My life has been pretty simple. I grew up in Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor's in Advertising. I have spent about the last ten years in web development. In 1998, a friend of mine and I started a web design company we ran for three or four years before deciding to close it due to the demands of school. Since then, I stayed in the web working with various companies in Alabama. I worked for a brief period with Southern Progress, namely with Southern Living magazine and Health magazine, in their web departments. While there, I also wrote for Southern Living magazine, Health.com., and the company's internal newsletter. I write as much as I can. For the last five years, I have been working on my first novel. I am on the third revision now and hope to be finished with this draft by the end of the year. I also write short fiction, though not as frequently as I used to due to the time I spend on the novel. My goal is to have my novel published in the next three years. Other interests include: History (particularly medieval and ancient civlizations), Reading, Foreign Language (I currently speak Spanish but plan to learn as many as I can), Landscape Photography, the outdoors, sports (especially college football), and Travel.
I’ve started back on my novel again. After six months of letting it collect dust, working on my website, and writing and editing a new short story, I’ve finally picked the ole novel back up again and have begun to read through it. This will be the fourth revision in… Read More »Update on My Novel
The ancient world held to the oral tradition of law, with punishment generally based on legal precedent and handed down by tribal rulers. During the Middle Ages, efforts were sought to codify certain laws, and this period saw the emergence of parliaments or parliament-type organizations, as seen in Viking society… Read More »Law and Punishment in the Middle Ages
I’ve finally finished writing and editing my latest short story: “Exeter Burning.” While the medieval backdrop/settting (i.e. – general details) behind the story are accurate for that period, the storyline and characters are entirely fictional — though it is based loosely on an actual event that took place at Exeter… Read More »New Short Story Posted: Exeter Burning
Life in a Medieval City by Joseph and Francis Gies Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Harper Perennial (September 30, 1981) ISBN-10: 0060908807 The year is 1250 A.D. People from all over Europe have gathered in the medieval city of Troyes — the capital city of the county of Champagne in France… Read More »Review of Life in a Medieval City
During the medieval period, the Catholic Church condemned any sect of Christianity as heresy that differed from the tradional Catholic teachings. One of these sects, called the Albigensians (or Cathars), came out of southern France, and Pope Innocent III saw this group as a threat to the unity of Chirstendom… Read More »The Albigensian Crusade
Some impressive fantasy-type sculptures crafted from sand.
Since it’s my birthday today, I definitely wanted to post about what happened on this day in medieval history. 1282 – Death of Llywelyn the Last (Llywelyn ap Gruffydd), the last prince of Wales before it was conquered by Edward I 1475 – Birth of Pope Leo X (Giovanni de’… Read More »Medieval Timeline: Today in Medieval History
The Lombards and other Italian merchants first introduced the term bank in the commercial centers of medieval western Europe to signify the business of money. Banks – the term means “credit negotiated on a counter at banco” — grew in the Middle Ages as a result of a wider money… Read More »A Brief History of Medieval Banks
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages Publisher: Spectra (March 1, 1996) ISBN-10: 055357339X Assassin’s Apprentice is the first of three books in The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. The story is a first-person narrative, told from the point-of-view of an adolescent named Fitz. The first-person perspective… Read More »Review of Assassin’s Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) by Robin Hobb