Three Things About..

It is supposed to "me" but I thought it would be fun to answer this sharing email with a sort of generic historical novelists' answers.

Three Things About Me

A.   Three names I go by: Mom (or Dad), best-selling author  someday, I hope, the history know-it-all

B. Three places I’ve lived: 12th century Holy Land, 19th century London, 8th century fantasy country - in my mind.

C. Three places I’ve worked: McDonald's, a temp agency, summer camp

D. Three things I love to watch: my royalties add up, movies about my novels' eras, the awed expressions on people's faces when they find out I'm an author, no honestly!

E. Three places I have been: the library, the library and the library.

F. Three people that email me regularly: my editor, my agent, and the friend who holds my hand when I am in a slump.

G. Three things I love to eat: medieval feasts, tea and crumpets in 19th century London, cookies at book clubs.

H. Three things I am looking forward to:  the contract for my next novel, winning the award for best historical novel, the invention of the time machine.

I. Three things I love to do: sleeping, if I ever get to; coming out of writer's block, daydreaming.

J. Three people I most want to reply to this email: Sharon kay Penman, Bernard Cornwell, and Philippa Gregory.

So here's what you're supposed to do if you get one of these in your email... Copy and paste, deleting my answers and then send this to a few good friends or family INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn something about each other.

Now, what if we do these for our characters?

27 of You Asked For It

Old drawing from the 60s but you should prtend Falni is Cerridwwen.

27 people voted for their choice of what plot lines we should follow on An Involuntary King: The Stories Blog in future.  Here are the results.

1. Journeys of two Irish bards. 30.77% (8 votes)
2. Adventures of a dispossessed king's son. 19.23% (5 votes)
3. A queen goes to the aid of a monastery that was destroyed by Vikings. 15.38% (4 votes)
4. Two royal sisters, a nun and the wife of a king, help each other. 15.38% (4 votes)
5. Stories about the common people living near an Anglo Saxon stronghold. 7.69% (2 votes)
6. How the not-so-nice mercenaries met. 7.69% (2 votes)
7. The voyages of a Danish merchant sea captain. 3.85% (1 vote)
8. Villagers forced into banditry by a greedy overlord. 3.85% (1 votes)
9. The characters in An Involuntary King when they were children. 0.00% (0 votes)

So, Shannon and Rory it will be, especially as the dispossessed king's son will have apossible novel of his own, that is, one in which he plays a significant role.  The same is the case with the not-so--nice mercenaries who will find themselves part of the Elerde novel.

For the record, there already are adventures written for Shannon and Rory here on the blog. 

• Shannon's and Rory's Youth Series
• Shannon and Heather Series
• Shannon in Norway Series
• Rory and Cerridwen series
• Rory and Ceri Vignettes

The plots that did not get as many but at least got one vote -- thank you for not voting for "Críslicland Babies" -- will get up here eventually.

By the way, this blog is up for grabs for fan fiction!  Hint hint.

In the meantime, I am back to the extensive table of contents.  I hope to have the first installment of "The Road to paris" starring Shannon O'Neill and Rory McGuinness, with Dorothy Lamour as Cerridwen.

Outta Sight!

Fundus Flavimaculatas.. hey, he was some sort of Roman philospher or politician, right?  Nope, I am afraid not.  It is a disease of the retina, the light reception and transmission area in the back of the eyeball.  It's what I have.  My version is called Stargardt's Disease, is hereditary and congenital, and though I did not know it until I was 25, I have had it all my life.

If you want to know what it is like, just get out an old pair of glasses and smear Vaseline in the middle of the lenses.  That is not precise, of course, since the middle section of my vision is not smeary but actually absent.  Here's another exercise: Reach up and put your hand behind your head.  Now, without turning your head, look at your hand.  You can't see it, right?  But you also don't see a black space.  That's what vision loss is like, whether partial or total.  I don't see a black spot when I look directly at an object.  I just don't see the object.  Another way I have described it is that it feels like you have a cold and can't quite breathe, only this is with your eyes and eyesight.

I was all brave and positive when I first found out about my permanent sight loss.  When you are young, you can compensate.  But as you age, though Stargardt's itself does not tend to worsen, your ability to compensate lessens.  I am now 58, and for the past few years I have started to find it harder to be breezy and upbeat about it all.  I keep thinking, "OK, I get it.  Now can we go back to the way it used to be?" 

The three reactions I get when people learn I have a severe vision impairment are as follows:

1.  "Isn't there anything you can do about it?"  The answer is, "If you mean medically, no.  There is no treatment or cure."  Of course, what I want to say next is, "What?!  Do you think if there was I wouldn't jump at the chance?" 
2. "Oh, that's so awful.  I don't think I could live if I lost my sight."   I want to respond, "What has what you would do got to do with me?  You'd live, and if you are any kind of a person, you'd find your way through it."  I think what I am really wanting to say is that it is not helpful and is outright burdensome to say stuff like that to a person who has lost a faculty.  What exactly do you expect us to say?  Best just to acknowledge the fact and go on without the drama.
3. Then there's the ever popular "I just don't know how you do it!"  Why not ask me?  I will gladly tell you how I use my computer, what and how I read, how I get around, what compensating tools and skills I have developed.  This one is usually accompanied by "You are amazing!"  Let me clue you, disability magnifies what a person already was.  If you are a poor mouth, miserable, helpless person you will be even more so after onset of a disability.  If you were resourceful and motivated before, you will apply those character traits to coping with your disablelty.  If you want to admire me, just admire me.  Remember what it felt like to be told "You're pretty good, for a girl" or whatever subhuman you are.

Why am I writing this, and not for the first time?  Lately things have gotten a bunch more difficult.  The experience of severe vision loss can be rather infantilizing.  It seems like you have to turn to someone and ask them to read something to you, to point something out, or to describe things.  People do get weary of this.  I can tell when my husband is getting tired on a road trip because he stops telling me what we are passing, like signs or shops or the like.

