Oathbreaker follows a hero wracked with guilt on a quest for revenge who seeks to uncover the mystery behind the many mysterious shipwrecks and their connection to his father. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

There are two major ingredients behind my inspiration for my book, Oathbreaker. The first one is an article I read about archaeological excavations close to St Louis’ castle in Sidon, Lebanon. It has revealed two mass grave deposits containing partially articulated and disarticulated human skeletal remains.

No less than 25 male individuals have been recovered, with no females or young children. Radiocarbon dating of the human remains, a crusader coin, and the design of Frankish belt buckles found on the site strongly indicate that they belong to a single event in the mid-13th century. The skeletal remains show a high prevalence of unhealed sharp force, penetrating force, and blunt force trauma, consistent with medieval weaponry.

What happened back there? What If they had a chance? Why? Who is responsible?

I tried to investigate and tell that story through Peter’s eyes. His fate isn’t ordinary, as he is part of the Crusaders and a blood-brother of the sultan.

The other ingredient, well, I’m a simple man and a father. I try every single day to be interesting for my children, telling them exciting stories. One summer, I visited the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway, and it fascinated me. But the Galata Maritime Museum in Genoa is the biggest and the best Maritime Museum in Europe. I was impressed. There is a real replica of a 13th-century ship. After that with my son checked Barcelona’s maritime museum, a smaller one, and then we spent a whole day discovering Admiral Nelson’s ship HMS Victory in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Wow, it was a fantastic rainy day! So, yes, I like ships. My children, because of me, like ships, too. So together, we added a ship. To be precise, two ships in the story.

One day with my son, we organized a crime investigation table and created a mind map like in the movies. We showed it to his sister, and she wanted a princess to be involved. They really liked how the story developed.

There is a moment when you realize that the more your children grow, these precious moments we spend together and we laugh, discuss and talk become even more rare.

So I decided to ‘publish’ this moment in a book. That’s how Oathbreaker was born.

Peter encounters many interesting and unique people on his journey. What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

Thank you, it’s a hard question. I tried to view things through the eyes of the characters. Yet the world was so different back there, in 1272. I enjoyed writing the most about the character of Lord Broca. With the captivating Lady Helen and her poetry, they stood out and together they provided Peter with an exhilarating experience.

But I can say the character of Princess Abal, the sultan’s daughter, was a real challenge. According to the official sources, the Legendary Sultan Baibars had three sons and many daughters (at least seven). Still, he managed to fulfill his role as a ruler and a father.

Did you find anything in your research of this story that surprised you?

I found a lot of surprising things. The Atlit Crusader cemetery, in the north of Israel, is the largest and best-preserved cemetery.

The way the coroner today can find out what happened to a human skeleton is not so different in the 13th century. Yes, today we use modern technology, but the steps, the techniques are quite the same. I even discovered an English translation of a diary written by a Chinese coroner from the 13th century, revealing his techniques. His methods are still relevant in contemporary police work. I tried to use that in the Ivar’s notebook.

Another surprising one for me is the speech and the way the people wrote letters in 1272. The language and vocabulary used back then were much richer than what we have today. We just text something short via different mobile apps.

But the most interesting thing I realize is that sometimes I catch myself thinking we, the people, will never change. There are always fights and struggles for power, for richness, and for love. There are always battles, betrayals, and belongings. Even thousands of years ago. Today, only technologies are different, and the language is simple, but people are the same with their passions, desires, and sins. Is there a hope for a better world in a thousand years after us? I hope so.

Can you tell us a little about where the story goes in book three and when the novel will be available?

Peter, Red Herring, and his followers will go rogue. That’s all I can say for now. I am almost finished with the first draft, and I need a two-week break from it. Then I’ll have to check for inconsistencies or issues from book one and two. Then, as usual, I’ll rewrite it again, some self-editing and editing. I hope the 3rd book will be ready for release before the end of the year.

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