Having the Boys Over to Cheer On the Saxons

After our nice little tea party last Friday (reported on this blog), I promised the neighborhood boys we would have an afternoon dedicated to watching a movie about the Battle of Hastings. They were a half hour late, but my earlier guests, Daniel and Eunice arrived with their brother Samuel, and neighbors Brice and Chase.

What ensued in was as much a mélée as we saw on the screen. No, no fights, but lots of elaborate descriptions of video games the movie reminded them of, and lots of hilarity when one of the boys sat in the Cheetos. One of them started chanting the charming little ditty "Milk, milk, lemonade... etc." causing me to exclaim "Omigod, we used to say that 50 years ago!"

I think the most riveting piece of information they gleaned from my running commentary about the Battle of Hastings episode of Battlefield Britain we watched was that one thing that happened in the heat of battle was soldiers pooping themselves. They also found the fact that Hara;d Hadrada was killed when a Saxon soldier stabbed up through Stamford Bridge and got him in the groin.

Kettle corn, cookies, Cheetos and fruit punch were enjoyed by all. My favorite part was my question and answer period. Such as:

Who was the king of England who died in the battle?
HAROLD!

What was his last name?
Dickinson!

No, it was Godwinson. Why was his last name Godwinson?
Because he was Godwin's son!

Excellent. Who was it the Saxons fought at Stamford Bridge?
THE VIKINGS! But they didn't have any armor on!

Why was that?
Because they weren't expecting the Saxons to arrive so soon. They were having a picnic.

How did Harold Godwinson die?
He was shot in the eye with an arrow!

What was different about how the Normans fought?
They had horses!

Very good. Why is it better to be on the uphill side of a battle?
Because you don't get tired like the guys running up hill.

That's right. Why else?
Because you can throw things down on them!

I shamelessly asked them to cheer Harold Godwinson and boo the Normans. I feel I was well rewarded for the snacks and for my endurance when Brice, at my question, "Who was the leader of the Normans?" sang out "William the Butt-hole!"

Contented sigh. There may be hope for posterity after all.

Reconstructed Anglo Saxon Villages

Actual or virtual, visit some of the reconstructed Anglo Saxon villages to learn more about life in early medieval England.

West Stow Anglo Saxon Village
You can visit the reconstruction of an Anglo Saxon village near Bury St. Edmunds.

England. The chance discovery of fragments of pottery earthed during a trial for sand and gravel extraction led to the excavation of West Stow. Between 1965 and 1972 the site was stripped and excavated. Luckily the area had been covered with a sand dune since the 13th century, giving the archaeologists a unique opportunity to study an entire Anglo-Saxon village. Most of the timber had rotted away, but there was enough evidence to plot the changes in the village between the 5th and 7th centuries.

West Mucking
Explore a virtual Anglo Saxon village.

On the web. The sun is setting on the village of West Mucking. Around you, animal noises mingle with voices. Hens are clucking, pigs are snuffling, and further away you can hear sheep bleating. The villagers are finishing their work for the day; they call to each other as they pass you, coming back from the fields or woodland, carrying their tools. You can smell the smoke from hearths in the houses, and also the piles of rubbish! From one of the houses comes laughter... Use mock archaeological methods to uncover the village.

The Village of Wychamstow
See how the reenactment society, Regias Anglorum, conceived and is building a reconstructed Saxon village.

On the web and in England. Welcome to the virtual village of Wichamstow. The village, which if it keeps up this sort of growth will soon be a small town, is situated by the river Fisclacu. When the village has been deemed to be large enough to be officially called a town, it will have to put together a warship and crew to serve the King in times of war. If things should get worse, there is always a chance that he will also order Wichamstow to build a defensive earth bank and ditch around it with defended gates. The ditch would be about 2 metres deep, with a 2 or 3 metre bank, topped with a timber palisade wall of carefully arranged planks. Inside the palisade is a catwalk for the troops to defend themselves and the populous. If either of these projects has to be executed, it will all have to come from the locality and inhabitants, so it's not a popular step.