I just stopped doing the cooking for my household.  Blind people can cook, but it's no picnic, if you will excuse the expression.  It happens that my husband wanted a creative outlet.  i was glad to hand it to him.  I cannot see what's in the pan I'm stirring clearly any more and I haven't been able to read packages for some time.  I can't say my heart is broken that I don't have to cook any more, but it is an ending.. something my life is getting fuller of all the time.

There was the last book I read visually for example, sometime in my late 20s.  There was the last time I could see what was going on first on a TV screen and later on a movie screen.  There was the last package I could read and then the last package I could even identify.  I never drove, so I don't have that "last time" to mourn.  There was also the last time I could go out on my own with no anxiety, the last time I could tell when the walk sign came on, or the last bus whose route number I could read. 

That is not to say I am without resources.  I have no patience at all with people who put down computer technology because I have the remarkably rewarding life I have largely thanks to the Internet, the web and the tools developed for people  like me to use them.  No I don't use speech reccognition --  my fingers work just fine, thank you very much.  It's what's already on the screen I need help with, not what I want to put on it.  For that I use unforgivably expensive assistive tech, namely software that lives inside my computer and both reads aloud to me and magnifies a portion of the screen for me.  It is more physically and perhaps psychically taxing for me, but it is far from impossible.

Yes, I am amazing.  I admit it.  Actually what I am is restless, always looking for a new project, find it hard to sit still.  I am intelligent and creative   So I am unusually well equipped to cope with a disability.  My favorite thing someone said to me recently was "You are very good at making lemonade."  They meant of the lemons I have been given.  That's exactly it... I am good at making lemonade.

I have one helluva life.  I am married to my best friend and true love.  I am comfortable financially, thanks to him primarily.  I am free to pursue the profession I adore.  My health is good enough.  I live in a wonderful region, the Pacific Northwest.  I was born at a time when all the tools I need are available.  I have a gorgeous orange cat sitting next to my keyboard, a kitty who worships me.

So I hope, if you had any, I answered a few questions.  It is my fond hope that you will accept me as I am, smart, funny, kind, and all of that part and parcel of me with or without fundus flavimaculatus.

If you have more questions, I will be happy to answer those I can.

What Authors Say About Nan Hawthorne's Reviews

Book reviews at That's All She Read, http://allsheread.blogspot.com/

What Authors Say About Nan Hawthorne's Reviews

"There are some people who you get the feeling just skim a book, grab a quote or two and use that as the basis for their reviews. This is not the case with Nan Hawthorne. In her reviews of The Last Seal and The AmberTreasure you get the sure feeling she has read every word. More than that, you feel she has got to know the characters as you know them with all their quirks and vanities. Nan reads books because she loves books and if you get a good review from her it is because she enjoyed it. That said Nan always makes constructive comments that could improve the work and that is appreciated by me.Richard Denning, author of The Amber Treasure, The Seventh Seal, and Tomorrow's Guardian. http://www.richarddenning.co.uk/

"Nan Hawthorne was the first reviewer to praise my debut historical novel, The Afflicted Girls, in which I reconstruct an infamous village through its many people, explaining each of their parts in the witch-hunt of 1692. Nan acknowledged the choices I made as a novelist (even the unpopular ones), and was proved right. My book has now been awarded a Silver Medal for Historical Fiction by Independent Publisher in their National Book Awards Competition. Of course, I am extremely pleased to be contributing an original perspective and probable solution to a 300-year old American History mystery." Suzy Witten, Author of The Afflicted Girls (A Novel of Salem) Winner of 2010 IPPY SILVER MEDAL for Historical Fiction/Military Fiction

"As a reviewer you hit on many of the things I consider most important to good writing and into which I put a good deal of effort. To wit, a variety of real characters who grow and develop not because the plot requires them to, but because of everything going on around them and the time they live in." Anel Viz, author of The Memoirs of Colonel Gérard Vrielhac.

"I liked your review because you read carefully. Other reviewers don't. You gave attention to the genre, the characters, the setting, and the details. You were not hung up over the fact that it wasn't a standard romance. You are, in fact, the first person who is not a romance reviewer to review it. It was nice to be seen for itself, rather than through romance colored glasses." M. Kei, The Sallee Rovers

"Unlike many reviews that just give a basic run-through of the plot and basically say 'I liked it' or 'I didn't like it,' Nan Hawthorne offer something more, a shrewd and penetrating look at the work in question; she sees things that sail right over the heads of many reviewers. As an author, I have always felt that Nan understood Exactly what I was trying to do with my books, rather than getting blindsided by or wrapped up in what others have seen as sheer sensationalism or gratuitous content. She has seen these things for what they really are, and, even more importantly to me, seen past them and noticed things that have fallen by the wayside in other reviews. I have complete confidence in her as a reviewer and know I can trust her, whether the book is good or bad, to give an honest, straightforward opinion. She is, in my opinion, one of the finest book reviewers currently on the web." Brandy Purdy, author of The Boleyn Wife and The Confession of Piers Gaveston. http://www.brandypurdy.com/

[Book Review] Libertas, by Alistair Forrest

Libertas

Alistair Forrest

My regular readers are watching me spread my wings and read novels from other than the Middle Ages. Thanks to the proliferation of independent publishing, and in the case of Libertas, many more small publishers, divers authors' love for and knowledge of so many more times and places is becoming available. This novel is a case in point.

