tellers of tales? Where does that creative drive come from, the confidence that our story and the characters that populate the strange, complex worlds we create, will connect and resonate with strangers? My novel, Dreams of Eden, took fifty years to write - I got distracted by life.
I was always encouraged to read books as a child. In the 1950s there were very few distractions: a black-and-white television with one channel, a radio network with two, the Light Programme and the Home Service. Every weekday evening, between five and six o'clock, the Home Service broadcast Children's Hour. One evening, my six-year-old self was tuned in to a dramatised production of Rosemary Sutcliffe's historical novel The Legion of the Ninth. That was it - I was snared, History became my obsession. This was the spark.
I'm assuming that any of you reading this may have little knowledge or interest in British History, but, there are two English historical novelists I wish to recommend from my childhood, both of whom wrote books for both children and adults.
Rosemary Sutcliffe was the author of the most authentic Dark Ages novel about King Arthur ever written, the Sword At Sunset. A story set in the late fourth century CE of early medieval Britain. It is a story of betrayal, steeped in ancient magic, as the darkness closed in and the light of Roman Britain faded. Her writing is atmospheric, poetic, and beautiful as the tragic story of Arthur unfolds. This is no romantic tale of Lancelot and Guinevere.
A second book, The Flowers of Adonis, takes place in the Fifth Century BC during the bloody war between the Greek states of Sparta and Athens. Essential reading for any fan of history. Rosemary Sutcliffe's books are meticulously researched.
My second recommendation is Henry Treece. There is a trilogy of books that stands out. Two are a reworking of Greek myths, 'Jason' and 'Oedipus'. Beautifully written and darkly compelling. Finally, The Green Man, loosely based on Shakespeare's Hamlet, features Arthur as a brutal warlord, and an anti-hero, Jutish prince Amleth, whose father was brutally murdered. This story is a far cry from heroic stereotypes, set in a pagan, sixth-century Britain. Smell the blood.
commented on Muhammad Ahmed Siddique's update about 2 months ago
about 2 months ago@muhammadahmedsiddiqu
Hi Muhammad,
In answer to your question, 'Can I help you?' - I'm very happy for people to review my book, But currently, I do not intend to utilise the undoubted skills of professional reviewers. While accepting sites like Goodreads can undoubtedly be effective in increasing the profile of an author, it costs money.
This may seem strange to many of my fellow scribes, struggling to make a living from their writing. A recent article in the Observer newspaper noted that the average earnings for an author are about £7,000, but money has never been my motivation. Completing the book and having it on my bookshelf was my limited ambition. If it finds an audience, then I am the luckiest human. I'm old enough to remember the days when there was no social media or the Internet. Authors still managed to find their readers.
About fifty years ago, I was sitting beneath an old oak tree with my dog. It was a summer's day, sometime in June. The sky was a Van Gogh blue, shape-shifting clouds told stories. It was a blissful moment. Then this thought intruded into my subconscious. What if a friendly extraterrestrial arrived, and discovered me and my dog sitting beneath the old oak tree, staring into space, the only surviving evidence of our species ever existing? What would it think? Three hundred thousand years of our species' evolution, and I was it. I'm still trying to find the answer to that question, so I wrote 'Dreams of Eden'. Perhaps a friendly extraterrestrial might eventually read it
Jonathan Frost – I've often wondered what influences spark a nascent writer to find the courage to put pen to paper. What makes us tellers of tales? Where does that creative drive come from, the confidence that our story and the characters that populate the strange, complex worlds we create, will connect and resonate with strangers? My novel, Dreams of Eden, took fifty years to write - I got distracted by life.
I was always encouraged to read books as a child. In the 1950s there were very few distractions: a black-and-white television with one channel, a radio network with two, the Light Programme and the Home Service. Every weekday evening, between five and six o'clock, the Home Service broadcast Children's Hour. One evening, my six-year-old self was tuned in to a dramatised production of Rosemary Sutcliffe's historical novel The Legion of the Ninth. That was it - I was snared, History became my obsession. This was the spark.
I'm assuming that any of you reading this may have little knowledge or interest in British History, but, there are two English historical novelists I wish to recommend from my childhood, both of whom wrote books for both children and adults.
Rosemary Sutcliffe was the author of the most authentic Dark Ages novel about King Arthur ever written, the Sword At Sunset. A story set in the late fourth century CE of early medieval Britain. It is a story of betrayal, steeped in ancient magic, as the darkness closed in and the light of Roman Britain faded. Her writing is atmospheric, poetic, and beautiful as the tragic story of Arthur unfolds. This is no romantic tale of Lancelot and Guinevere.
A second book, The Flowers of Adonis, takes place in the Fifth Century BC during the bloody war between the Greek states of Sparta and Athens. Essential reading for any fan of history. Rosemary Sutcliffe's books are meticulously researched.
My second recommendation is Henry Treece. There is a trilogy of books that stands out. Two are a reworking of Greek myths, 'Jason' and 'Oedipus'. Beautifully written and darkly compelling. Finally, The Green Man, loosely based on Shakespeare's Hamlet, features Arthur as a brutal warlord, and an anti-hero, Jutish prince Amleth, whose father was brutally murdered. This story is a far cry from heroic stereotypes, set in a pagan, sixth-century Britain. Smell the blood.
commented on Muhammad Ahmed Siddique's update about 2 months ago
about 2 months agoHi Muhammad,
I'm familiar with Matt Haig, 'How To Stop Time' and 'The Humans'. My science fiction novel, Dreams of Eden, covers similar territory but includes the possibility of a parallel existence living alongside the other eight and a half million species we share this planet with but concealed. Our human-centric view of life blinds us to other possibilities. The key premise of my novel is that Earth is Eden. Yes, I have 'Sapiens' on my bookshelf - huge respect for Yuval Noah Harari. A non-fiction book written by SETI astrobiologist, Nathalie A. Cabrol provides much food for thought. Going off-piste slightly, Lisa Kaltenegger's book 'Alien Earths' also provokes my imagination; consider, 'God - A Human History' by Reza Aslan. I'm not a religious human. I'm in the Carl Sagan/Frank Drake camp searching for answers.
liked Muhammad Ahmed Siddique's update about 2 months ago
about 2 months ago started following Hallie Hoffman2 months ago
2 months ago commented on Hallie Hoffman's update 2 months ago
2 months agoJonathan Frost - author
I'm hooked on speculative and dystopian fiction and stories that hover just outside reality. I'm a huge fan of Richard Powers. If you're concerned about the future of our planet and the environmental catastrophe heading our way, then his outstandingly beautiful and moving novels Playground and The Overstory, are an essential read. I've also recently discovered Australian novelist Tim Winton, his new novel Juice, is a strange but evocative dystopian work. If you are yet to discover English novelist David Mitchell you are in for a treat. Many of you will be familiar with the film of his book Cloud Atlas, but he is an author who immerses you in strange, unsettling worlds. I recommend The Bone Clocks and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet just to get you started
About me
Former archaeologist: UK, Syria, Israel, Sudan. Freelance foreign news journalist BBC/NBC Turkey/Iraq. TV scriptwriter: drama, corporate, commercials: World traveller: University Lecturer, Film Production. Retired, now masquerading as an author of debut science fiction novel Dreams of Eden.
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