Firsby Saxon Village Project
Follow the progress of a private development by Ða Engliscan Gesiþas of a Saxon/Viking village in Lincolnshire.

England. Steve and Judith Jones, members of Ða Engliscan Gesiþas living ten miles north of Lincoln, are building a replica Anglo-Saxon period hall using authentic materials and techniques. Steve and Judith plan to make the house into a partially-defended settlement on a four acre site. This will be run as a study centre for the late Saxon/Viking period and an ancient crafts centre. They will also be making and firing pots of the period, smelting, forging and demonstrating crafts.

Do you know of m ore such projects? Let us know about them! Use the Comments link below.

Separate but Unequal

If you are looking for the Historical Fiction Round-i[. it is the post immediately prior to this one in chronology. The following is reprinted from That's All She Read.


I will write "she" and "her" in this story, but this could happen just as well to a man.

Once upon a time, a Reader walked into her local tax-supported library to pick up a book she wanted to read. A big sign over the door proclaimed "New undamaged copies of books available!" Reader was delighted because for some time the library's collection had been deteriorating. About one out of every five books had sections damaged and even ripped out of the books. Now at last she could take a book out of the library confident that she wouldn't get halfway into it only to find a large section unreadable. She entered the library, then stopped. All she saw were the usual books. The only thing different was that there were now dozens of locked doors along the walls. She approached the Librarian.

Reader: I came to take out a particular book. Is it available in the new undamaged format?

Librarian: Yes, it is!

Reader: Great. Please get it for me.

Librarian: I'm sorry. You can only read it in one of these rooms.

Reader: Why?

Librarian: We promised the publishers we wouldn't let their books out to just anyone.

Reader: Oh! Well, all right, then give me a room too.

Librarian: You have to have a key to get into a room. Sign up for one here, please.

Reader: (Fills out the form and gives it back to the Librarian.) All right, here you are. May I have the book and the room now?

Librarian: I'm sorry, we don't have any rooms available.

Reader: But.. but.. I used to be able to read any books I wanted. Why can't I do that now?

Librarian: I told you. We don't have enough rooms. They are being built by a Canadian company and we have been beta testing them. These things take time.

Reader: What am I supposed to do in the meantime?

Librarian: There are always the books over in the possibly-damaged section.

Reader: I don't want to get into a book only to find I can't finish it or that I am missing a part of it.

Librarian: You can always buy a room of your own.

Reader: Buy one? Why should I have to buy one? I pay my taxes faithfully and willingly. I already paid my share. Why do I have to shell out more money?

Librarian: I'm sorry you feel that way. Others are waiting for rooms too, you know.

Reader: Why can't you just issue keys to the library and let us read the books in this huge room with all the chairs and tables?

Librarian: We looked at this problem long and hard and decided this was the best way to handle the problem. You will just have to be patient.

Reader: So what you are telling me is that if I want to read this book, I must either take a chance on a damaged book, buy my own room, or patiently wait for a room to become available?

Librarian: That's right.

If this story seems ridiculous, it is, but it's happening. Right now people with print impairments, like blind and partially sighted people, are relgated to reading cassette books that are often damaged so badly that they can't be enjoyed. To solve this problem, the National Library Services of the U. S. Library of Congress has created downloadable books that will be available to those people who cannot or prefer not to use the Internet on cartridges they will send out by mail. Patrons will receive reading devices in which to put the cartridge to read the book. In order to use the cartridges they ill need to be issued a key that activates the book.

The problem is that there are not enough devices and cartridges to go around. There probably will not be for many months. In the meantime a reader like myself will have to make do with the cassette books. Unlike every other taxpayer in the country, I will not have access to the book until such time as I am issued a device. I can buy one, but I wonder why I should have to if no other taxpayer does? Especially when there is another way to accomplish the same thing. The library could issue proprietary software to make every computer such a device. They could still require a key. This would cost a great deal less and happen a lot sooner.

