Ross Lawhead brings ancient
myths to life as his novels
explore hidden realms beneath
Great Britain.
As a second-generation novelist
(his father is author Stephen R.
Lawhead), Ross has been writing
for as long as he can remember.
“For whatever reason, writing is
just how I express myself best—
not just to others, but to myself.
I’ve found that writing is something
that I always need to be doing
in order to be well-adjusted.”
Ross credits living most of his
life in England for his deep love
of history. “History is very thick
on the ground over here—I mean
literally thick, you trip over it,” he
says. “In a second-hand bookstore
I’ll come across a medieval translation
of a French history of Britain,
or a transcript of an Icelandic warrior
saga. That stuff is like rocket
fuel to my imagination.”
He draws on
that history for
his Ancient Earth
trilogy, preferring
to populate his
story with legends.
“Instead of making
new fictional
truths,” he shares,
“I wanted to use
ones that have existed
for centuries,
if not millennia.”
His characters
are more flawed
than typical in fiction,
but Ross sees that as a more accurate portrayal
of the human condition. “I think we as humans
want to have near-perfect, clear-cut heroes in our
stories, movies, whatever, and if not someone who
is perfect, at least someone who is innocent,” he says.
“So in creating characters that are realistic, I’ve built
into them some of the awfulness that’s in all of us
that we don’t want to look at—so no wonder people
are put off by them!”
Ross has a lighter side as well. “I’m a nerd in about 30
different ways—I’m a “Doctor Who” nerd, a Star Wars
buff, I adore silent movies as well as playing massively
complex board games. I have maintained a lifelong devotion
to the Fantastic Four since I was 13.”