The time is the first century BC, the place Roman Spain. I should say "grudgingly Roman" Spain, but then that is one of the themes of this novel. Pito is a young boy whose heritage goes back to the seafaring Phoenicians. He lives in a town in south central Iberia which has been "civilized" by Roman influences. The Romans did an excellent job of coming in to a culture, offering the best of their civilization, sewage disposal, clean wells, communications systems, and so forth, and winning their tacit support of "the Roman Way". The trouble is that the Romans did not stop there. Ultimately it was the sword they wielded to command loyalty. In Libertas what Pito and his people face is Julius Caesar just as he is angling to be God and Emperor. The two sons of the great Pompey are in Spain to try to keep it Julius-free, part of the on-going and fascinating struggle between republicanism and dictatorship throughout the Roman Empire. The younger, Sextus, is a charismatic and fun-loving fellow, very clever and just flexible enough to be a survivor. He befriends Pito, who turns out to have a flair for engineering and invention in general. He develops a signaling system to warn the republican armies of Julius Caesar's movements. Sadly the resistance is not successful, many of the leaders are killed, and the rest are refugees. Pito's family is enslaved and he leaves with no less a celebrity as Agrippa for Rome.

Thanks to mischance Pito winds up in Sicilia, which just happens to be where Sextus has flown. He remains and helps this old friend to develop some improvements in weaponry in exchange for Sextus finding and rescuing his family, who are now slaves in Rome. It is the downfall of Julius Caesar, "Et tu, Brute" and all that, that facilitates their emancipation. Pito and family return to Spain where they discover that in Caesar's wake the petty warlords they set up have gone to town, especially Arsay, Pito's long archenemy. Arsay is a real S.O.B. and is crucifying people right and left. The mountain people, Celts I assume, are only too happy to help Pito and his friends fight Arsay's force. They are outnumbered and "outgunned" and though encouraged by a talking eagle who tells Pito to get over himself, Pito is not so sure they can win.

There are several things I really liked about this novel. One is that it takes place in a new time and place for me. I mean, I have read about the depredations of Julius Caesar in Gaul in Druids by Morgan Llywelyn, and about the Peninsula Wars in Portugal and Spain in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels, but putting Spain and the Roman era together was fascinating. I am starting to want to know more and more about more and more times and places. I personally find historical fiction offers a more human and identifiable way of telling about a place and time, so I am in hog heaven with books like Libertas.

One thing I have discovered about myself is that I am most drawn to novels with what they call in Hollywood "a good ensemble cast". Translated to novels, that means distinct characters who are believable because they think differently, they talk differently and they act differently. Forrest did a fine job with this. Besides Pito, who is daring but painfully aware of the odds he is up against, and Sextus who is not surprisingly bound to become a sort of swashbuckling pirate, there are Liandra, Pito's early girlfriend who becomes a leader and warrior in her own right - nicely done, Alistair! - Ziri, the Berber who is mystical, Pito's mountain friends who are rather like Native Americans in that they live on the land, value it, and stick to themselves, Agrippa, valiant and capable, and, of course, Arsay, the epitome of the big dumb bully who is nevertheless able to take over.

The spirituality in this novel tends to an amalgam of polytheism, angels, mystical monotheism, and Earth religions. Eagles symbolize for Pito and the reader the overwhelming power of the elemental. One eagle promised Pito he would be a light to his people.  And in regard to that, the next thing I liked about this novel is how Pito handles this knowledge, not at all the brave and bold hero but with self-doubt, fear he has to fight to control, and plenty of humility.

“Libertas” in this novel is not just freedom from oppression of the Romans but Pito’s invitation to and initiation into what the author calls “covenant”, a bonding and promise between people that is their free choice, and the sort of freedom symbolized by the eagles and their flight, their oversight of all below. In contrast, the villain Arsay subscribes to eagles as a spiritual force, but he wore eagle feathers, as a way to co-opt the power for himself.

My single favorite thing in the novel is one line, describing Agrippa's men's departure from the nomad camp where they have stayed for some days: “the hardened soldiers among us were moved, waving last farewells to the women each had befriended.” Befriended! What a wonderful way to describe the bonding, even temporarily of sexual partners! What a female-positive and refreshing approach to the whole issue of soldiers and the women they take to their beds while in foreign places. I think Richard Sharpe would understand that line. Along with Liandra and her companion Cassia it is clear from this characterization of friendship between the sexes that Forrest embraces the strength of women. Bravo!

There were times when I thought the action skipped forward too abruptly,the plot becoming ragged.  Aetna eripts while Pito is in Sicilia, but I am unsure what the point of this was as it did not seem to me to advance the story.  Nevertheless this was a thoughtful and at the same time exciting novel.

The publisher, Queastor, sent me a copy of the digital file of this book in exchange for a review, which I have finally gotten to. I read it using the text-to-speech feature on my Kindle 2.

Pick a Plot!

An Involuntary King: The Stories

Well, it's over..  The old letters and stories from the 1960s are there, as well as all the authorized and unauthorized stories written from 2006 to this past December, most of which wound up part of the novel   There are even stories about a 21st century detective helping Rory find the queen when she runs away!

But as of June 20 every last cotton pickin' story will be up there.  There are no more.. nil.. zip.. nada... squat.

But that cannot be borne!  I want to keep writing them.  So I will let you express your interests in possible plots.  That is what the poll is for.

 Sorry, no Elerde plots.  The dastardly but sexy Breton mercenary is getting a novel all his own later on.

Check out An Involuntary King: The Stories  if you are intrigued and want to know more before you choose.

Which of the following plots would interest you as we continue the stories on http://aninvoluntaryking.blogspot.com?

• Adventures of a dispossessed king's son.
• Journeys of two Irish bards.
• The voyages of a Danish merchant sea captain.
• A queen goes to the aid of a monastery that was destroyed by Vikings.
• Two royal sisters, a nun and the wife of a king, help each other.lp each other.
• Stories about the common people living near an Anglo Saxon stronghold.
• Villagers forced into banditry by a greedy overlord.
• The characters in An Involuntary King when they were children.
• How the not-so-nice mercenaries met.