I feel as a person with a disability I am being required to accept what we all thought went out of our society thanks to the equality movements of the last century. Of course in reality separate but equal continues to be the rule in some places, but at least not officially. If at the end of my story the Librarian had added, "You African Americans/Jews/women or the like will just have to be patient. We are doing the best we can." there would be outrage. They are saying it, but they are saying, "You blind and otherwise print impaired people will just have to wait."

Someone pointed out to me that this plan has been in the works for more than five years. Perhaps I should have spoken up sooner. I will concede that, but I didn't. Others, however, have. Yet the typical government tendency to do something the least efficient and the most expensive won out anyway.

The solution is simple. The NLS needs to get over whatever arcane notion they have about not making the books accessible to eligible persons on a person's computer. As an author and publisher, I feel this should satisfy the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act.

And then we will be able to read happily ever after.

If you are tempted to think or say "Well, but we are talking about the blind! It's no one's fault they are blind. It's just how things are!" just please remember you are talking about me, and if I have ever done anything for you whether a favor or enlightenment through a review or entertained or educated you with my writing, reconsider whether I should be regarded as a beggar who cannot be a chooser. I plan to send this blog post to my legislators.

I would like to hear from you all how you would respond to the scenario I painted above.

Thanks!

Nan Hawthorne
hawthorne at nanhawthorne.com

Historical Fiction Round-up for August 2009

Our first Historical Fiction Round-up was a gratifying experience, so let's do it again!

We invite all authors of historical novels from any era and in any sub-genre to use the Comments feature below to tell visitors to this blog about your latest book, with ordering information and anything else you can fit into the box.

I will add a link to all the Round-ups to the sidebar so visitors need not search the entire blog, which is approaching 300 posts, to find information on your book. Our stats are not stellar but they're pretty darn good, averaging about 1200 hits a month.

So.. who will be first? Well, I will, but be sure to get your books up here or on a future Historical Fiction Round-up.

Historical fiction fans! Take a look at Comments below to read about the latest and best historical from the very people who bring them to your anticipating eyes! Feel free to add your 2 kb's worth!

Nan Hawthorne
hawthorne@nanhawthorne.com

Etiquette of PR: Make It Easy for Them

If you want someone, a blogger, a reviewer, a radio host, anyone, to help you get the word out about your work, there is one cardinal rule of etiquette -- make it easy for them.

I help folks maarket their work, whether novels or music files, in a number of ways.

1. I have a sort of catalog site called medieval-novels.com .
2. I invite authors to spotlight their work with excerpts on Today in Medieval History .
3. I invite smsll unsigned Celtic musicians to send me their mp3s to air on my online station, and will publish information on them on the related blog on MySpace.

And I am sure I do other things I just don't remember right at the moment.

One thing I can tell you, on behalf of all folks like me who like to network with and for other creative people, is that you should make it as easy on me as possible if you want my best effort.

Here are some suggestions:

Don't send me to a web site to download anything or to read about you. I'm plenty happy to help you out, but I am busy doing my own thing, including hellping others out, and the less wandering about the Internet I have to do the more likely I am to get to your request in a timely manner and the more generous I will be.

Don't send me excerpts or other material as part of an email. An attached file is fine. An excerpt, for example, in an email will wind up requiring that I fiddle with the formatting which with my lousy vision is even more time consuming than you might think.

In general, you want to eliminate any extra steps for someone you want to have help you get the word out about your book or music. That goes for everything and everyone. If you want a radio station or other media to help you, call them back when they call you.. immediately. Otherwise they will lose interest and go on to something and someone else.

If you want a web site to focus on your recent release, make sure you include everything they might want to use" images, text, ordering information, an excerpt, reviews, important details.

I am writing this because it is not uncommon for folks to take me up on an offer to help, but too often I have to follow up with one or more requests for information. A musician whom I asked for information for a blog entry about his group told me where to find it online. Wrong. It was his job, as the recipient of the publicity, to send it to me. An author sent me an excerpt of her novel in the body of an email. Wrong. A plain text file is what I needed. Another author asked me to choose a section of her novel to spotlight. Wrong. She needs to take that time, not me.

