The Wars Between Book Tour

Outis Everrett was an overthinker. Every night he would toss and turn in his tiny chamber and go over and over the things he had to do the next day. He would plan the next day and things he would say, over and over in his mind, until he slowly became too tired to think and then he would finally fall asleep. He had been like this for a while now and try as he might, he couldn’t change this habit. He became sleepy with this constant worrying and it became difficult to do his day-to-day tasks. During the days, he would mope about with his head down, being of little use to anyone. To anyone else, he was a nobody, a useless man that was easy to forget, but Outis Everrett was much more than that. Outis Everrett was a poet. Outis loved poetry and wrote poetry a lot, but he didn’t consider himself an actual poet at the time. He simply thought very little of himself. One thing he knew for sure, he wasn’t a strong man. He wasn’t a sailor, a guard or a soldier and he didn’t ever want to become one of these.

He sighed and thought of his father’s words, ‘We come from a long line of warriors, long have we held our swords high and defended our lands with pride. It is your destiny, my son, to take up arms and keep fighting.’

But he was no warrior, and he was as thin as limegoat and he had been cursed with his mother’s short stature. He was shorter than the average Asalandian and was a lot weaker. He spoke with a soft, unsure voice and often didn’t say anything at all. He rarely exercised and even his hair was unusually dark for an Asalandian (it was light brown, most Asalandians were blonde). He had avoided any kind of conflict his whole life, running from the bullies that called him Tiny in Sword School. As a child he often hid away in his room and read, he loved the adventure stories of journeys, and he especially loved the poets of the old world. He loved imagining, dreaming of far off lands, tales of monsters and horror. He was intrigued by the notion of destiny and longed for love. He was lonely and hid his thoughts from everyone. He thought nobody would understand him and was scared to look vulnerable. He just read all the time by himself and at times he wrote. He was an amazing poet but poets weren’t really talked about much in Asalandia. In fact, poetry wasn’t read much at all.

To be shunned was uncommon and not talked about. Most children (all able-bodied) trained hard before the test and if they failed, they tried again. Outis was shunned from the warriorship because he failed to take the final test. The reason for this was because he was too scared and couldn’t swing a sword hard enough to even make a sound. He was always a quiet young man, troubled by the weight of society, pressuring young men to fight, leading them to be battle ready. Everyone was constantly hearing about the threat of the enemy, every day they heard about the Kastanarians getting closer or the Kastanarians were preparing for war. The King was announcing it constantly and it was always being proclaimed from the palace. During these frequent announcements, everyone had to stand and listen. This was an unspoken rule and most people wanted to listen to the kings’ announcements. Outis wasn’t one of those people. He stopped listening to the kings’ announcements long ago and decided he would focus on other things. One of those things was poetry. He had read all the old poets over the years and started writing his own poetry out of frustration. He wanted to write poetry about the way things really were. He practiced his style constantly in his room, late at night, all by himself, slowly developing his voice. Then he wrote a very special poem. It was this very poem that changed the course of history in Asalandia. Yes, a poem did that. As absurd as it may seem, Outis managed to write the most amazing words every written. He crafted those words so beautifully that once you read it, your life would be forever different. That poem was such a special sonnet, it led to everything that happened afterward. It was in the lines of that poem that gave birth to the timeless truths, and they all came into view and the men that swayed power became powerless.

You might ask, how did the king manage to come across the poem of such an unimportant commoner like Outis. Well, that is a good question indeed. You see, around about the time Outis was masterfully creating the poem that changed the world forever, the King was actually going through a sort of inner, self-reflective process that had the Queen and the entire royal family particularly worried. It all started with the rain. Now Asalandia, famous for its beautiful sunshine, mostly had perfect weather, warm in the day, cool at night, deep blue skies that reflected the dark blue seas and it normally only rained during the rainy season for one month. However, that particular year, the rainy season stretched on for three months and it wasn’t just the typically light pitter patter, this was drizzle and depressing downpour, nonstop. So, this kept the King off his horses, which he loved dearly, and kept him in his chambers. This was where the King discovered poetry. The King couldn’t sleep well during the rainy season, so he often requested books from the library and read them to the wee hours of the morning. He started with the Histories and became quite depressed reading about all the wars, invasions, death and destruction. This left him feeling empty and alone, so he searched for more books. He was brought poetry and he instantly fell in love with it. He loved the rhyming patterns of the old poets and would sing them in his bed, often waking the poor Queen, who was getting very worried about her husband.

The King read poem after poem and slowly came to the realisation that something was missing. All the poems praised the warriors and gave thanks to all the kings. All the poems depicted Asalandia as heaven on earth, yet when he looked outside his window, all he saw was rain. He craved a poem that spoke the truth, that was as reflective as the water in Lake Asalandian (that is the clearest, cleanest and most beautiful lake in Asalandia), but he didn’t find it in his library. So, he slept less and less and worried with his head down reading, until he came up with it. The first Annual Poem Contest! This was the Contest that started it all and it was the king’s idea. He had signs made up immediately and had them posted all over the city. One sign happened to be posted right under Outis Everrett’s little house. When Outis saw the sign on the way, branded with the Kings sunbeam stamp of approval he was most pleased. It read:

The 1st Annual Poem Contest

Under order of the king, every man willing must enter the first annual poetry contest of Asalandia. The theme to the contest is: Asalandia, the winner receives fame and fortune beyond their wildest dreams and the highest honour, dinner with the king.

– Excerpted from The War Between by Lee J. Mavin, Tellwell Talent, 2026. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Lee J Mavin
is the author of 11 books. He is also a teacher and father. He has a
Masters in Creative Writing and am solely focused on writing fiction
(fantasy and horror) and poetry. He is now in collaboration the
illustrator Karolina Piotrowski, a Polish artist who has brought many
stories to life. He has worked and studied in China and Japan and
studied with Dr Xiaohuan Zhao (a master of Chinese poetry) to complete
his book Li Bai’s Shadow, at the University of Sydney. He has two
children who are both avid readers, so he is always in the loop with
trends in children’s fiction. He is married and lives in Sydney, where
he teaches English.

His latest book is the YA fantasy, The Wars Between.

Visit his website at leejmavin.com. 

Connect with him on social media at:

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