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Create a Blog Poll

[Book Review] The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Post #175.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The very first novel in the English language was Samuel Richardson's Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded, composed as a series of letters written by the heroine to the folks back at home.  The epistolary style of story telling has been used often, and that is the case with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  Through letters and a few cables  exchanged by an author and a number of her acquaintances, we are presented with character development  in each person's own words as well as the gradual unfolding of a human drama that could not get more personal.

Juliet Ashton is a journalist and author who penned a series of columns for the newspaper in England during World War II.  When these columns are published as a book, Juliet feels the pressure to follow this first success with another writing project.   As she is agonizing over the familiar, to authors, "do I have a second book in me?" angst, she received a letter from a man on the Channel Island of Guernsey, a Dawsy Adams, who bought a used book by Charles Lamb that had once belonged to her.  Their ensuing correspondence introduces Juliet to the hardships and tragedies of the residents of the island which was occupied by Nazi Germany and then blockaded by Allied navies.  The reader comes to know a range of both sympathetic and unpleasant characters both through their own letters or through stories written about them in others'.  The one person who is not part of the correspondence is Elizabeth, a charmingly heroic figure who was taken away to a concentration camp for defying the Nazi authorities. As she first writes to islanders then writes to her editor and others about her own stay on Guernsey, she realizes that Elizabeth's story is her next book.

The title seems frivolous, but this is by no means a "light" novel.  It is full of hope, despair, loss and mindless cruelty.  It is a love story but more it is about the courage of a group of friends and neighbors who endure often alongside the occupying soldiers the privations and dangers of the occupation.  The mother-daughter team of authors' success with defining individual voices for each of the correspondents and for showing only what each one can know on his or her own is meticulous.

This is the July book for Let's Read Historical Novels, a monthly book discussion group conducted via voice chat at Accessibleworld.org, to which you are cordially invited whether you are visually impaired or not.  I downloaded and read this book from the National Library Seivices' BARD catalogue.

Historical Fiction Roundup for June 2010

Do you have a new historical fiction book coming out or just want to remind our readers of your old ones?  Just click on Comments below and tell us all about it.

Be sure tolist all the vital stuff: title, author, ISBN and a little about the book.  Your web address too.  Tell us why we must read your book, now, promto, without delay!

Spread the word about this opportunity  to other authors while you're at it.  See the list to the right of earlier Historical Fiction Roundups.  You can list your book as often as you want.

And thanks!

More on Crowe's Robin

You can find more reviews, discussion and opinions of the new Russell Crowe Robin Hood rom a historical novels point of bview at the following sites.

• Historical Fiction Online
• Robin Hood: Where Are All The Arrows? Schlockmercenary
• Do we really need another Robin Hood?  Tor.com
• Robin Hood review  Sarah Woodbury
• Robin Hood 2010 Blackgate.com

Please add yours in our comments.

Robin Hood, Reviewed by Laura Vosika of The Bluebells Trilogy

Reviews of Robin Hood have been quite mixed. I come down on the positive side.

My experience of the movie suggests that the biggest cause of poor reviews might be expectations. Robin Hood is an icon: Lincoln green, pointy hats, feats of archery, Sherwood forest with his merry outlawed men, the lovely maid Marian, disguises and tricks against the rich and powerful, particularly the love-to-hate-him Sheriff of Nottingham, and the hope of King Richard the Lionheart coming home to save the kingdom from his evil brother John.

Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood has very little of these stock features. Robin Longstride is an archer, in the king’s service, but we barely see that. He spends the movie not in Sherwood, but at the Crusades and in the village of Nottingham, wearing the standard russets and browns of the day, not a stitch of green, no pointy hat. He has only a few men: Little John, who is not quite so overbearingly large as previous incarnations of the story suggest, but only a little taller than average; Allan a Dale, Will Scarlet, and Friar Tuck, who really is not one of his men at all in this movie. Marian is a nearly middle-aged, overworked woman coping almost single-handedly with her blind father-in-law, the running of a manor and small village, and thievery both of run-amok orphans living in Sherwood and the English authorities, while her husband Robert of Locksley has been at war for a decade. King Richard is dead; and definitely not coming home to save the kingdom.

The Sheriff of Nottingham makes only a cursory appearance or two. The real villain, Godfrey, is busy pitting the barons against the new king, John, while plotting with Phillip of France to step into the disarray and make an easy conquest of England.

As to the wonderful hi-jinks and disguises that are an integral part of the Robin Hood story, they are also nearly non-existent here. Robin Longstride, archer, is honest with the Locksley family–widow Marian and her father-in-law–about who he is. It is the father-in-law’s idea for him to become the long-absent and now dead Robert of Locksley and help the family. From there on, apart from assuming the dead man’s identity, Robin lives in the open, no disguises, and apart from stealing back the grain being stolen from Marian by the authorities, there is no stealing from the rich. Until the last 5 minutes, Robin and his men are not outlaws at all.

Once I stopped expecting the standard elements, I appreciated the new take on the old story. I felt the characters came alive as real people, more genuine than the stock characters we know. (I have to admit, I have always wondered how a bunch of men living in the forest managed to have so much lincoln green material on hand to make matching outfits.) I felt I could relate to them better because they were no longer larger-than-life, but ordinary men thrust into extraordinary events, which allows us to ask the question that makes stories an important part of life: what would I, no legend, but an ordinary person, do in such a situation? It allows us to look into possible futures and think beforehand about who we want to be at such moments. It allowed me to see very clearly how the legend of Robin Hood might have sprung from an ordinary man.

