Wendington Jones and The Missing Tree
Wendington Jones had always wanted to be an adventurer. But adventures, and let’s be clear by that we mean old school, globe-trotting, seat-of-your-pants thrill rides, were a thing of the past. Lost to both time and wandering interest to something new. But if there’s anything that Wendington can teach us, it’s that just because something can die, it doesn’t mean that it has to stay dead forever.
Wendington first came to me a few years ago. in-between long projects and creative frustrations elsewhere, I wanted to write something that was exciting, that didn’t slow down in either pace or character. I wanted to write in a genre that had been put on the shelf for far too long – the great adventure. But one that had a newer take on the mysteries behind it. One where the goal was never the treasure dug up from some lost society. A story where the goal was the journey itself. Where the true prize was to travel the world, to learn whatever we could, and then return home, hopefully unharmed. I needed a character who valued the lessons learnt over the trinkets taken. That was when Wendington popped into my head. Almost fully formed and real.
Wendington came to me as a book lover. As a character who had grown up with just a near insatiable desire to learn and investigate. Much like me and most book readers who have been on many adventures through the pages of other authors, there was a young woman who had the itch to see what she had read about. However, she was someone who had read much of the world but experienced very little of it. That was the true great adventure I wanted her to go on. The metaphor of every young person facing the world in front of them. That the world can be scary and tough, but it can be conquered. With time, understanding, friends and, ultimately, experience, each of us can accomplish anything. Even if the task seems impossible at first. That’s the real adventure.
But given a wonderful heroine and the fantastic playground of the roaring, exploring 1920’s, I still wanted there to be a little more about the story. That was where the theme of Wendington’s grief came from. Not only is it an apt and oft used motivator in stories, I wanted her tale to be about the actual stages of grief. The slow, individual process a young person has to face in trying to cope with the loss of anyone close to them, especially a parent. And while the adventure and twists and turns of The Missing Tree, do make the most of Wendington’s mother’s death, I also wanted it to be a discussion of the smaller moments of grief. One that allowed both the high adventure to flourish alongside the real human toll behind it. One that, like the adventure itself, didn’t necessarily offer a magic treasure at the end of it. But one that ended in understanding and knowledge, even if a price was paid to get it.
Wendington came to me ready for the adventure. I’m not sure I was at the time but Wendington has a way of motivating you . She inspired me. I can only hope she does the same for you too.
Wendington Jones and the Missing Tree is published by UCLan Publishing and is available now.
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.