In medieval times arranged marriages were common and often more about duty than romance. The cult of courtly love cast aside marital constraints in favor of a concept of unrequited love on a higher plane than the physical. This notion naturally led to trouble. The idealized image of a lady favoring a knight who fought … Continue reading Courtly Love in Medieval Times
Launching Wayfarer Highs and lows are what my January was about. I spent the first several weeks fighting off three maladies at once; an annoying cold, an infection, and a painful bout of sciatica. This put paid to some of my launch plans for Wayfarer, book two of my epic fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, which … Continue reading My Crazy Book Launch for Wayfarer, Tales of Faeraven 2
This week adds a guest journal from author Lisa Lickel on the joys of her home writing workshop.Enjoy this fun peak into this gifted writer’s private life. Lisa: I’ve been sick this past week…I would use it as an excuse to say “Don’t Look at My Dust!” but that wouldn’t really be fair to the … Continue reading What’s on the wall of Lisa Lickel’s Home Office?
Announcing Wayfarer, Tales of Faeraven 1 The wait is over! Pelican Books and I are celebrating the release of Wayfarer, book two in my Tales of Faeraven epic fantasy trilogy. I wrote all the posts in the release-day celebration blog blitz, which looks at Wayfarer and my experience of writing it from many perspectives. About Wayfarer … Continue reading Wayfarer Blog Blitz and Release
My Year in Review: 2013 The past year held its share of challenges and surprises, but always there’s been an engaging adventure. I had hoped to finish DawnKing, the third novel in my epic fantasy trilogy, Tales of Faeraven, and I came within a few thousand words of meeting that goal. The unexpected intervened, however, … Continue reading 2013 in Review and a Future Glimpse
When I happened to notice a picture of the writing office of my friend and fellow speculative fiction writer, James L Rubart, in NW Jobs by the Seattle Times, I wondered how any other office could equal the sheer brilliance of my friend’s secret hideaway. But then one thing led to another and I created my … Continue reading The Seattle Times Features My Closet Office
I needed to put a sound booth together in order to read audio versions of my books and for a podcast. The under-stairs closet in our house seemed a perfect dead space, so I set up an old sewing machine table as a computer stand and fit an office chair near the door. On the long … Continue reading Writing Office in a Closet
The story that became Tales of Faeraven, my epic fantasy trilogy, began as a fairytale I made up for my bored young daughter while on a car trip. Long after my daughter had forgotten the people and places of Elderland, they lived on in my imagination. Any writer might hope for such deep inspiration, but … Continue reading Writing Journey
It’s not uncommon for a writer to be proficient in English but challenged when it comes to numbers. I say this in my defense because I’m still living down some stories. The most famous one happened when a writing retreat group member volunteered to pick me up on the way to our San Juan Island retreat. … Continue reading One Writer’s Trouble with Numbers (or How God Knew Which Husband to Give Me)