As a historical novelist, I enjoyed the attention to detail: how a siege is conducted, how Marian rides her horse. Robin Hood tales often portray Richard being absent while held captive and awaiting ransom, and returning to England to free the nation from the evil John’s tyranny. The movie depicts Richard dying in battle, killed by a cook, and leaving the kingdom to John. It turns out this is a fairly historically accurate–and fascinating–detail. (On the other hand, historical records report that Richard was a man of mercy, forgiving the boy with the pan who killed him, while the movie portrays him as less than that, setting Robin and several others in stocks, awaiting flogging and branding, for Robin’s crime of voicing an opinion for which King Richard asked.)

The name Robin Hood probably drew plenty of viewers. But it also probably left many disappointed, as it was not what they expected. I briefly thought the producers might have gotten better reviews with the same exact movie had they simply not named the characters Robin, Will, Allan, John, Marian, and Friar Tuck, and thus avoided the problem of expectations. In the last 10 minutes of the movie, however, when John reneges on his word and outlaws Robin instead, it became clear that the real answer was to call this movie Robin Hood: The Prequel, for this is what it is. This, as they say, is just the beginning.

Plans for a sequel are up in the air, although the ending of Robin Hood clearly begs for one. If it materializes, I would definitely see it. I also expect I will watch this movie again, and enjoy it more a second time, knowing what to expect. If you like Robin Hood, if you like war , adventure, and action, or historical movies, I recommend this one. Just go in with the proper expectations.

Laura Vosika is the author of The Bluebells of Scotland and the other volumes in the Bluebells Trilogy. This review was reprinted with her permission from her blog, The World of the Bluebells. You can find our own review of the first bolume in the trilogy at That's All She Read.

[Book Review] The Sallee Rovers, by M. Kei (Pirates of the Narrow Seas)

The Sallee Rovers   - Kndle Editiion
Can also be found in Pirates of the Narrow Seas - Paperback

M. Kei

Pirates of the Narrow Seas

Imagine a novel about life on a tall ship during the age of the corsairs, privateers and pirates written by someone who has sailed as part of the crew of such a ship.  That is exactly what you have with the Pirates of the Narrow Seas series.  I don't see how you could be more thoroughly immersed in the time and the reality of such a life.  The author, M. Kei, knows not only the terminology but has faced many of the challenges and dangers his characters do.  The result is exciting, captivating, rich and authentic.

In the first book of the series, The Sallee Rovers, we meet Royal Navy Lieutenant Peter Thornton who is just happy to have gotten a position on a ship so soon after his unexpected promotion.  Joy of joys, his best friend, Roger Perry, will be one of the other lieutenants aboard the HMS Ajax.  Peter is in love with Roger, but it is not until they are aboard the Ajax that Peter, who can be rather impulsive, informs Roger of his feelings.  He is rebuffed but not cruelly.  His real trouble is that the inept captain of the Ajax doesn't like him, for no apparent reason than he doesn't like Peter's vibes.  Roger tells Peter it's his lack of social skills but nothing Peter does makes the captain happy.  When the Ajax comes upon a Spanish galley that is sinking, Peter insists he will not leave the stricken craft unless the galley slaves are freed from their chains.  The Ajax leaves the slaves, Peter and two other crew members to drown.   One of the freed slaves is a striking North African man called Captain Tangle by the British.  He is dying of galley fever, but with Peter's help he manages to get the galley to shore and regains his health.  In the meantime Peter learns that Tangel is an important man in his Sallee Republic and a legendary corsair.  he also learns that Tangle wants what Roger did not: Peter. Through a series of events Peter winds up remaining with Tangle, being forced to choose where his loyalties will lie, and confused from day to day about his choices.

This novel is first and foremost an action-packed swashbuckler of the Captain Blood tradition.  The sailing scenes, the battle scenes, all of it is taut, fast paced and engrossing.  The characters both large and small are well drawn, individual, and appealing in their individual ways.  The author calls The Sallee Rovers a period novel as opposed to a historical novel, the distinction being that Kei is not attempting to retell historical events or portray historical people  but rather to offer an original slice of a sort of general 17th-18th century pirate story.  Never has a period novel felt so historical, thanks to the technical and historical detail Kei brings to it.

Peter is quite a complex character.  He seems rarely certain of anything, but that is because he has conflicting passions, not because he is indecisive, and he has to guard those conflicts and not share them.  Though a central part of the novel is a gay love story, this is not at all a gay novel any more than most novels are "heterosexual novels".  The fact that Peter is gay means he has lots more conflict, between religion and his sexual preference, between risking hanging for sodomy if he remains with the Ajax,and with whether he wants to pursue the relationship with Tangle, a man who though he prefers men, is very much in love with and involved with his wife.  For Peter it needs to be more than a sexual relationship.  For Tangle it already is in spite of his multiple partners.  He tells Peter, "You complete me."

Peter is the sort of character who leaves the reader feeling as ambivalent and anxious as he does.  That is the hallmark of a well-understood and well-written character.  His emotions and your own about him are indistinguishable.

The faults I found were rather trivial.  I have to admit that though the details regarding the ships and so forth were amazing, I found the intricate descriptions of clothing tiresome.  Fortunately they are short and not too many, and admittedly that is a personal issue for me.  The novel ends quite abruptly, but with the promise that the next novel in the series will take the story the next step. 

One thing I dearly hope is that readers will not ghettoize novels like The Sallee Rovers because the protagonist is gay.  If they do, they, like certain men who will not read a novel or see a film about a woman,  are erecting an artificial barrier to enjoyment of a ripping good yarn.  If I did not have a couple dozen other books to read next, I would be right on to Volume 2, Men of Honor.

Mr. Kei, by the way, is at this very moment part of the crew aboard the Kalmar Nyckel!

Mr. Kei's editor arranged for me to receive a Kindle edition of this novel so I could read it using text to speech which they wisely have enabled for all readers.  Thanks.. I wish more authors would broaden their readership this way.