In my case, there is another step people need to take, and that is to send me digital files and not send me a print item. I will have to go through several steps to make print into an accessible format as I am severely visually impaired. I have always noticed that many accommodations for disability make life easier for everyone, so why not offer the digital copy to every person you ask to write a review or do an interview with you, etc.?

Why do I do the favors I do? I believe in what you are all doing, writing novels and making music. And I just like to hellp people. Sometimes, like with medieval-novels.com, I get a small referral fee. In another case, Radio De Dánaan, I actually pay Live365 to be allowed to broadcast. It balances out, but in the end, I think I come out ahead because I am doing what I love.

If you can make that love run smootly for me, I will appreciate you all the more.

Just the Facts, Nan: The Black Death

Facts related to the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages.

• Once thought to be caused by Yersinia pestis (formerly Pasteurella pestis) is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. It is a facultative anaerobe that can infect humans and other animals, analysis of the spread of the disease now points to a viral hemorrhagic fever. These are RNA viruses which also includes the African ebola virus. Most recent theory is that the plague was actually both of these diseases and pneumonic plague. This will account for the variety of symptoms seen during the pandemic.


• Now believed to have originated in a species of marmot from near Lake Issyk Kul in what is now Kyrgyzwtan. It then spread to fleas and ultimately to humans.


• Thought to have originated in Central Asia in the 1320s or 1330s and have visited China where it killed about one-third of the population and also traveled west. The European peak 1348-1350.


• The estimated worldwide death toll for the 14th century was between 75 and 100 million people. That was 30%-60% of the population.


• Symptoms depended on the cause of the plague in any individual. Hemorrhagic fever causes bleeding and blood poisoning. Pneumonic plague starts as a respiratory disease. The classic sign of bubonic plague was the appearance of buboes (swollen lymph nodes) in the groin, the neck, and armpits, which oozed pus and bled.


• Most victims died within four to seven days after infection.


• Not everyone caught the disease. Those who did and survived appeared to have picked up immunity to reinfection.


• There had been several years of failed harvests in Europe prior to the coming of the Great Pestilence, as the disease was called then, making the population more susceptible to contagion.


• Contemporary theories of the cause of the plague range from God's wrath to early recognition of contagion.


• Our custom of saying "Bless you" or "Gesundheit" ("health" in German) when someone sneezes may originate with the plague, one of the first symptoms of which was sneezing. The children's game, "Ring Around the Rosey" refers to the wide death toll of the plague. "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down."


• The King of England at this time was Edward III, the second to last of the Plantagenet kings. His daughter Joan died of the plague while en route to her marriage to Pedro the Cruel. Edward and Philippa had twelve children, but only Joan contracted and died of the plague.


• The decimation of the ;population had the effect of improving conditions for the peasants and others. With a worker shortage, a person could demand higher wages. This clout also added some political power. Many farm workers moved to towns, changing the balance of power and beginning the early rise of a middle class. The Church's inadequate dealing with the plague and victims hellped foster "heretical" ideas.


• The plague was not over in 1350. It recurred many times until the 19th century.

Only a few of the novels that depict the Black Death:

Insatiate Archer, by Hunter Tayoor
Sarum and London, by Edward Rutherfurd
World Without End, by Ken Follett
The Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
Morality Play, by Barry Unsworth
Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks

Image: Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411)

Five Mistaken Beliefs about the Dark Ages

Mistaken Belief the First – That Vikings wore helms with horns on them.

Why should any soul not trying to enter the Gates of Heaven ere his time have anything on his helm that would make it easier to knock off his head? Helms in our time, whether Saxon or Dane, were only adorned by the most foolhardy , and never with horns.

Mistaken Belief the Second – That Celtic warriors painted themselves with woad

Those who believe this base that belief on the word for the Pictish people, whose name means “painted”. Now prithee explain to me how one may travel the road from that fact to the destination that throughout the history of Scotland their warriors painted themselves blue? For that is what you shall have to do, and without any proof you shall have to climb a very steep path.

