George Raymond Richard Martin, well-known author of the fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on September 20, 1948. Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. His writing career began at a young age when he would write and sell… Read More »Author Profile: George R.R. Martin
For purposes of this post, I will focus on the medieval sword of Western Europe, namely England and France and Scandinavia, from the 10th to the 13th century. The sword was an instrumental weapon for the knight during the Middle Ages. As most combat was conducted up close hand-to-hand, you… Read More »The Medieval Sword
I’ve been trying to locate magazines dedicated to the period of the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, my local bookstores don’t stock anything of the sort. I ran across a few online but don’t know if they’re any good. Does anyone subscribe to any of these? Know of others that you would… Read More »Medieval History Magazines
The movie that sparked my interest in the medieval period was Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner. Ever since, I have been enamored with anything and everything dealing with the Middle Ages: movies, historical fiction novels, non-fiction books, television documentaries. The next in line: Nottingham, directed by Ridley… Read More »Christian Bale as Robin Hood
I thought I would start a series of author profiles, highlighting a new author each week. The profiles are intended to give you some background information about each author: where they grew up, how they got started, what they’ve written, things of that nature. I thought I would start with… Read More »Author Profile: Bernard Cornwell
One of the most important advances in military technology came with the invention of the stirrup. The stirrup allowed warriors on horseback to use the power of horse and rider to deliver more powerful spear thrusts from a mounted position. With the stirrup, riders could rest the lance between the… Read More »The Diffusion of the Stirrup into Medieval Western Europe
The Evening of the World: A Romance of the Dark Ages (Dark Ages Trilogy) by Allan Massie *this novel borders on the late Roman, early medieval period Paperback – 304 pages Publisher – Orion Publishing (June 1, 2002) Description: The Evening of the World is set in the period of the… Read More »Medieval Historical Fiction Novel of the Week
David Anthony Durham steps into the world of fantasy with his latest novel Acacia: Book One: The War With the Mein. Most known for his historical fiction novels — Gabriel’s Story, Walk Through Darkness, and Pride of Carthage — Durham seems born for the fantasy genre. His characters are compelling,… Read More »Review of Acacia
I finished typing up the third revision to my novel last week. I think it will take at least two more revisions — though not as time consuming as the first three — to get the novel to a point where I can start shopping it around to agents. Revision… Read More »Novel: 3rd Revision Complete