Scotland and Its War for Existence
Today I have a guest post on a parallel subject to my interest in Wales: JR Tomlin on the Scottish quest for independence. Her book, Freedom’s Sword, is available from Amazon or Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/46734. Welcome! ____________________ Because I write about Scotland, I felt it would be a good idea to briefly discuss Scotland’s history, and in particular, its invasion by England, as well as the eventual loss of its independence. I won’t do so with an emphasis on academics. For that, I suggest reading the work of G. W. S. Barrow, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh and probably the pre-eminent medievalist of the last century. In particular, I recommend reading both his Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland and his Kingship and Unity: Scotland, 1000–1306, that is if you have a deep interest in the subject. Otherwise, just Read more…
Bonus post #2! Interview with me at Cozy Corner Reading Room
Interview with me today over at The Cozy Corner Reading Room! Check it out 🙂 http://thecozycornerreadingroom.blogspot.com/p/chair-to-chair-author-interviews.html
Bonus Post! Interview with me at Five Question Friday
Interviewing over at Five Question Friday today here: http://www.aaronpolson.net/ Go check it out!
Ebook Sale at Smashwords!
Between now and March 12th 2011, all my books are discounted at Smashwords! Footsteps in Time is free . . . http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38722 Prince of Time is 25% off (coupon code RAE25 at checkout) . . . http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38723 The Last Pendragon is 25% off (coupon code RAE25 at checkout) . . . http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/25340
Heroic Fantasy in Dark Age Wales
I was invited to guest post about my book, The Last Pendragon. at http://keithcblackmore.com/blog/ Come check it out 🙂
Original Sources for Welsh history
J. Beverley Smith, in his exhaustive history of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, lists primary sources for his research in the back of his book Llywelyn ap Gruffydd: The Prince of Wales, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1998). In perusing the documents, it becomes clear that while the thirteenth century was no longer officially the ‘dark ages’, there is very little documentation for an enormous amount of what happened in Wales during Llywelyn’s reign. On one hand, we have the cryptic Chronicle of the Princes (from which I quoted a few days ago), but no other record, official or otherwise, of the events leading up to Llywelyn’s death. In addition, we don’t know: 1) When Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was born 2) If Senana was definitively his mother, though there is reference to him as the ‘uterine brother’ of Owain and Dafydd. 3) Read more…
Footsteps in Time Review (from Smashwords)
This was pretty cool, so I felt the need to repost it . . . so thank you Wil! I’m glad you liked the book! ________ Review by: Wilson James on Feb. 14, 2011 : Honor. That’s a word not often used today, in 2011. Honor, however, was one of the only things that American teenagers David and Anna took with them in their time travel to medieval Wales. Honor also describes the way in which Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd lived his life as the ruler of Wales in 1282. The best way to describe FOOTSTEPS IN TIME? An amazing tale of adventure, daring exploits, loyalty, and courage all wrapped up in a time travel young adult fiction story. This book was enjoyable from beginning to end, as it has plenty of action mixed with a truly remarkable degree of Read more…
Writing Historical Fantasy: a Conversation with Jules Watson
Guest Post by Anna Elliott: A Conversation with Jules Watson. Jules Watson writes amazing, lyric historical fantasy set in the Dark Age Celtic world. Her newest book, The Raven Queen, will be out next month. And she has an absolutely fantastic historical fiction workshop on her website. If you write historical fiction or fantasy, go check it out immediately, it’s one of the best resources for writers in the genre I’ve seen. http://juleswatson.com/fictionworkshop.html Where do your ideas for a book start? With a known historical fact or myth? A ‘scene’ that pulls you into a story? A particular character? Or maybe none of those? The Raven Queen and my previous book The Swan Maiden were inspired by the heroines of two ancient Irish myths. For The Swan Maiden, I had always adored the Celti story of Deirdre of the Sorrows, Read more…
New Books Available!
I’ve been working on the After Cilmeri series, a young adult, time-travel fantasy, for the past five years. As should be obvious by now, the fate of Wales after the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd has been a near-constant occupation of mine, and these novels are a fun way to imagine a different fate for him. A prequel is in the works . . . Enjoy! _____________ Footsteps in Time In December of 1282, English soldiers ambushed and murdered Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the Prince of Wales. His death marked the end of Wales as an independent nation and the beginning of over seven hundred years of English oppression. Footsteps in Time is the story of what might have happened had Llywelyn lived. And what happens to the two American teenagers who save him. Footsteps in Time is available (for free) at: http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/18316/footsteps-in-time Or Read more…
Working Archaeology in Wales
Archaeologists are always working on new projects in Wales. A shortage of workers and funding inhibit the work, but the Dyfed Archaeological Trust conducted seven different digs, mostly using volunteer labor, in 2010. A look at their page is a good review of what ‘real’ archaeology is like: lots of digging, frustration, and grunt work, interspersed with occasional finds. http://www.cambria.org.uk/ They worked on: Fan Barrow Excavation 2010 Capel y Groes 2010 Pantybutler Round Barrows 2010 Tir y Dail Castle, Ammanford Dig Diary July 2010 Upper Newton Roman Villa at Wolfscastle, Pembrokeshire – Dig Diary 2010 Wernfawr Dig Diary 2010 Nevern Castle Summer Excavation 2010 Nevern Castle Spring Excavation 2010 Each of these is a fascinating study in luck and circumstance (and hard work). There are four archaeological trusts in Wales (Dyfed, Gwynedd, Glamorgan-Gwen, and Clwyd-Powys), found here: http://www.archwilio.org.uk/ Gwynedd’s digs Read more…
A Twilight Interlude
Forks, Washington is the setting for Stephanie Meyer’s Twlight series. While I’m not a Twlight ‘fan’, I appreciate it any time an author sparks a reading frenzy as she has. And today, we drove through Forks (on the way to somewhere else, but we decided we had to stop). We went to the visitor center and chatted with the proprieters who reported that 73,000 people passed through their doors in 2010. We were the only ones today. Forks is a town of 3000 people. The visitor center employee, who was very nice and knowledgable, said that 95% percent of the citizens of Forks were supportive of their role in the Twilight series and had embraced the tourists and the experience. (She has a bumper sticker which says ‘Team Jacob’. He has my vote too 🙂 Her parting comment was how Read more…
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