Mistaken Belief the Third – That Charlemagne was and spoke French

In my time - and the great king lives at this very time - there is no country called France and no language that is French. There is the Kingdom of the Franks, ‘tis true, but that language has not developed. It shall develop in Gascony from a sort of poor Latin, but Charlemagne himself spoke a Germanic language, Frankish. And so did the great warrior, his nephew, Roland.

Mistaken Belief the Fourth - That there was a King Arthur

Verily, I know that I shall be taken to task by many a reader for stating that there was no King Arthur. It is a fondly held myth, especially by those who wish to remain in Power by claiming descent. There is no evidence of such a man in any record, even in the writings of the Venerable Bede. The closest one might come to such a hero is an obscure Celtic chief who may serve to bolster some claims, but otherwise has no relation to the legends.

Mistaken Belief the Fifth – That King Offa of Mercia was a Moslem

King Offa of Mercia minted the first gold coins in Western Europe. One of those coins bears his handsome profile on the obverse and Arabic writing on the reverse, translated in part to a reference to Allah. This, my good friend, is because his Mercian majesty’s mint copied a Byzantine coin in order to lend credibility for those traders who had only known Norse silver coins used in England ere that time.

Leofwen Taverner of Eoforwic

Originally published in the Blue Lady Tavbern blog, soon to be Alehouse Tales. Check at Shield-wall Books for release date.

How "Lord of the Ruings" Should Have Ended

Gay Ain't All or Nothin', Y' know

I have had a couple occasions to write about the topic of homosexuality in history and historical fiction in the past, including Gay As a Lord.. Or Lady.. Why Wouldn't There Be Homosexuals in the Middle Ages? and What Is It with Historical Novelists and Gay Men? The first debated notions that there could be no gay people in the Middle Ages because it was against the law of the Church. The second addressed the stereotype that being molested by a man when they were young is what made men gay in the first place.

Now I have another string to harp on... whether you are either gay or not, whether a person who wants to make love with one sex never wants to or can make love with the other.

I have run into this bias or at best mistaken belief before. I recall shaking my head as Larry King asked Richard Chamberlain, astonished, why if he had had sex with a woman and enjoyed it he didn't stick to just women. The implication was that being gay either means not wanting sex with the opposite sex or not being able to manage it. Chamberlain, bless his heart, just laughed. He didn't even bother to explain.

I have run into this topic in historical fiction more recently. The other night at a book club discussing Edward Rutherfurd's Russka one of the members expressed surprised that a gay male character could be both a driven industrialist and into the arts. Thankfully she concluded that if Italian Renaissance doges could be both ruthless businessmen and patrons of the arts why not Alexander? Perhaps it wasn't just his being gay that seemed to preclude this.

But I have also read an ongoing discussion of Richard I Lionheart of England where whether he was gay, a sort of convention for a few decades in historical fiction, is being questioned. The major evidence for each side is that Richard had a bastard child, proof he was straight, and a letter from a monk chiding Richard for his behavior with his soldiers, the proof that he was. There is more to this than these two items, but they serve the purpose of the point I am about to make.

You know, people are not necessarily either gay or straight. A gay man or woman might very well have a satisfying sexual experience with a member of the opposite sex. That they did doesn't mean they are straight or that they are not gay. You may say to yourself, "Well, I certainly could never do that!" Fine, but what has that got to do with anyone else but you?

As with any other group of "outsiders" to the prevalent culture, gayness is subject to a raft of mistaken beliefs about it. Fortunately there seem to be many more historical novelists who understand that they are mistaken beliefs. I have read numerous novels where a man who was hitherto only engaged in relationships with women finds himself responding sexually to another man. Many characters or, for that matter, authors themselves are known for great gay love affairs but also had wives and kids, or husbands and kids.

I guess my point is to try to learn the reality of things, especially those of you who are recreating history for readers. You are all way too smart for that.

