BY MARK WEBER
Lacombe Express
A Central Alberta author is looking forward to further spreading the word about his latest book, All the Dragon’s Childrenand the Mists of Niagara.
Tim J. Knight-Davies, who hails originally from England, is currently working on book two of what will eventually be a five-book series.
His family moved to Canada when he was a child, eventually settling in the Rimbey area.
“As a kid, I lived out west of Rimbey. There wasn’t much to do for a kid 20 miles outside of town,” he recalls, pointing outthat utilizing his imagination was a powerful means of entertainment. And was also integral to the development ofstorytelling down the road.
“In Grade 9 I wrote a story about dragons - we were supposed to do a five page story and I ended up doing a 20-pagestory, written on both sides of the sheet,” he added. “I’ve always been fascinated by dragons.”
Ultimately, Knight-Davies, who now lives in Innisfail and works on a nearby farm, describes the book series as being aboutdragons, werewolves, magic and many other things associated with the magical world.
“My story is centered on three sisters that get kidnapped while visiting Niagara Falls and taken into a world that has beenhidden to them by their parents,” he said.
“Here they discover that the very first magic started with their own father and has been passed down to them.”
Niagara Falls is the setting for the last field trip of the school year for three sisters and their classmates. But when the tunnels behind the falls collapse, leaving 180 students trapped, an ancient doorway is opened, and strange creaturesappear, according to the book synopsis.
Stolen and locked away in a world that shouldn’t exist, the Robinson sisters pull off the impossible and escape.
Anna, Sadie and Paige find refuge in a small cabin buried deep in the darkest of woods. There they befriend an old lady whotakes them in and exposes a secret. But things aren’t as they appear, and, again according to the book’s synopsis, thatsecret may lead to their destruction.
The end of the book leads into an event that took place in Red Deer about a local ‘icon’ who happens to be one of thosei mmortalized as a statue in the ‘Ghost’ series - Francis the pig.
Book two, which Knight-Davies is already working on, starts with the family moving to Red Deer where their adventure begins at Westerner Days. “That’s where they get stolen for the second time.”
From the start, Knight-Davies had five books in mind for the series. He’s certainly onto something, as the feedback has been encouraging - and it’s come all the way from Australia and the U.S.
“A woman in Iowa said she and her daughter were in a race to see who was going to finish it first,” he said with a laugh.“That also showed me the age group was really all over the place, which is good.”
Born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, Knight-Davies, along with his parents and three siblings, first made a home inOntario.
Two years later, they moved again to a ranch in Central Alberta. This is where Knight-Davies’ imagination flourished.
He ultimately chose agriculture as his career, earning many diplomas in the hog industry. Although writing is now a key focus, it wasn’t what he had his sights set on earlier in life.
“I always wanted to be a farmer.”
But as mentioned, there was an increasing attraction to the written word. He also had a knack for painting compelling stories with rich description - all fired by that unbridled imagination.
“I used to read stories to my kids all of the time - I’d always pull out the ‘magic story book’,” he recalls. “I’d make up storiesas we went along. I just thought that maybe one day I should put them on paper.”
The basic idea for All the Dragons Children was originally sparked about 15 years ago. “With my kids, one story led toanother and then dragons came into it. I started putting the pieces together,” he said.
The ideas can surface unexpectedly. “When I go to bed, that’s what I’m thinking about. I’m reading the book over in mymind and deciding what to do,” he explained of his creative process. “The writing would happen on any days that I had off.I’d put in 10 hour days at work sometimes, come home and write for awhile.”
But all the hard work - developing a plot and writing while juggling the responsibilities of work and raising a family - paid off when he first laid eyes on the published work.
Writing also brings something of its own reward, offering a sense of fulfillment.
“I can jump from reality into that, and the reality is gone,” he said, referring to the book. “Life isn’t always as smooth as youwant it to be. But when you write, it’s what you want - that’s what I like,” he said. “I also don’t call writing ‘work’. I enjoy it.”
And it’s not just the younger set who are enjoying it - he noted he’s received more feedback from adults than from kids. “Ifthe adults like it too, that’s a bonus.
“One guy who read it - he said he was just going to read a chapter a night. He said he picked it up the first night and readhalf the book,” he added with a smile. “He then read the second half the next night.”
For more information about the book, which will eventually only be available as an e-book on Amazon, check out ‘All theDragon’s Children’ on facebook.
editor@reddeerexpress.com