IYANWA and FAHLI Dig Into the Complex Issues of Life and Death From A Different Lens

When I started writing IYANWA, my wife was 8 months pregnant. I am a spiritual person, and I believe in the idea that we are not the 'be all and end all', and that there is something greater than our little marble in the unfathomably large depths of space (as beautifully outrageous as it is). Life and death are issues that aren't taboo by any means, but seem to have relatively linear paths: You die and you move onto another place, or you are part of the circle of life. Often times I've thought about this, both logically and emotionally, and when I was about to be a dad for the second time a little sketch I drew made me think about stories that could fill the slice of scientifically unanswered, which made me venture into writing this series.

Up to then, for about 9 months, I had taken a chance on becoming an illustrator for a short time (20 years too late - that's for another time). This meant waking up and drawing. A lot. As you should expect if you want to learn. But from those sketches I had drawn a fox and a boy with a helmet on, carrying a sack of twigs. Questions circled my mind, Why is he wearing a helmet, why the twigs? etc. It was then I realized who he was.

Devastatingly, there have been a few times in our lives where friends had hoped for children, and were never able to. And also friends who had miscarried. Needless to say, emotionally, these are some of the hardest, most traumatic times. How do you reconcile this without blaming yourself, or someone else? These moments are especially hard that no one wants to have to suffer. For me, spiritually, it felt wrong to place blame on anyone. It's one of the frailties of life, and it's one of the most painful.

To take on sensitive subjects in a middle-grade fantasy book series was a tough step, but oddly, it felt necessary. To pay homage and offer strength to my friends who had dealt with their own awful experiences, and to try to provide solace, reason, and heroics to those they lost. Maybe this story could help explain such heartbreak.

To bring a sense of heroism to such a difficult subject was intended also for children who have perhaps found it difficult to manage such feelings. And they can also look at themselves with a sense of power. They should never forget how brilliant they already are - in IYANWA, they have already completed life's grandest adventure, so they have already proved their wonder.

The feedback I have received from IYANWA and early reviews of FAHLI have been humbling, and I wanted to share that if anyone has suffered, be it through miscarriage, or with the loss of a living family member, and you are just looking for strength in a moment of grief, both IYANWA and its prequel, FAHLI, offer a different lens and may perhaps give you your own reasons for why destiny pulled them away from you.

Lovingly, and with deep respect,

-CJ Biggin