Authors: What You Didn't Understand About "No"

By Rob Parnel

Reprinted with permission from The Easy Way To Write.

Many writers tell me the scariest thing they have to do is submit their work to publishers, magazine editors and agents.

This is understandable.

You may have poured your heart and soul into a piece of writing. You may have spent a very long time working on it - so much so that it feels like a part of you is somehow exposed.

You fear criticism at best, ridicule at worst.

Placing your work in an envelope can bring on palpitations and an overwhelming sense of panic.

Writers ask me if this ever goes away.

The short answer is no.

It doesn't matter how long you've been writing, or how many times you submit material or show your work to others, there's always a nagging trepidation associated with the experience.

It's akin to first night nerves. Actors, not matter how accomplished, still feel it just before the curtain rises.

Musicians and singers still feel it, just before the song begins.

Even great speakers - gurus - feel it, as they walk out to face the audience.

It's natural, to be expected, indeed, welcomed.

Nervousness is good because it means you're concerned about your art. If you had no fear, no thought that you could ever do any wrong, you wouldn't care so much about your work.

If you had little self consciousness, you'd most likely stop writing and think, Ah well, that'll do. Who cares if they don't like it?

And I think that would come across in your writing.

Don't Fear Rejection
Rejection is not to be feared. Criticism is not to be feared - quite the contrary. If you've stimulated a reaction, even if it's bad, that's good. Because that's what you want.

The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.

The last thing you want is for your writing to be ignored.

But we can't all be fabulous, especially when we're starting out, and the people we send our MSS to know that. And sometimes it's impossible to know how our writing will work for others until we show it to them.

You need to develop an inner confidence - not so much in your writing style or your use of the right words - but in the ideas you're presenting which, after all, is usually what publishers are interested in and looking for.

Writing can almost always be improved by editing, re-shaping and reworking. And you should always strive to improve the way you express yourself.

But there comes a time when you need to let go - and receive feedback. There comes a time when the actor must play the role for the audience or the singer must sing her song. Just like any performer, writers must reveal their skill to the world.

And, gasp, be judged.

And this is where the source of fear is located - in the judgment of others. I suspect sometimes we'd rather not know if we're on the wrong track - or whether our belief in our own talent is misguided.

Rest Easy, Be Kind to Yourself

Let's take a look at the reality of showing your work to others.

1. There are millions of writers out there, you're just one.

2. Rejection is only very rarely personal.

3. If you don't get out there, someone else will.

4. The world needs writers, that's a fact.

5. You've got to be in it to win it.

Confidence in yourself, even if it's misplaced, is essential to success. Because without self confidence, you'll always hide your light - and your work - under a bushel, to coin a phrase from the Bible. (What is a bushel anyway? Do they sell them at K-Mart?)

Even though the jitters may persist - even for JK Rowling, who still receives her fair share of criticism - you have to overcome the fear - and submit your work anyway. It's the only way to get ahead.

It's also the only way to get over the initial nervousness - and discover for yourself the reality of being a 'real' writer.

There will always be hurdles and setbacks. Writers have more than their fair share of those. But it's the ones who keep coming back that take away the prizes.

Be Humble and Accept Criticism

As I said, sometimes the only way to experience the reality of being a writer is to deliberately put yourself out there - and step into the firing line.

You may be criticized - but actually not nearly as much as you'd expect. But even if you are, it's all good.

Criticism is feedback. And acting on criticism is helping you grow and learn as a writer. It's making you better and stronger. It's giving you the tools to keep coming back and proving, with each word, that you know what you're doing, have a right to do it, and will keep doing it until your vision of the world is recognized as valid and well expressed.

Don't fear the fear. Embrace it.

Don't fear rejection, it's to be expected, even welcomed.

Because each rejection means you're one step closer.

And with each step your confidence will grow.

Till next time,

Keep Writing!

Rob@easywaytowrite.com
Your Success is My Concern
http://easywaytowrite.com