The World Before Arthur...
In a broken Britannia, Gawain of Tintagel is a legend forged in war—a prince, a commander, and the blade holding chaos at bay. At his side stands Morgan le Fay, a sorceress of terrifying power, fierce ambition, and dangerous desire. They are bound by love, loyalty, and the shared legacy of the House of Gorlois.
But when a hidden heir to Pendragon rises and foreign armies invade the realm, Gawain and Morgan are driven toward opposite futures: one fighting to save Britain, the other determined to claim it.
As kingdoms fall and prophecy collides with blood-soaked ambition, their love becomes the fault line beneath an age of war.
Before Arthur can become king, the world must survive Gawain and Morgan.
What Makes This Story Different from Other King Arthur Books...
The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain begins earlier — in a fractured world before the legend has been polished into myth.
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This is not a story about perfect knights sitting in noble agreement. It is about hot-blooded young warriors, rival princes, dangerous loyalties, and impossible choices in a world still trying to decide who deserves to rule it.
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At the center is Gawain. Before the world knew Arthur, everyone whispered Gawain’s name. Already, he is a protector, commander, brother, lover, and warrior prince forged by years of captivity, duty, and war.
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In The Knights with No Lords, Gawain is the force holding a broken world together. No matter who wears the crown, he is the man others depend on to steady the kingdom, contend with secrets, rein in dangerous egos, and protect the few closest to his heart…even when one of them may become the greatest threat to everything Arthur is destined to build.
The Long Road to the One Called Gawain...
The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain did not begin as a marketing idea or a quick attempt to retell King Arthur. It grew slowly over decades — from childhood books, anime, historical dramas, and years of returning to the same characters until the story finally became what it was meant to be.
This is the road that led to Gawain.
1997 (age 11) -
My First Arthurian Book
In sixth grade, I read Tales of King Arthur, retold by Felicity Brooks. More than any other book, it gave me my first complete sense of Arthur, his knights, and the world of Camelot. I still have a copy on my bookshelf, and one day I plan to pass it down to my future children.
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I later tried to read Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. I struggled with the prose, but I was fascinated by the giants, monsters, and strange fantastical details that didn’t appear in the children’s version. That helped plant an early seed in my mind: in the world of King Arthur, anything could happen.
2001 (age 15) - Understanding Morgan’s Perspective
In ninth grade, I read Nancy Springer’s I Am Morgan le Fay and I Am Mordred. Those books had a tremendous effect on me because they made me think about both sides of the story.
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Morgan is often remembered as Arthur’s dangerous sister, but Springer’s version helped me see her as a more tragic figure. That definitely influenced my desire to give Morgan a clear motive — one that was not simply about hating Arthur.
2001 (age 15) -
Clarifying What My Morgan Would Not Be
Around this time, I saw pieces of TNT’s The Mists of Avalon. What little I saw left an impression on the look and feel of Britannia, even though I did not watch the full miniseries.
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It also helped me clarify something important: my Morgan would never see herself as helpless. Even when she endures terrible circumstances, she does not move through the world as a victim. She takes action.
2005 (age 19) -
Berserk and Brotherhood
In college, my roommates introduced me to the 1997 anime Berserk. The idea of a mercenary band becoming a brotherhood — almost a family — had a major influence on The Knights with No Lords.
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Guts also influenced Gawain in a specific way: the idea of a warrior whose violence and combat can become a twisted form of therapy, to forget the pain, burden, and responsibility that often weighs down the mind. Hence my favorite quote from Pres. T Roosevelt, “Black care rarely sits behind the rider whose pace is fast enough.”
2008 (age 21-22) -
HBO’s Rome
Bruno Heller’s Rome had a profound effect on me as a writer. It blended action, history, politics, intelligence, and entertainment in a way I had not seen before.
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The depiction of Octavius especially sharpened the way I think about motives, ulterior motives, and political maneuvering. That influence plays a major role in The Knights with No Lords.
2008 (age 21-22) -
Shinsengumi! and the Shape of the Knights
The anime Bleach eventually led me to learn about the Shinsengumi, which led me to the 2004 NHK drama Shinsengumi!
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That drama gave me a major template for the Knights of the Round Table. If everyone is brave, gallant, and skilled, what makes one knight different from another? Shinsengumi! helped me think through that question.
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Tristan was heavily inspired by Saito Hajime. Arthur was inspired by Shingo Katori’s portrayal of Kondo Isami. Gawain’s responsibility among the knights was influenced by Koji Yamamoto’s portrayal of Hijikata Toshizo.
2009 (age 23) -
Gawain and Morgan Are Born
In July 2009, fresh out of film school, I created the concepts, characters, and early story of Gawain and Morgan.
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The original version began with them as nine-year-olds, already establishing Gawain as the eldest brother of Agravain and Gaheris, as well as the promised protector of Morgan. Characters like Pellinore, Tristan, and Urien also appeared in those early pages.
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At the time, I did not take the project seriously. I was focused on screenwriting, so I worked on it during downtime almost like fanfiction. Before I knew it, ten pages became more than two hundred, and Gawain had only reached the age of eleven. The project felt too big, so I left it alone.
