Introducing . . . The Good Knight (A Medieval Mystery)
Intrigue, suspicion, and rivalry among the royal princes casts a shadow on the court of Owain, king of north Wales… The year is 1143 and King Owain seeks to unite his daughter in marriage with an allied king. But when the groom is murdered on the way to his wedding, the bride’s brother tasks his two best detectives—Gareth, a knight, and Gwen, the daughter of the court bard—with bringing the killer to justice. And once blame for the murder falls on Gareth himself, Gwen must continue her search for the truth alone, finding unlikely allies in foreign lands, and ultimately uncovering a conspiracy that will shake the political foundations of Wales. The Good Knight is available NOW at Amazon, Amazon UK and at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/90803
Sample Tuesday! The Good Knight (A Medieval Mystery)
This is the first three chapters of my new medieval mystery, The Good Knight! Enjoy 🙂 Chapter One August, 1143 AD Gwynedd (North Wales) “Look at you, girl.” Gwen’s father, Meilyr, tsked under his breath and brought his borrowed horse closer to her side of the path. He’d been out of sorts since early morning when he’d found his horse lame and King Anarawd and his company of soldiers had left the castle without them, refusing to wait for Meilyr to find a replacement mount. Anarawd’s men-at-arms would have provided Meilyr with the fine escort he coveted. “You’ll have no cause for complaint once we reach Owain Gwynedd’s court.” A breeze wafted over Gwen’s face and she closed her eyes, letting her pony find his own way for a moment. “I won’t embarrass you at the wedding.” “If you Read more…
Sunrise of Avalon Launch!
Anna Elliott has released third book in her Twilight of Avalon Trilogy! Sunrise of Avalon She is a healer, a storyteller, and a warrior. When Britain is faced with threats both old and new, the strength of her love may be the kingdom’s downfall . . . or salvation. Their love has overcome endless obstacles. Never ones to shy away from danger, former High Queen Isolde and Trystan, a mercenary with a lonely and troubled past, have already endured a perilous journey to keep the underhanded Lord Marche from the throne of Britain. But now a new traitor lurks amongst the kings on Britain’s High Council—and just when they’ve realized the depth of their love for each other, a new danger calls Trystan from Isolde’s side to test the strength of their secret marriage vow. Only Isolde knows that she Read more…
Darkiss Reads reviews The Pendragon’s Quest!
The folks over at Darkiss Reads have posted a wonderful review for The Pendragon’s Quest: “Sarah Woodbury outdoes herself with “The Pendragon’s Quest”, which I thought was impossible because the first book was so good. I was wrong, this book surpasses the first as the author brings us deeper into Cade’s world and those of his companions. Again I was caught up in the brotherhood of warriors whose mettle was tested time and time again in battle. The story explores and adds more depth to the Characters of Cade’s most trusted Knights; Dafydd, Hywel and Goronwy whose loyalty to King and country could cost them their lives. We see the true meaning of courage and the will to never surrender flow from the pages of this novel. We see the love grow and strengthen between Cade and Rhiann along with Read more…
Anglo-Saxon Law (to 1066)
Anglo-Saxon law didn’t come to an end with the coming of William of Normandy in 1066, but it was definitely changed. Norman law was based in feudalism and heavily influenced by the Church. Anglo-Saxon law had been developed over a long period of time and while influenced by Christianity in later centuries, was more egalitarian. It was based on a system of courts, the main one being the ‘hundred court’. “The hundred court met every four weeks, in the open if possible and usually at a prominent local landmark that gave its name to the hundred. The king’s reeve usually presided over the court. It had many functions, and was a mixture of parish council business meeting, planning enquiry, and magistrates’ court. . . Edward the Elder decreed that the hundred courts were to judge the worthiness of every law-suit and Read more…
Writing Historical Fiction
Back in high school, I remember overhearing two girls lamenting how awful their classes were and how they ‘hated’ history. Since I was hiding in a bathroom stall at the time, I didn’t give voice to my horror at their sentiment, but it has stuck with me in the thirty years since. How could they ‘hate’ history? Unfortunately, all too easily if by ‘history’ they meant the memorization of facts and dates that had little or no bearing on their lives. Why did they care what year the Civil War began? Or who was the tenth president of the United States? Or what happened in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia (though knowing might clarify our wars in the Middle East today, but that’s a different topic). That’s not what history is about. History is about people. It’s the anthropology of Read more…
Woodbury Genealogy
