Author

Simon was born in England but spent his formative years growing up on the beaches of Australia. Early on, he had creative dreams of writing and filmmaking, which led to making student films, including extensive optical effects, that won him his first major award in his mid-teens.
He left Australia and began a career in finance in London, which by strange coincidence ended up with his involvement in a major worldwide film studio and co-owning a visual effects company at Pinewood Studios and a Film Props house at Elstree Studios. Simon also co-founded a commercial property company in 1993, which has expanded throughout England.
But despite all this, Simon kept his creative passion and has been planning the Elohim Saga for over ten years.
Other interests include exploring remote destinations and their inhabitants, such as Easter Island, Antarctica, and crossing the Sahara. These travels have helped formulate the worlds and people in the Elohim Saga.
Simon lives in London with the infamous two dogs, Bruce and Wayne.

Inspiration

Angels

I have a passion for many of the world’s mythologies and religions and have taken a very non-literal inspiration from these to form the structure of the Elohim Universe.

An obvious example would be the Ang’elm and Azrael forming the angels and anti-angels of my Universe, which are referenced in all the Abrahamic religions and, of course, in numerous popular fiction. However, like with all my characters, I think the Ang’elm and Azrael are more nuanced than how they are usually treated, and, dear reader, I hope at some point you will question the motives of both sides.

Whilst the term ‘fallen angel’ as far as I am aware is never specially used in Abrahamic scriptures, the concept of the angel who has sinned is. Such angels were cast from Heaven.  It was a concept I felt compelling and in the Elohim Universe, creates an interesting character. However, with Uriel, I have focused on not the sin, but the rationale for the sin. I do hope this creates a character which, while the reader will not condone his actions, will have empathy with him.

Faith

While I didn’t grow up in a religious family, I was a product of the 1960’s and 1970’s including amazing artists like Cat Stevens whose work exudes spirituality. Faith, whether based on religion or not, is a cornerstone of the Elohim Saga. The belief that there is something bigger than us, that there must be a reason for life and, ultimately, that the spirit lives on after death. The very concept of the Wind of the Souls (which by the way, was the working title for book 1) is that life never dies. Before physical living beings existed, the Wind was strong in the Universe, carrying so many souls. As physical life became abundant, the Wind quietens. But for Walter, does the Wind of the Souls really exist. Is the voice of his mother real, or merely an anxious mind desperate for it to be so?

The concept of Faith is especially explored through the Ikaeu and their relationship with their world and Eea, their God. The short prequal story, The Fall of Eea, gave me an opportunity to delve into one of my favourite Houses and people including the connection with Eea and the wider Elohim Universe.

Elohim and conciousness

The seven levels of Elohim awareness was a construct that I began to form after reading the seven levels of consciousness in Bhuddism. Again, there is no literal interpretation of the religion, rather it opened my mind to the possibility that a Khoda’s engagement with their Elohim was multi-leveled. This created a far more engaging and interesting story arch for each of my Elohim Hosts, including of course, Walter.

The Great Houses

One of my favourite novels as a teenager was Frank Herbert’s magnificent Dune (1965). He created a Universe with such grandeur, history and political intrigue, epitimized by the Great Houses.

In my small way, I created the various Houses in the Elohim Universe, each with distinct species and traits, from the military might of Dral-vor and Tecu-garu, to the secrecy of the Ellindurian, the analytical Danolians to the environmental Ikaeu.

I have found interesting story arches exploring some of my characters’ struggles with personal needs conflicting with their upbringing. Hiram fights the cold, remote love of the Tecu-garu, Elian continually struggles with the concepts of friendship and loyalty set against his Malvinus training while Jojo disinherits her faith.

Revenge

When I first mapped out the Elohim Saga in 2009, I knew where I wanted to take the characters, but Walter, being the main protagonist, was still a little unresolved. It was only after a violent mugging that I began to appreciate, although never condone, the concept of revenge and how actions could make a good person do evil. This redefined for me Walter’s journey and, by that nature, also Jojo’s.

It also got me thinking about other characters and concepts less frequently explored. For example, if a good person can do evil, then perhaps an evil person could do good? These relatively simple concepts, whilst perhaps obvious to my dear readers, made me reassess all my characters. Throughout the Elohim Saga, all my characters will undertake actions which you may agree with or struggle to support. However, all these actions will remain true to the character. After all, the most interesting characters are ones that feel real, are flawed, and not necessarily ashamed of these flaws.

Abandonment

I am sure, dear reader, that to some degree, we have all felt this. For me, it is an incredibly strong motivator, and in the lives of Walter, Jojo, Uriel, Sandalphon and Orphanim I look at how it has affected them.

Conversely the opposite of abandonment is loyalty, which is such a lovely uplifting concept that I take pleasure in examining through almost every chapter of the Elohim Saga. Sandlalphon and Orphanim see this through the eyes of a child, for in a way, that is what they are. Ochi and Hiram view loyalty through family. And, of course, Jojo’s very story through all the books is about loyalty. In this regard, she is the Samwise Gamgee to the Frodo Baggins. In many other ways, she is the Sauron to the Frodo Baggins!