Ask the Author: Bill Bevan
Answered Questions (4)
Bill Bevan
Hi, and thank you for your question. I have drawn one my experience as an archaeologist, though not so much in a direct way because I have not excavated or surveyed in Egypt. What I have done is to take the understanding of ancient sites or site plans of monuments that an archaeologist has to help reconstruct and populate Luxor, Karnak and the Valley of the Kings at the time of Tutankhamun. This is something archaeologists do all the time as we imagine what a site would have been like, and how people inhabited and moved around a site.
However, I did not want to try and present an archaeological history as fiction, as I feel these can become turgid and bogged down in too much detail. After doing my research, I left the archaeologist behind and transformed into the storyteller.
What has helped immensely, has been to recall a holiday in the area and the sense of wonder we felt experiencing and exploring the various locations that feature in the book.
Thank you for your question and I hope this provides an answer.
However, I did not want to try and present an archaeological history as fiction, as I feel these can become turgid and bogged down in too much detail. After doing my research, I left the archaeologist behind and transformed into the storyteller.
What has helped immensely, has been to recall a holiday in the area and the sense of wonder we felt experiencing and exploring the various locations that feature in the book.
Thank you for your question and I hope this provides an answer.
Bill Bevan
Ideas come all the time, often when walking. They only flow on to the page when I sit somewhere relaxing and quiet with pen and notebook.
Bill Bevan
My inspiration has come from a number of avenues. My work as an archaeologist and heritage interpreter drew me to setting a book in a museum and to time travel. We had a wonderful family holiday in Luxor (ancient Thebes), Karnak and the Valley of the Kings in 2016 - which form the setting for the Time Thieves of Tutankhamun. The inspirations for the three main characters have come from lots of different people, including my daughter and my own childhood.
Bill Bevan
I have just launched Time Thieves of Tutankhamun, the first of a series of middle grade time travel adventure stories featuring Johnny, Ted and Yaz. I am working on the second book in the series, set in Ancient Greece. The three characters will meet some well-known historical and mythical people and creatures. As with Time Thieves of Tutankhamun, there is a big surprise in store for the reader - and lots for Johnny, Ted and Yaz.
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