Woodbury genealogy in the United States is not complicated for the most part. All of us are descended from John and William Woodbury (brothers or cousins, it’s not clear) who came to Salem, Massachusetts in the 1620’s. John was first. He was part of a fishing consortium–not a Puritan–and traveled across the Atlantic on the Zouch Phenix in 1624 as part of the Dorchester Company. He settled in Cape Ann, which is basically a barren rock, and then moved to become one of the five founders of Salem, Massachusetts (along with Conant, Balch, Trask, and Palfrey). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Planters_(Massachusetts) He then was granted 200 acres in what is now Beverly, Massachusetts in 1635. http://dougsinclairsarchives.com/woodbury/johnwoodbury1.htm My grandfather was born in Beverly three hundred years later. Not an adventurous bunch, apparently, once they got to Massachusetts. Terrifyingly, I am descended from John and William Read more…
My Dad
My father died Sunday morning, early, after a short downhill slide, the end of a 4 1/2 year sojourn with cancer. Ronald G. Woodbury 3 April 1943-21 August 2011 ? Dr. Ronald Glen Woodbury of Pendleton, Ore., died on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. He was 68. Born in Glen Ridge, N.J., on April 3, 1943, the son of Glen and Barbara (Carr) Woodbury, he was raised in Reading, Mass., and attended the Belmont Hill School. He graduated from Amherst College, Amherst, Mass., magna cum laude in 1965. He received his doctorate in Latin American History from Columbia University in 1971. Dr. Woodbury married Melissa Teele in 1965. He started his teaching career at the University of California at Irvine and then taught at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., where he also served as a dean. In 1987 he became Read more…
What happened to silence?
With more than 80% of Americans living in metropolitan areas (and only 2% living as I do in towns of fewer than 25,000 people), very few people know what real silence is anymore. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Population/ Writing historical fiction requires that you project yourself into that long ago past. As the modern world hurtles headlong into the future, this becomes more and more difficult. Trying to find spaces where it’s possible to get a sense of that historic time is getting harder by the day. Like light pollution, noise pollution is everywhere. This winter in the Olympic National Forest and on the Quinnault Indian Reservation, my husband and I experienced the silence of the natural world, though it is presently threatened by the air routes over it into Sea-Tac airport south of Seattle. In Eastern Oregon, the silence can be complete–and loud–to the point Read more…
Books in the Middle Ages
Books have been around as long as there has been writing–it’s just that in the past, they were less accessible, expensive, and rare. Many, many fewer people were literate, especially as we understand the word (see my post on literacy: https://sarahwoodbury.com/?p=1310). “Every stage in the creation of a medieval book required intensive labor, sometimes involving the collaboration of entire workshops. Parchment for the pages had to be made from the dried hides of animals, cut to size and sewn into quires; inks had to be mixed, pens prepared, and the pages ruled for lettering. A scribe copied the text from an established edition, and artists might then embellish it with illustrations, decorated initials, and ornament in the margins. The most lavish medieval books were bound in covers set with enamels, jewels, and ivory carvings.” Source: The Art of the Book Read more…
Sharing numbers . . . books, sales, and Joe Konrath
I’ve been an indie author for eight months now, and a post by the Passive Guy and another by Joe Konrath got me thinking that my original post for today can wait and it’s time to share something of my journey as an independent author. Some of this appeared in David Gaughran’s book Let’s Get Digital, but not my most recent numbers, and not the money. http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/lets-get-digital/ When I started writing fiction, academic writing had been a way of life for me for a long time. Writing fiction was another story. I wrote my first novel in the spring of ’06 on a whim, just to see if I could. My daughter (then fourteen) had always been ‘the writer’ in the family and I even asked her if it was okay if I gave it a shot too. That first book was Read more…
Let’s Get Digital!
This is the web page to receive a free copy of a book, called “Let’s Get Digital” by David Gaughran. http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/lets-get-digital/ And I’m posting about it today, not only because David is a friend and has written a book about indie publishing, but because I’m in it as one of 33 authors who have found success via the indie route. How exciting! The pitch: You won’t make any money from self-publishing. MYTH! The internet has revolutionized every business it has come into contact with, and publishing is no different. For the first time, these changes are handing power back to the writer. It’s up to YOU if you want to profit from them. Let’s Get Digital: How To Self-Publish, And Why You Should. This guide contains over 60,000 words of essays, articles, and how-to guides, as well as contributions from 33 bestselling Read more…
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