Does the legend of Robin Hood go back further than we think? by Helen Hollick

See links to Helen Hollick's novels at end of post.

When I started writing – back in the days of being a short-sighted teenager who lived in her own very naive cocoon, with the rest of the world being unfocused, confusing and rather scary – I happily wrote pony stories and the occasional “fan fiction” spin-off to TV programs. Robin Hood (the Richard Greene version) Arthur of the Britons (Oliver Tobias) and a few westerns. All of them fitted well because being horse-mad I could also write about the horses.

Apart from my Dad and, eventually, my first boyfriend, men were alien beings. I was short sighted shy, and very successful in the Wallflower department. Back then I would never have believed I could write intimate scenes as a male character.

My interest wavered towards science fiction, and I wrote numerous stories from the heroine’s point of view, but becoming interested in King Arthur, Guinevere’s story became a new passion. It eventually occurred to me – can’t remember how or where now - that the story would be better written third person and with Arthur as the lead character. Cut a long story short (LOL – my novels are somewhat large!) I have written comfortably from the man’s view ever since. From Arthur via King Harold II to my pirate, Jesamiah Acorne.

The one novel I have written as a female lead, A Hollow Crown – to be entitled Forever Queen in the US – I had difficulty with. Initially, I could not get into Queen Emma’s head. Æthelred, her first husband, I had no respect for and it was only when starting to write the scenes with Edmund Ironside and Cnut that the whole thing at last began to gel.

I have been bogged down with re-editing Crown/Queen in preparation for the US release in November 2010, and have had to set aside my beloved pirate for a while – working on one book at a time while dealing with my elderly mother’s death, sorting out getting my cataract seen to, and running a household is enough of a plateful.

Because Crown/Queen is about to be launched with Harold the King being published in the US in March 2011, I have also been working on a synopsis for the follow-on to Harold. An idea I have been toying with for several years but not had the motivation to pursue (and being engrossed with my Jesamiah, who hijacked my imagination without quarter, the rogue!)

The plan, now, is to finish the next voyage in the Sea Witch series, Ripples In The Sand, then research and write this next serious historical fiction novel. It was to be about the years after the Battle of Hastings, 1066, the aftermath of Conquest. Which is why I have not wanted to write it. I loathe Duke William. I had a tough time writing his scenes in Harold the King. Author Sharon Penman gave me some advice at the time, when I wailed that I was having difficulty. “Think of his good points.”

Sharon, that was over ten years ago and I still can’t think of anything good about the man! So to write a whole novel with him as a central character? No way. Hence there has been no novel. Yet.
There is one other historical character for that period who is interesting. Hereward, made famous in Kingsley's Hereward The Wake. Based in the Fenlands around Ely in modern Cambridgeshire, he led a rebellion against William. Now that I can write about! In fact Hereward was not the only one to raise rebellion – William’s son and wife, Robert and Mathilda, and his half brother Odo all decided they’d had enough of him. (all cheer)

The little research I have done for ‘Hereward – A Lost Kingdom’ (working title) has proved intriguing, and I intend to write Hereward’s story, which will compliment A Hollow Crown/Forever Queen and Harold The King, weaving in an out of the two stories that are already written, and filling in the background gaps of what was going on through the years from circa 1040 - 1087.

Hereward, it seems, was the son of a Saxon Earl; Leofric of Mercia. His mother was a woman you may have heard of – Godgiva, or more commonly, Godiva. Yes, her. The one who reputedly rode naked through the streets of Coventry. Hereward had been exiled by Edward (the Confessor) at some time prior to 1052 and little is known of him until 1071 when he became a thorn in William’s backside. Very probably he rebelled against William because he felt he had a right to his father’s estates in Mercia, which covered the vast area of what is today the English Midlands: Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire – spreading from the east coast to the River Hafren (the Severn)and the border of Wales. Hereward very nearly succeeded in defeating William but the monks of Ely betrayed him by showing the Normans the secret ways through the marshy fens. (You may Boo and Hiss here if you wish.)

Hereward escaped, his wife was killed. He became an outlaw and wandered for several years, a desolate failure, in the dense forests. The niece of a bishop took pity on him, became emotionally involved and begged King William to grant a pardon. The two were wed, and may have lived happily ever after, although William’s men, resentful of Hereward, accused him of treachery. We do not know if he was then executed for treason, died a natural death, or lived to a ripe old age. You will have to read my novel to discover what I eventually unravel or decide.

But it struck me that some of this story sounds familiar.

Son of a nobleman Earl? Comes back from being abroad for a long time? Rebels against the King and lives as an outlaw in the Forest… a forest that, then, spread from the east coast to Wales - and remains today as what we call Sherwood.

Coincidence?

All stories start with a spark, a flame of an idea. Was Hereward of Mercia, the last Englishman to defy the despised Normans and William the Conqueror, the basis of the tales of Robin Hood?

I wonder…

The one surety. Hereward was definitely English. Not Australian.

Image photograph: Fire From the Fens a painting of Hereward’s campaign against the Normans by artist Chris Collingwood.

The Novel ‘Hereward – A Lost Kingdom’ (Working Title) by Helen Hollick is expected to be published in the UK in mid/late 2012. USA publication is not certain yet.

Helen Hollick's books

The one's that are available now.  Keep updated on her Muse and Views blog.

Harold the King

A Hollow Crown

Pendragon's Banner Trilogy
The Kingmaking: Book One of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy
Pendragon's Banner: Book Two of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy *
Shadow of the King: Book Three of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy

Sea Witch Chronicles
SeaWitch (Sea Witch Chronicles 1) (v. 1) *
Pirate Code: The Sea Witch Series (Sea Witch Chronicles) *
Bring It Close: Being the Third Voyage of Cpt Jesamiah Acorne and his ship, Sea Witch *

* See reviews at That's All She Read

[Book Review] A Serpent's Tale, by Ariana Frankliln

A Serpent's Tale

Ariana Frankliln

Mistress of the Art of Death Mystery Series

The Fair Rosamund is dead, poisoned by an unknown hand. The Bishop, Adelia Aguilar's former lover and the father of her child, asks her to investigate the murder in order to avoid a civil war between the king, Henry II, and his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is bound to be blamed.  Enter the famous labyrinth and a severe and crippling blizzard and you have all the props and plot twists you need for this CSI Oxfordshire episode.

