Guest Post + Giveaway: Torturing Your Character by R.J. Timmis, author of David and the Heart of Aurasius

Today's guest is R.J. Timmis, author of David and the Heart of Aurasius.

I was born in Wellington, New Zealand in July 1982. In 1989 my family - Kiwi-Mum Rosemary and Aussie-Dad Dave, and brothers Levi and Adam - moved to Brisbane, Australia where my Dad grew up. We three Timmis kids went to Loganholme State School for primary and Chisholm Catholic College for high school, where I graduated in 1999 before heading off to the Queensland College of Art to study animation.
It took two years for me to realise I was a pretty dismal animator but the experience taught me bucketloads about art and drawing, something I have always loved immensely and which only comes second to writing.
After a few years of mind-numbing admin work I enrolled in a TAFE course in design, and a year later landed a brilliant job (I have to call it brilliant because I still work there!) doing graphic and web design. Lucky for me I'm just crazy enough to think coding is enormous fun... I even built this fantastic web site myself!
When I'm not creating something I'm usually riding my bike all over town, chilling out on Facebook or doting on my beautiful (and incredibly lazy) cat Ayla.

Stalk: Facebook | Website

Torturing Your Character: The Thorough Walloping of David Flynn

As a writer, I’m well aware that conflict is key. No one wants to read a story where the characters are pleasant, the premise is sunny and the outlook always sweet. No one older than five, anyway.


Conflict is what pulls us into a story and keeps us transfixed. The reader must feel they are walking in the shoes of the main character; the must feel their pain and their triumphs. So naturally, it’s the main character that must feel the brunt of that necessary conflict. And the poor buggers, sometimes they really cop it.


In my novel David and the Heart of Aurasius, the main character is only twelve. For most of his life he’s led a relatively sheltered existence as the only child of a well-off family. Things aren’t perfect in the Flynn household, but David is about as normal a kid as you can get. And yet, through-out the course of the book he’s beaten, chased by monsters, almost drowns on several occasions, falls from cliffs, is dragged through a desert, kidnapped by all manner of ghastly critters and almost has his soul sucked out. Pretty nasty stuff, and is too violent? I’m not too graphic on the details, and compared to the literature of Roald Dahl, CS Lewis and millions more, this is typical fantasy-adventure material. The truth is, we need our characters to suffer. We need them to bleed, or no one will hang around long enough to cheer when they beat the odds and win.


The stories I find most compelling are those where the main character doesn’t necessarily incur violence, but at least some form of suffering – the more intense, the better. Why do we like to see our beloved heroes in such pain? Are we that sadistic? Or is it our compassion that forces us to keep reading, to make sure things turn out okay for these characters we love? I think I prefer the latter…


In my next book I take it one step further. The Brothers of Turoc is about two child slaves who endure the harshest of lives, only to escape into a world of greed, war and their greatest threat – losing the only family they have. Is it worth the journey? Do they find triumph? The book comes out in December 2011… I’ll let you find out then.


In the meantime, feel free to jump over to www.worldofesmorde.net and grab your copy of David and the Heart of Aurasius, and judge for yourself if I really am a twisted megalomaniac or simply a creative children’s writer.

David and the Heart of Aurasius (World of Esmorde)

by R.J. Timmis

Book One introduces us to David Flynn, an insignificant only child with dark blonde hair and a smattering of freckles across his nose. David hates being small. He hates being shy. And when his parents take him to stay with his loopy Grandma out in the middle of nowhere, he hates being David...

But things at Grandma's might not be as dull as they seem. Following a mischevious rainbow lorikeet deep into the bush, David finds a magical glowing Doorway, and suddenly his life-long wish for adventure becomes more real than he could have hoped.

As soon as David steps through the ancient Door it falls to pieces, and he's trapped in an alternate world of wild magic, dark sorcery and warriors wearing leopard-print loincloths. Accused of being a spy for the dragon sorcerer Aurasius, David is forced to stand trial and try to convince the rulers of Esmorde of his innocence. He is saved by a mysterious stranger who reveals David is from the 'otherworld', and David quickly learns of Aurasius' terrible legacy, the Curse to End the World, that will eventually turn every living thing in Esmorde to dust.

The rulers of Esmorde also tell David the Curse can only be broken by someone from his own world. Scorning his small size, they don't believe he can break the Curse himself, and instead send him on a perilous journey to the other side of Esmorde to the only remaining Door. His mission: to return home and bring back an adult to save Esmorde. Joined by Tahn the Dragonslayer, a barbarian who either doesn't or cannot speak, Jeeka, half-elf and apprentice to the highest ruler of Esmorde, and Scud, a scruffy peasant with a three-metre long tail, David takes on trial after trial to reach the Second Door before it's too late...

But will he make it home in time?

And even if he does, will anyone believe him?

R.J. Timmis is also giving away 3 digital copies of David and the Heart of Aurasius! 

Fill out the form for a chance to win!


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