Quillan Creek and the Little War:
Time Stones Book I
By Ian Hunter
Jessie Mason lives with her nose in the pages of history. But she is about to discover that the past is a dangerous place where she doesn't belong, and knowledge alone is not going to save her.
In Jessie’s troubled life her aunt is the only constant and comfort she has. But when she inexplicably disappears, and Jessie uncovers her mother's Time Stone, that unhappy life turns unreal and terrifying.
She is summoned to a world in crisis, 250 years in her past, to three unlikely companions, and the aged Onondaga shaman, Nishkamich, who promises an education in the powers of the stones which they each possess.
Over one glorious summer, Jessie reluctantly settles to village life and the developing bond with her prickly friends, until they are forced to accept that their stones are being hunted through history.
But in the depths of winter, their friendship, their wits, and the very limits of their endurance, will be tested by an unforgiving Nature as war finally erupts around them.
Praise
"...the kind of book that one would forgo sleep to finish."
The Coffee Pot Book Club
"...fantastical and riveting."
booklife
"...an exciting adventure for readers with unforgettable companions."
The Book Commentary
An interview with Ian Hunter
What inspired you to start writing?
I was probably seven when my father presented me with “Goalkeepers are Different” by the football journalist Brian Glanville. I remember, having finished the reading it, writing the first page of my own version. But page 1 was about as far as it got. In my early twenties, I had an idea which resulted in a couple of notebooks but nothing else.
I have always been fascinated by history, and whilst reading the set books of my Open University course, I realized there were glaring gaps in my knowledge. Outside of certain well-covered periods, an awful lot of our world history doesn’t get much coverage in film, TV and fiction, and I certainly never encountered it in school. I thought it would be interesting and fun to build a story around some of the lesser covered historical times and places. But to build a series, with a geographic diversity and a timeline extended over centuries, I quickly came to the obvious conclusion that if I wanted to develop the same characters through the series, they would have to travel in time.
What was the hardest part about writing this book?
Time was, without question, the biggest problem. From initial ideas to publication was almost a decade, as writing had to fit around full-time employment, family life and, still progressing, house renovation. In addition to the late nights, I remember writing notes and passages in the strangest places; in the car at half-time during our son’s football matches, a few times in Zürich airport waiting for last flight of the day, hotel rooms in far flung locations, wherever I had time to kill.
But looking back, time was also a problem in that I had no deadline, no pressure and it didn’t matter how long it took, and so it took forever. But writing the first book was enjoyable. The second took around nine months from start to finish, proving to myself that I can do it quicker.
Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
I think there is something of me in all the characters, but a lot of things which I am not besides. Jessie’s musical tastes mirror my own, and I wouldn’t have her listen to anything else. But as she and her friends developed, I could also see traits from other people that I know coming out. Without really planning to, I unconsciously projected specific people onto the character, and found myself thinking, what would X say here, or how would Y react in this situation.
I have one lead and three further main characters in the series and I would say together, they represent different aspects of many people I have met or known over many years, and, as such, are very dear to me.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
The book is primarily an adventure, so the first take away I hope would be simply to enjoy the adventure. But I also refer to my first answer earlier. The inspiration to write this first came when I started to research the huge gaps in my understanding of world history, still a work in progress. If a reader finished Quillan Creek, having enjoyed the tale and taken the characters to heart, then I would be happy. If it had also piqued an interest in the Native American culture and experience in the eastern Woodlands, or the French & Indian War and its contribution to the later American Revolution, I couldn’t ask for more.
Ian Hunter
Books have been an important part of my life as long as I can remember, and at 54 years old, that’s a lot of books. My earliest memories of reading are CS Lewis’, “The Horse and His Boy” – by far the best of the Narnia books, the Adventures series by Willard Price, and “Goalkeepers are Different” by sports journalist Brian Glanville. An eclectic mix. My first English teacher was surprised to hear that I was reading, Le Carré, Ken Follett, Nevil Shute and “All the Presidents’ Men” by Woodward and Bernstein at the age of 12. I was simply picking up the books my father had finished.
School syllabus threw up the usual suspects – Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens, Hardy, “To Kill a Mockingbird” – which I have reread often, and others I don’t immediately recall. By “A” level study, my then English teachers were pulling their hair out at my “perverse waste of talent” – I still have the report card! But I did manage a pass.
During a 35 year career, briefly in Banking and then in IT, I managed to find time, with unfailing family support, to study another lifelong passion, graduating with an Open University Bachelors’ degree in History in 2002. This fascination with all things historical inspired me to begin the Time Stones series. There is so much to our human past, and so many differing views on what is the greatest, and often the saddest, most tragic story. I decided I wanted to write about it; to shine a small light on those, sometimes pivotal stories, which are less frequently mentioned.
In 1995, my wife, Michelle, and I moved from England to southern Germany, where we still live, with our two children, one cat, and, when she pays us a visit, one chocolate labrador. I have been fortunate that I could satisfy another wish, to travel as widely as possible and see as much of our world as I can. Destinations usually include places of historic and archaeological interest, mixed with a large helping of sun, sea and sand for my wife’s peace of mind.
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