This was my first Adelia Aquilar mystery, and I did mostly like Adelia herself.  She is all about her intelligenc and not at all fashion obsessed, unlike the Ursula Blanchards of the historical fictional world.  I liked the era too, the 12th century, and found the characters as an ensemble pretty satisfying.

I would venture to say the clues were just too easy, as I pretty much figured it all out about halfway through the novel.  There seemed to be a lot of cross-dressing going on, with underlying hints of homosexual relationships, both male and female.  That, I reasoned, had to be a clue or the book was just sloppy.  The former proved to be the case. 

Throw in some proto-feminism and a whole lot of "royal worship", ascribing far sighted and progressive qualities to Eleanor and Henry II, and you basically have this novel.  There is a phenomenon among many women readers, I have discovered, of extraordinary attachment to certain kings.  The most notable, of course, is the Ricardian Obsession, i.e. Richard III.  Then there are the Edward II groupies.  This was my first exposure to Henry II worship.  It seemed as if Franklin would not thank anyone for mentioning Thomas à Becket, whom she assails bitterly not only in the novel but in her author's note.

This was an easy read, satisfying most of the time, a little creepy in places.. everyone has their bugaboo issue in reading.. child sexual abuse, rape, in my case, animal cruelty featuring a cat, and this book has mine.  I skipped that part, something I once told another reviewer disqualified her from reviewing... mea culpa.  For some reason Franklin made Rosamund fat, perhaps to show that henry preferred women who were ample and comfortable, as opposed to Eleanor's sharpness.

I downloaded the novel from National Library Services' BARD site.

Robin Hood: My Turn

I was prepared not to like this movie, mostly for reasons of my own. Robin Hood is perhaps the single most influential fictional character in my life. I started watching the Richard Greene television series from England in the 1950s, when I was about six or seven. It molded the Nan who came to be and still is more than fifty years later. I refused to watch the cartoon foxes when that movie came out. I detest Kevin Costner on principle, dislike the Robins with modern sensibilities -- a non-violent Robin??? Oh please -- and mostly liked "the hooded man" because I liked the pagan religious content.

This said, you would think I hated the Russell Crowe movie, but I didn't. I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not Robin Hood... maybe the sequel will be, But the movie has so many plusses that I could ignore that it wasn't actually really about my hero. In a way, it reminded me of the Clive Owen King Arthur from 2001. It seemed as if someone wanted to make a movie about Roman Britain's denouement with lots of battling Saxons, and the producer or whoever knew no one would go without a hook, that hook being Arthur. "Somebody fake a roundtable!" I can just hear him saying... I am sure what the producers of the current Robin Hood wanted was some cool 12th century battles, but also something about Robin Hood, a sort of "in your face, Kevin" deal.

So if it wasn't really Robin Hood, what did I like about the movie? The sets, the sets, the sets! The two shots of late 12th century London were worth the price of admission many times over. The only real problems I saw with the rest of the sets was that Sir Walter's hall was rather impoverished in the rushes department. Otherwise the nature, design and fidelity of the towns, roads, clothing, most of the props -- I exclude the amphibious personnel carriers the French had.. that was sort of a reverse D-Day, wasn't it? I was in hog heaven sitting as I always do in the second row at the theater soaking up all the authentic scenes.

As for the characters, they were a mixed bag. I agree with something Erastes said in an email: "Russell, what is that accent?" Crowe is well known for his disinterest in adopting accurate accents, but in this movie he seemed all over the map of the English speaking world except America. maybe he was confused by the soundtrack, since it was made up largely of Irish tunes -- and I own a Celtic music station, so believe me, I know. Otherwise old Russell is adequate, though he was not Robin Hood. Kate Blanchett's Marian followed in a recent tradition of making the traditional heroine kick ass, which I applaud. I was mostly surprised that Max von Sydow is still alive. Lucky, lucky William Hurt to get to play that pinnacle character, William Marshall. The bad guy was thoroughly unappealing. Can't remember the actor's name, but I could have done without him. Poor old King John, always portrayed as a weasel, but at least this time they acknowledged that Richard the Lionhearted may have been romantic but he was as bad a king as England has had. I liked the take on him, that he at forty was afraid of losing his mystique-- that made me wonder if someone on their writing team actually knew something. . Philip of France was a hoot. I hope the Merry men and the Sheriff get larger roles in the sequel. I like Alan and Tuck, but Little John and Will Scarlet were almost invisible. Not to forget Eleanor of Aquitaine.. the irony here is that in this less than masterpiece movie she was far more accurately portrayed than in the vaunted Becket, where she and her mother in law Empress Matilda are portrayed as simpering females.

I suppose the reason they made Robin "Long stride" and killed off Locksley was for the subplot that he was an imposter allowed to continue as such for the sake of the cause.  Again, not really Robin Hood, but did they pretend he was?

One thing I urge people to remember is that Robin Hood is not history. He is legend. Many different people went into creating that legend, many of whom were archetypes without flesh. So the story is up for grabs for interpretation and reworking. I should even be chastised for saying this one is "not Robin Hood". He may not be the Robin Hood I ingested with my Frosted Flakes, but as he is elemental, he is whatever the interpreter wants to create. Well, except, no cartoon foxes.