2009 (age 23) -
Stoop Instrumentals
That summer, I wrote many of the early Gawain and Morgan stories while listening to a collection of instrumentals my friend Robby gave me called Stoop Instrumentals.
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Music would eventually become a huge part of the way I write.
2010 (age 24) -
The Tudors and Historical Drama
I started watching Showtime’s The Tudors and became a huge fan of Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s portrayal of King Henry. I had already seen Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which made me appreciate Michael Hirst’s work even more, including The Borgias.
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Those stories helped feed my interest in royal power, ambition, court politics, and the personal lives behind public rule.
2010 (age 24) -
Starz’s Camelot
I had high hopes for Starz’s Camelot. I liked the casting of Jamie Campbell Bower as Arthur and Eva Green as Morgan, but the story and scope left me a little underwhelmed.
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I thought the show gave me the vibes of the 90s Hercules and Xena Warrior Princess when it should’ve had the gravity of Game of Thrones before the Game of Thrones.
2010 (age 24) -
Crows, Worst, and the Hard Edge
The films Crows Zero and Crows Zero 2 led me to Hiroshi Takahashi’s Crows and Worst. I read those entire collections and if you ever catch me on my phone waiting for a flight (or any waiting area), chances are, I’m re-reading those manga.
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The delinquent-school culture, rival factions, tough leaders, and “these are the guys you don’t want to mess with” attitude had a major influence when it comes to the hard edge of The Knights with No Lords.
My knights are arrogant. They have swagger. But they have the strength and courage to back it up.
2016 (age 29-30) -
Challenge Accepted
By 2016, I was four years into switching from screenplays to novels, and I kept seeing the publishing industry and literary agents asking for the same thing: strong female characters.
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I immediately thought of Morgan and Gawain as teenage protagonists and told myself: challenge accepted.
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That version became the original unpublished prequel to The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain.
2016 (age 30) -
The Music That Fueled the World
Music played a huge role in writing the story. In 2016, I discovered Punk Goes Pop, which led me to bands like The Word Alive, Ice Nine Kills, and Crown the Empire.
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Ice Nine Kills’s album Every Trick in the Book was especially influential. I wrote entire chapters while listening to songs like “Me, Myself & Hyde,” “Star-Crossed Enemies,” and “Bloodbath & Beyond” on repeat.
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Back-On’s “Strike Back” felt like the opening theme if my book ever became an anime. SiM’s album The Beautiful People also stayed on repeat. Susumu Hirasawa’s “Circuit Off Circuit On” became one of my favorite songs from that entire year.
2017 (age 31) -
The First Draft and First Rejections
In 2017, I finished the original draft of The Knights with No Lords and tried the traditional publishing route by sending it to literary agents.
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All passed, so I moved on to publish another story (The Perennial War of Paramours). To this day, that original book remains an unpublished prequel to The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain.
2019 (age 33) -
Netflix's The Last Kingdom
In 2019, I finally watched The Last Kingdom. I had avoided it for a while because I try not to consume stories that feel too close to what I am working on.
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But once I watched it, I was truly impressed. It became one of my favorite shows, and I will defend it as one of the most underrated series on Netflix. It influenced the way I approached politics, alliances, and historical believability in my own story.
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Notice, that I haven’t mentioned Game of Thrones. I am a fan like everyone else, but I don’t think it had as much an influence on me as “The Last Kingdom” did.
With the Last Kingdom, it was more historical, and I definitely used a lot of the politics to make my own stories more believable when it comes to things like the witan and aldermen.
2020 (age 33) -
The One Called Gawain
In 2020, I created and finished the first draft of The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain, which takes place four years after the events of the original 2016 book.
2021 (age 34) -
Another Traditional Publishing Attempt
In 2021, I tried again to get the book traditionally published by submitting to literary agents.
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All passed, so once again, I moved on to other project, notably a slew of critical essays about religion and culture
2022 (age 34) -
Second Draft
I completed the second draft of The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain.
2024 (age 36) -
Third Draft
I completed the third draft of The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain.
2025 (age 39) -
The Final Draft and AI Tools
By June 2025, I began the fourth and final draft.
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This time, I was inspired by the possibilities of AI Art video generation.
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I have always struggled with graphics and illustrations, so being able to generate visuals of my characters excited me every week and it was the final push to see it published whether the Industry Accepts it or not.
2025 (age 39) -
December 2025 — One Last Query Attempt
By December 2025, I began the campaign to send query letters to over a 100 Literary Agents one last time and made up my mind that if no one requested it by August 2026, I’d publish it on my own.
2026 (age 39) -
Building the World for Readers
By April 2026, with no literary agents requesting the manuscript, I went to work creating art, visuals, book covers, headers, mockups, and this website.
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I also gave the book one final pass for typos, readability, and polish.
2026 (age 39) -
Building the World for Readers
The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain is published for your viewing pleasure.
Visit Again for Updates
Thank you for reading! More character profiles will be added over time. For now, I’m holding back a few names because I’d rather let you meet them in the story than spoil their impact here.
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If you enjoy The Knights with No Lords, feel free to reach out by contact. This is only one world I’m building, and if enough readers want more, that absolutely helps decide what gets prioritized next. You can also click the “Support the Work” button to donate, show appreciation, or help support future books, artwork, and promotional work. Thank you for being part of the journey.