I haven’t been able to post to my blog much lately, or read and post to others’ blogs as much as I would like, as I’ve been really trying to finish up the 3rd/4th draft of my novel (my day job has kept me extremely busy also). I’m currently in… Read More »Novel Update
While I generally stick to posts related to medieval history and historical fiction and fantasy, I ran across this short blurb about The Alchemist by Paul Coelho being made into a movie. I haven’t read the novel yet, but I’ve heard really good things about it from friends, and I… Read More »‘The Alchemist’ Bound for the Big Screen
LibraryThing is an online library catalog where you enter what you’re reading, and others do the same, and this makes it easy for you to find people who have similar interests and tastes as yours. Read the description from the LibraryThing Web site below: What is LibraryThing? LibraryThing is a site… Read More »Library Thing
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