AN independent author from Prestatyn has drawn inspiration from the town for his new science fiction book.
When Huw Langridge was looking for inspiration for his latest novel, he refused to let the Covid-19 lockdown get in his way.
With restrictions to movement, and with access to just the local area, Huw decided to use his hometown of Prestatyn as the backdrop for his latest tale.
“During lockdown I frequently walked through Bishopswood on the hillside behind the town, as part of my daily exercise, and that was when the idea for the story first came to me - I really wanted to set a story up there,” said Huw.
“Time travel stories are my favourite kind of fiction, and I love the exhilaration they can provide when events in the narrative fold in on themselves.
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“I really wanted to try writing a tightly plotted time travel tale set in the town where I live, and The Sapling Method is the kind of book I’d like to read myself. I’ve been told it’s pretty scary, which is great to hear.”
The Sapling Method follows a young man named James, who lives in a house overlooking a coastal North Wales town.
He soon develops a technology which allows him to contact his future self, but at what cost.
Huw continued: “His house is secluded and that enables him to develop a technology in secret which allows him to contact his future self, to take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions about the man he will grow to be.
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“Of course, information is only ever meant to travel forwards in time.
“When it travels backwards it becomes the wrong kind of knowledge, and that makes it dangerous.
“Although James takes precautions, ultimately paradoxes occur, and there are dark forces at work which will try to fix things, by whatever means necessary.”
The Sapling Method is now available as an eBook or paperback on Amazon, where it enjoys a 4.4 rating based on six reviews, with one saying they “really enjoyed the idea of mixing folklore and sci-fi”.
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