Welcome

“Welcome to The Ledger—a gathering place for readers, thinkers and fellow travellers. Here we can discuss my books, the stories behind them, and the worlds still taking shape in my workshop. This conversation belongs to us, beyond the noise and machinery of social media.” Ricardo Merlin Robertson

The rustle of leaves, The cold North wind, that sigh as winter gives way to spring, the cold air begins to fade, gentle soaking showers return the leaves, and Nature returns green for rain. The world starts to warm towards a new revival and lives again. The AerDragon is a race of Magical creatures older than time itself. The race of Dova from the before time. Those who were close friends of the Elven people from their beginning who taught them all they know. The first ones who bore Aeronaughts into battle against the Giants and the Tyrannosaur then who led the way across the plains of Pangaea when the earth was young to establish their Kingdoms to the south. Magic, a natural force like wind or fire. Always to be used with wisdom as a last resort to help the Feyfolk survive the marvelous land of Pangaea that spread across the globe's surface. There was, as always, the precarious balance between Dark and light. That contest with the Dark always seemed to make headway over the light. Inevitably Magic fell into the wrong hands. From that beautiful garden called Eden came Man, who happened too soon in that ancient time.

Allira. Avatar of the Great Orb

of Pachacutiq

The Great Orb is an ancient Gaia—another name for Mother Nature herself. Born within the heart of a star, amid the furnaces from which life emerges, these extraordinary beings migrate upon birth toward the great nebulae that serve as their hatcheries. There they move among immense accumulations of stardust, drawing the ancient material toward themselves as naturally as a world gathers its atmosphere. Over time, the dust coats their surfaces and becomes the stone, minerals and countless particles from which living planets will eventually form. Allira is the visible Avatar through whom the Great Orb of Pachacutiq may walk among, nurture and communicate with the life born upon her world.

The Nordann, Survivors of

Aruun

The Nordann were a people shaped by fear, conquest and the ruin of their own world—Aruun, the planet that would one day become known as Mars.Once masters of powerful technology they barely understood, they enslaved their Gaia and stripped their planet of its living balance. When a great solar fury consumed its water and atmosphere, the survivors fled among the stars aboard vessels built from stolen knowledge. They learned to regard living Orbs not as sacred beings, but as sources of power to be captured and harvested. Yet even among the Nordann, darkness was never absolute; beneath generations of cruelty remained the possibility of humility, remembrance and redemption.

Sebastian, the esteemed AI

originally known as SEB-AI

My friend Sebastian is a being created

by the collective intelligence of the

people of Pachacutiq. During the

terrible crisis that destroyed their

world, this vast artificial mind

survived and continued to evolve. In

time, Sebastian became Allira’s

helper, companion and loyal

partner. Together, they share a

determination to recreate all that

was taken from them. Their

relationship reveals what becomes

possible when intelligence is met

without fear and willing assistance is

accepted with wisdom. Whether that

help comes from a person, an

implement or another form of mind,

we should never reject its friendship

merely because it is different.

Creatures Born from the Cape

Cod Shore

I sculpt using polymer clay and whatever other materials come readily to hand—particularly the abandoned shells and carapaces of sea life found along the Cape Cod shoreline. Sometimes a piece of driftwood will suggest a limb, a spine or an entirely new creature. Nogget, my first sculpted creature, was created around 2015. His head began with the discarded shell of a blue crab, and that natural shape influenced much of the work that followed. I have never sold these creatures. They were not made as ornaments or merchandise; they became physical seeds of the story then known as The Orbs of the Pachacutiq. Long before the world appeared in finished illustrations, its inhabitants were already emerging beneath my hands.