There’s been a lot of talk today about the latest search engine to hit the market. Cuil (www.cuil.com), developed by former employees of Google, is willing to take on the biggest player in the search engine arena, claiming its searches return more relevant results to the users and its results… Read More »Using the Cuil Search Engine for Research
Last week, I mentioned Carl Pyrdum’s post on his blog Got Medieval about describing the Middle Ages in seven words or less — or I guess I should have said seven concepts or less. I also said I would post an explanation of why I chose the seven I did,… Read More »Explaining the Middle Ages in Seven Words
Heraldry, defined as a system of inherited symbols or devices for the purpose of identifying individuals or families, became one of the most distinguishable elements of feudalism and knighthood during the Middle Ages. The term “heraldry” comes from the the fact that heralds at tournaments became experts in the design… Read More »Heraldry in the Middle Ages
Last week over at Got Medieval, blog owner Carl S. Pyrdum asked readers to describe the medieval period in seven words or less. My seven were as follows: 1) The Church 2) The Nobles 3) The Peasantry 4) The Crusades 5) The Black Death 6) Feudalism 7) Cathedrals (“Gothic” architecture)… Read More »Describing the Middle Ages in Seven Words
At times, you’ve probably been reading a sentence and come across a set of dashes being used to separate out a phrase or a few words from the main part of the sentence. These dashes — also known as em dashes — are often used incorrectly in writing. Many writers… Read More »When to Properly Use a Dash — or Em Dash — in Grammar
Over the weekend, I went back and edited one of my works of short fiction. I’ve submitted it to a couple of critique group sites for review: www.critiquecircle.com and www.writerscafe.org. Critique Circle is a great online group for peer reviewing. The majority of the reviewers really take the time to… Read More »New Short Story Coming Soon
Christian Fantasy is a relatively small genre of fiction, though it is a growing one. According to a Washingon Post article last year, Christian Fantasy is on the rise, sparked by the success of J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series. So what, exactly, constitutes Christian Fantasy? ChristianFantasy.com provides a good in depth… Read More »The Growth of Christian Fantasy
Mail, often referred to as “chain mail” (a term later applied to this type of armor in the Victorian era), was the armor of choice worn by the medieval knight. Constructed of small rings of iron wire linked together, the mail coat formed a flexible metal mesh that was often worn… Read More »The Making of Mail Armor
Two armies face off across an open field. You’ve set the scene; the battle is about to begin, but what do you do now? How do you capture the chaos and frenzy of hand-to-hand combat on paper? Do you try to gather a sweeping panorama of the battle from an… Read More »Writing a Battle Sequence (Novel Excerpt Included)