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’m a regular reader of David Anthony Durham’s blog, and a recent post of his discusses his experience with breaking into the publishing industry. David is a good writer. I’m currently half-way through his latest novel Acacia and am enjoying it. It’s always interesting to hear advice from authors who… Read More »Publishing Advice from Historical Fiction / Fantasy Author
Hoarding [hawr-ding, hohr-] Wooden galleries erected on the face of a castle’s battlements to enable the defenders to fire on men attacking the base of the wall. (Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 249)
When I worked in a bookstore, I constantly monitored the bestsellers to get an idea of what was popular among readers. I wanted to know, for my own writing, what readers found interesting and why. It’s the dream of most writers to one day see their name on that list, though for my… Read More »Bestselling Books from the Past Decade (1996-2006)
Coif Pronunciation: [koif] Middle English coife, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin cofea 1) Mail hood covering the head (Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 247) 2) a hoodlike cap worn under a veil by nuns 3) any of various hoodlike caps, varying through the centuries in shape and purpose, worn by men… Read More »Medieval Term of the Week: Coif
Falchion Pronunciation: [fawl-chuhn, -shuhn] Etymology: Middle English fauchoun, from Anglo-French fauchun, from faucher to mow, from Vulgar Latin *falcare, from Latin falc-, falx 1) Broad-bladed cutting weapon. (Prestwich, Michael. Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience, 347) 2) Short, curved single-edged sword with a broad blade,… Read More »Medieval Term of the Day: Falchion
Set in 14th century medieval England, World Without End by Ken Follett centers around the town of Kingsbridge and follows the lives of the descendants of Jack and Alien from Pillars of the Earth. Twenty years after Follett wrote Pillars of the Earth and after numerous requests from fans to… Read More »Review of World Without End by Ken Follett
Relief Pronunciation: [ri-leef] Function: noun Etymology: Middle English relef, relief, from Anglo-French from relever to relieve 1) The fee paid by the heir of a deceased person on securing possession of a fief. Tradition determines the amount demanded. 2) A fine paid by the heir of a vassal to the… Read More »Medieval Term of the Day: Relief
Bernard Cornwell’s new historical fiction novel Azincourt is expected to be released this October (2008) in the UK. The US version will not come out until January of 2009 most likely. The novel will be a stand-alone, not a series, and will obviously cover the events surrounding the famous Battle of… Read More »Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell
I almost exclusively stick to medieval history when posting on my site, but I’m curious about the new movie 10,000 B.C. The story follows the life of young hunter whose love interest is taken captive, and then he sets out with a small group to pursue the captors and save… Read More »10,000 B.C – The Movie