Interview with author Simon Rose

Hello Simon, welcome to The Relatable Voice Magazine.

Thank you, it’s a honor to be here. I’ve published twenty-one novels for children and young adults, eight guides for writers, more than a hundred nonfiction books, and many articles on a wide variety of topics.

So, what are the books all about?

The Order of Excalibur - The Ring of Fate is a fantasy novel for young adults set in England early in World War II. At the height of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain, young Canadian wizards Nick and Ginny are recruited by the mysterious Order of Excalibur as the country faces the threat of invasion.

The Order of Excalibur - Reich Britannia is a fantasy novel for young adults set in a parallel universe in the early 1940s, where Germany has invaded and occupied Great Britain. In a deadly nightmare world, Canadian teen wizards Nick and Ginny must risk their lives to alter the course of events and put history back on track.

And what’s the story behind the story?

The Order of Excalibur - The Ring of Fate is a fantasy novel for young adults set in Britain early in World War II. At the height of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain, young Canadian wizards Nick and Ginny are recruited by the mysterious Order of Excalibur as the country faces the threat of invasion.

Nick and Ginny’s father, Robert Jennings, is the world’s leading scholar on the magic and folklore of the Arthurian period, based at Cambridge University, while The Order of Excalibur has kept the secrets of Merlin since the early Middle Ages. The Order also has possession of a ring that Merlin supposedly used to materialize a stone circle similar to Stonehenge known as the Ring of Fate in the centre of his workshop. The spaces between the stones in the circle would reveal how events might occur if certain decisions were made. However, Merlin’s ring hasn’t been used since he died, and the stone circle hasn’t been seen since that time. The Order made attempts to materialize the Ring of Fate when Britain was under threat from the Spanish Armada in 1588 and from Napoleon in 1805 without success and when the situation in 1940 is even more desperate the British government is willing to try anything.

Robert and the children begin working in an underground facility in the heart of London during the Blitz and the Battle of Britain. Using their magical powers, Nick and Ginny are able to get the Ring of Fate to appear. While they view potential scenarios showing that all will be well and that there won’t be a German invasion, they also see other possible outcomes revealing a successful German invasion and subsequent occupation of Britain.

When a massive explosion almost destroys the underground facility, Robert, Nick, and Ginny are shocked when reaching the surface that London is now under German occupation. Robert, Nick, and Ginny attempt to escape from the German soldiers but soon begin to forget the other timeline and their own identities, as they go on the run in a nightmare world.

The Order of Excalibur - Reich Britannia is a fantasy novel for young adults set in a parallel universe in the early 1940s, where Germany has invaded and occupied Great Britain. This was one of the possible futures shown between the standing stones of Merlin’s Ring of Fate that has now become reality, once the stones were materialized by Canadian teen wizards Nick and Ginny.

Nick and Ginny are initially separated in a deadly nightmare world before being recruited by the British Resistance and learning of the previous reality, risking their lives to alter the course of events. They are also opposed by powerful German wizards in the Paranormal Division.

Following an assassination attempt on the life of the German governor, security is tightened, and many Resistance members are killed. With time running out before the reality of German victory becomes permanent, Nick and Ginny must find a way to bring back the Ring of Fate and put history back on track, before it’s too late.

You must have done quite a lot of historical research for the novels.

Yes, the story, main characters, and some of the settings in this novel are fictional but are based on true events that took place in World War II. I did lots of research into the early stages of the conflict. Following the story, the glossary has links to online sources where readers can learn more about the historical events, military campaigns, settings, and leading characters from World War II that are featured in the story. On my website, there’s a page dedicated to the book, along with links to separate pages featuring information regarding the book’s historical background and links to many online sources.

What are you currently working on?

I always have a few current projects and right now I’m working on more books in the same genre as my previously published paranormal Flashback series, a fantasy series, a historical fiction novel, and some picture books. I also continue to work on the adaptations of my Shadowzone series into screenplays for movies and TV shows, some other scripts, as well as teaching writing courses at the University of Calgary.

Anyone interested in keeping up to date with the projects that I’m working on is always welcome to subscribe to my monthly newsletter, which you can do at www.simon-rose.com.

You work with other authors, as well as on a variety of projects related to writing and publishing, don’t you?

Yes, I offer coaching, editing, consulting, and mentoring services for writers of novels, short stories, fiction, nonfiction, biographies, and in many other genres, plus do work with writers of scripts and screenplays. I’m also a writing instructor and mentor at the University of Calgary and served as the Writer-in-Residence with the Canadian Authors Association. You can find details of some of the projects I’ve worked on with other authors, along with some references and recommendations, at www.simon-rose.com.

So where can people buy The Order of Excalibur - The Ring of Fate and The Order of Excalibur - Reich Britannia?

The books can be purchased at most of the usual places as follows:

The Order of Excalibur – The Ring of Fate and The Order of Excalibur – Reich Brittania

Ebook: Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Scribd, Smashwords

Paperback: Amazon

You can learn more about me and my work at www.simon-rose.com.

Simon Rose graduated from university with a degree in history and his first novel for middle grade readers, The Alchemist’s Portrait, was published in 2003. This was followed by The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic’s Tomb, The Doomsday Mask, The Time Camera, The Sphere of Septimus, Future Imperfect, An Untimely Death, and The Order of Excalibur novels. He is also the author of the Flashback series, the Shadowzone series, and The Stone of the Seer series. In addition, he is the author of The Children’s Writer’s Guide, The Working Writer’s Guide, The Time Traveler’s Guide, and has written many non-fiction books. Simon offers editing, manuscript evaluation, coaching, mentoring, and writing workshops for writers.

He is an instructor with the University of Calgary and offers online workshops for both children and adults. He also offers workshops and author in residence programs for schools and libraries.

Interview published in The Relatable Voice Magazine - October 2025. Downolad the full magazine at https://www.relatable-media.com/the-relatable-voice-magazine