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Rob Donovan

Goodreads Author

Born

in Chelmsford, The United Kingdom

Twitter

Snikt5

Genre

Fantasy, Horror

Influences

Robert R. McCammon, Stephen King and George R R Martin ...more

Member Since

December 2010

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Born in Essex, I currently reside in Bromley, Kent (UK) where I live with my wife, three sons (no more!) and a King Charles Spaniel called Scout.

After attaining a degree in Ancient History from Kent University in 2000, I held various jobs before joining the Home Office later the same year.

Currently I am a senior manager, heading up a security and recruitment enablers team by day and writer by lunch!

Officially I am also the Lord of Tattingstone - a square metre of grass in a muddle field north of England.

I began writing seriously 8 years ago and have recently published my fifth novel, "Within Stone's Shadow." It is the third book in a planned 4 book series entitled, "The Ballad of Frindoth." ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Rob Donovan I have read a lot of blogs and books about the process of writing. Mostly out of interest rather than thoughts of educating myself. I say that not bec…moreI have read a lot of blogs and books about the process of writing. Mostly out of interest rather than thoughts of educating myself. I say that not because I am arrogant enough to believe I can’t be taught anything, but because I firmly believe writing is a personal process and the only way to learn is to actually write.
All of the books and blogs I have read offer great advice, none more so than Stephen King’s, “On Writing,” but what I have yet to read is someone talk about the experience of finishing a project and starting a new one.
When I finished Ritual of the Stones I was elated. It was surreal to see my book out there on Amazon and garnering favourable reviews. It spurred me on to want to write the sequel and the one after that and the one after that.
I had the bug, I knew what it took now to get published and I had learnt a lot along the way. Even better, I could not wait to get back to the characters I loved and tell their story.
I remember sitting down at my laptop feeling invigorated and ready to take on the world. I sat there and I sat there and yep, you guessed it I sat there. “This is stupid,” I said to myself. I knew what I wanted to say, I knew the voices of my characters but I could not find them in my head.
I ground out a measly 300 words and put it down to a bad day and having a bit of rust. After all, with all the proofreading, formatting and cover designs it had been two months since I had written anything except blog posts.
However, the next day was the same and the one after that. After a month, I had around 10,000 words. They were 10,000 words I knew weren’t very good and knew I would be rewriting at some stage.
I decided to adopt a different approach. Something a reviewer said stuck with me. They had read my work before and liked my humour. They wanted more humour in my books. To be honest after the grim and dark, Ritual of the Stones, I needed it too. I came up with the idea of Pewtory the Lesser Bard, a bard who would travel around Frindoth and sing about the characters in the Ritual of the Stones. It would be a great way to garner interest of my first book and introduce the characters to a wider audience as I could give the book away for free.Pewtory the Lesser Bard would be delivered in short snappy chapters of around 1,000 words. The formula worked, I committed to writing 1,000 words a week on Pewtory and writing book two for the remainder of week.
Pretty soon, I found my rhythm again and my output was tremendous. Pewtory the Lesser Bard failed in his purpose as a short piece of fiction and morphed into a story of his own. One I am very proud of. The only headache I now had was I wanted to concentrate on just the one story. In February I made the decision to focus on Pewtory and ended up with a novel of 53,000 words. Not too shabby at all, for what was only intended to be a gimmick piece of writing.
Meanwhile book two – The Stones of Sorrow, grew into a monster of a novel. Yes, I was worried at the size but I decided to just go with the flow and maintain the output I was producing.
By the time I had finished the book I had written more words then I had ever written in a single year. I had already sorted out the cover and knew where I was going in terms of the proofreading.
The whole process was a lot smoother then the first time as I was more familiar with it. Yes there were headaches but the sense of satisfaction was there. I was getting better at this. I was learning all the time and I was sure that the next book was even better.I sent the Stones of Sorrow off to the proofreader allowed myself two weeks off and then sat down to begin work on book three. The aspiration was to publish it one year after book two.
I sat there, I sat there and I sat there. The same thing happened again. I could not find the words again. These were characters I had spent over 370,000 words with, yet I could not write more than 300 words on them.
No problem I thought. I will just write a short story like before. Only this time the formula hasn’t worked so well. It is not writer’s block as such. It is just that I have lost my rhythm. I know it will come back, I just need to get myself mentally prepared.
As I type this, it has been two months since I penned the last word on The Stones of Sorrow. This morning, I wrote 900 words. Yesterday I managed a 1,000. This afternoon I fancy writing some more. I am not saying I have the rhythm back just yet, but it feels like it is getting there. Do you know what else I realised? The “slump” is not a slump at all. It is my recharging time. Having made the switch from writing to editing it is the time I need to flick the switch back again.
That is the only type of writer's block I have ever experienced, but I think just changing up what you are writing helps enormously.(less)

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Rob Donovan When I finished The Stones of Sorrow (book 2 in the Ballad of Frindoth series), I was not ready to go straight on to the next book in the series. I fe…moreWhen I finished The Stones of Sorrow (book 2 in the Ballad of Frindoth series), I was not ready to go straight on to the next book in the series. I felt the same when I finished Ritual of the Stones. Back then I went on to write a more light-hearted book in the same world that was based on one of the minor characters.

I decided to do the same this time round. I wanted to flesh out the back story of one of the Knights and I also wanted to write a story based on revenge.

I was proof reading the Stones of Sorrow and the character of Mikel Rhonson just leapt out at me and demanded I tell his story. Within minutes, my mind was racing with dozens of questions: Who was he really? Why did he have the reputation as the most feared knight but still managed time for a secret romance?

I wrote chapter one and have not looked back since.(less)

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Combine Editions
Rob Donovan’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 19 ratings · 6 reviews · 9 distinct works

	Ritual of the Stones (The Ballad of Frindoth #1) 3.64 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Crystal Spear (Forbidden Weapons Saga #1) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pewtory the Lesser Bard (A Frindoth Tale #1) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Only Stones Remain (The Ballad of Frindoth #4) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Stones of Sorrow (The Ballad of Frindoth #2) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Cadaver Knight (A Frindoth Tale #2) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Within Stone's Shadow (The Ballad of Frindoth #3) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mirror 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	the kraken churn 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Rob Donovan's Blog

Book Review - Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

Very often I find people apologising for the books they read. It seems to become the vogue for people to make excuses as to why the read Harry Potter for example as if reading YA fiction is something to be ashamed of.

Personally, if the story is good and the characters are enjoyable than that is all that matters. One of my sons has devoured Chris Colfer’s Land of

Series by Rob Donovan

The Ballad of Frindoth (4 books)
by

Rob Donovan (Goodreads Author)

3.77 avg rating — 13 ratings

A Frindoth Tale (2 books)
by

Rob Donovan (Goodreads Author)

4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings

Rob is Currently Reading

Rob Donovan is currently reading

Vinland Saga Omnibus, Vol. 1

by Makoto Yukimura

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Jun 25, 2026 03:38PM

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Monstress, Bd. 2: Das Blut

by Marjorie M. Liu (Goodreads Author)

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Jun 24, 2026 12:40PM

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Sea of Thieves Origins Vol. 1

by Jeremy Whitley (Goodreads Author)

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Jun 24, 2026 12:27PM

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Rob Donovan rated a book it was amazing Snake Huntress (The Rattler Trilogy Book 2) by Ryan Berridge (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Rob Donovan rated a book it was amazing Kill for Me Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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