The Poetic Tradition
Tonight the hall of my lord is dark, With neither fire nor bed. I will weep a while, then still myself to silence. Tonight the hall of my lord is dark, With neither fire nor candle. Who will give me peace? Tonight the hall of my lord is dark, With neither fire nor light. Grief for you overtakes me. Darkness descends on the hall of my lord The blessed assembly has departed, praying That good comes to those of us who remain. This poem (interpreted for my own purposes from the original: http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/sechard/492llyw.htm) is from the Welsh poem Canu Heledd. The poem tells a story of Cynddylan, or Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn, a seventh century ruler of a sub-kingdom of Gwynedd. His father allied with Penda of Mercia, but died before 642: “In the aftermath of victory Penda and Cynddylan seem Read more…
Writing and re-writing: A Novel of King Arthur
I normally blog about dark age and medieval Wales, and just touch on the writing that has preoccupied my life for the last five years. But I’ve just put up my new novel, Cold My Heart: A Novel of King Arthur, and I thought I’d talk about the process that created it, particularly for my long time readers and followers who will have seen a blurb to this book in another form not long ago. The most important thing I’ve learned in writing fiction over the years is, of course, never give up. The second most important thing is that no book is ever set in stone. It’s really hard to see that when you’re in the process of writing it, but every single one of my books has gone through a transformative process from when I first began writing Read more…
Links to Interviews, Guest Blogs, and Posts :)
A couple of links that came up this week: Interview over at Kindle Authors on Thursday, talking about The Last Pendragon: http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2011/04/kindle-author-interview-sarah-woodbury.html Interview over at The Inner Bean on Friday, talking about writing Historical Fiction: http://jennybeans.net/2011/04/08/guest-blog-sarah-woodbury-on-writing-historical-fiction/ Interview over at Katie Klein Writes on Friday about Footsteps in Time: http://katiekleinwrites.blogspot.com/2011/04/ya-indie-spotlight-sarah-woodbury.html Daughter of Time listed on the Indie 500 booklist: http://thebookorbust.blogspot.com/2011/04/apr-4-new-this-week-on-indie-500.html Interview with me about writing (4/11) over at Parlez-moi blog: http://parlezmoiblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/forfrom-indie-authors-sarah-woodbury.html
Welsh Independence (part . . . 227?)
A reader of this blog, Joe, asked me a question the other day. He said: “I was recently listening to the audio version of “The Economist” and heard an article about the Welsh vote on devolution. One of the article’s lead sentences was (I’m paraphrasing) : “On a cold day in Cardiff, it’s hard to catch any talk of devolution, and even harder to find anyone who cares much about it”. Do you agree with this assessment? And if so, do you think there’s a historical or cultural aspect to why some people in Wales feel they way they do? (I’m curious because, if I lived in Wales, I think I would be very likely to have a strong opinion on the matter.) —————– I think that the perspective on Welsh devolution varies according to where an individual lives (including Read more…
Women In Ancient Rome–Guest Post by Suzanne Tyrpak
Today I have a guest post by author, Suzanne Tyrpak. Welcome, Suzanne! ________________ About seven years ago (before my divorce, when I had some expendable income) I traveled to Rome with a group of writers. I fell in love with Italy, Rome in particular. A travel book I read contained a short blurb about vestal virgins; it mentioned they were sworn to thirty years of chastity and, if that vow were broken, they would be entombed alive. That got me going! Plus, on a tour of the Coliseum, a guide pointed out the seats designated to the vestal virgins—the six priestess of Vesta were educated, and therefore powerful, at a time when most women weren’t even taught to read. Vestals were in charge of legal documents. They not only wrote these documents, in triplicate, but kept them secure within Read more…
Bonus post #3: Interview at Hylander Diner
Interviewing over at http://www.marypathyland.com/thehylander/2011/03/18/coffee-break-sarah-woodbury/ today about Footsteps in Time! Have a look 🙂
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…
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