The Outlaws of Sherwood Forest, a parody

The following is from the continuing stories, authorized and otherwise, based on characters from An Involuntary King: A Tale of Anglo Saxon England, by Nan Hawthorne, which you can find at http://aninvoluntaryking.blogspot.com/.

Rory and Shannon, by Laake

Now you didn't think there was only one set of outlaws in that forest, did you??

As the two minstrels headed north from Nottingham into the north half of the forest on the old Roman road through the heart of Sherwood Forest, Shannon leveled a considering look on Rory.

Rory, who had been smiling at some inward thought, looked back at him and asked, "What?"

Shannon replied, "So what was all that back there at Mary's house?"

"What was all what back there?" Rory countered peevishly. He was mixed up enough in his own mind, without being interrogated.

Shannon just smiled a slightly sardonic grin for a moment. "All that, 'I may ne'er see ye again but..'" He said the last in a mock dramatic voice."

Rory thought, "I can be after doin' without this particular Shannon O'Neill.. the unsmiling and sarcastic." To Shannon he said, in a soft voice, "Shan, me friend, I dinnae know… I just dinnae know."

Shannon gazed at him a while longer, then turned his eyes to face the direction they were walking and kept silent.

Rory was becoming accustomed to this silence, so out of character for the normally buoyant friend of his childhood. So he was startled when Shannon quipped, "D'ye know why they call it Sherwood Forest?"

Rory looked over, "Och, nay, I dinnae know that."

Shannon gave him an impish grin. "For the reason that if ye ask a forester if he'd like a drink, he always says, 'Sure and I would.'"

Rory stopped and looked after his friend. Then he laughed, one single guffaw. "Does me heart good to hear ye jest, even if 'tis a terrible jest," he said, and started to walk again.

Shannon's face was already sour again. "Well, dinnae get used to it.. ye heard what Mary said, I be not out o' the woods yet.." He looked around at Rory. "And that was NOT a jest."

Just as the two started into the forest, which would someday be the most famous one in England in spite of the fact its most famous resident had never existed, Rory happened to see a small girl sitting on the stone at the place where two different paths converged into the one leading into the forest. He was struck by her look. She was maybe six years old, had straight flaxen hair, and was dressed in a pale blue dress. Blue was a hard color to come by for dyes in that time.. in fact in Ireland, only the High King of Tara was even allowed to wear it. He also noticed how clean she was. This was no trivial matter. Small children in the countryside were never clean since they played int eh dust all day and probably never got a bathing.

As they approached she smiled brightly at Rory and Shannon. Rory bowed graciously and took off his hat to her. Shannon just nodded. The girl giggled but said nothing and did not move. "Pretty wee thing, "Rory commented after they had passed. Shannon grunted assent inn reply.

Rory had a great deal of time to think about anything he wanted as they took the winding road through the forest. Even the Romans, with their road building skill, could not straighten out a path through the ancient oaks and other trees in this old forest. He thought about Shannon and the depths to which he had sunk in Nottingham. Rory had seen him drunk to the point of stupor, but never distraught as he had been.

He took his heart in his hands and asked, "Shan, what happened that night?"

Shannon shot him a look that said, "Watch ye'rself!" He glared at Rory for a minute, then his shoulders sagged.

"I cannae remember all o' it." He continued walking, his head bowed except for brief glances up along the road they were traveling. "I gave ye the slip, I remember, and found another tavern. As soon as the innkeeper saw me lute, he was all smiles and tankards of ale and urgin' me t' sing. The same happened at the next inn, and the next."

He sighed and his face took a pained look. "Then I met this colleen, pretty thing, shapely. I was very drunk by then, it seemed almost more than I usually get when I've had that much. She plied me with drink, then said we should go out into the street for some lovin'. I dinnae know if I could have followed through with the lovin' part, but I was game t' try. Me Heather was the furthest thing from me mind."

Shannon reached up and touched his broken nose. His eyes were both blackened. He walked with a slight limp from being kicked in the kneecap. He moved his jaw painfully. Mary had not been sure if it was broken too, like his nose. Rory winced just looking at his friend's swollen and bruised face.

"Sure and as soon as we got outside and I was after startin' to kiss her, I was grabbed from behind. There were two thugs a-standin' there, grinnin'. They told me they wanted me money.. I told them I dinnae have any. They dinnae believe me. One o' them held me while th'other searched, all the while the wench stood and smiled. O' course, they dinnae find any. "

He walked along in silence for a while. "The bigger one flew into a rage and snatched me lute. I cried out to leave it, but that just made the blackguard grin and he threw it into a puddle. When I tried to get it, th'other one tripped me. I felt them both kickin' me, and one kick found me knee." He leaned down to rub it. "Then one o' them pulled me up and they took turns punchin' me in the face. I dinnae know if I stayed conscious. I barely recall ye comin' t' find me. All I know is I wanted to crawl under somethin' and die."

Rory nodded, "Ye were that bad hurt."

Shannon shook his head. "'Twas not that. I felt like that big an ass. All me brave words and promises. I dinnae know how I got here, Rory. How did I become this besotted man?"

Rory knew there was no comfort, no answer for that. Perhaps it took that to make his friend find a way out. "Ye reached the bottom, Shan, I think. I don't think ye can fall any further. It will be all uphill from here."

Shannon looked at him, considering. "I hope so," he said, then fell back into silence.

Robin Hood's Merry men were not the only outlaws, real or imaginary, to people the many haunts of the Forest. Many rather less romantic brigands lived there and kept close watch on travelers, robbing from everyone to give to themselves. The two types of travelers that generally went unmolested were poor friars.. and minstrels. Musicians and players were known to bring more joy than gold into the huge track of woodland. Rory knew that at some point they would be waylaid, but all that would be stolen from them is some time and music.

He and Shannon were well along their way to Sheffield in the north of the forest when at last they came to a small band of outlaws standing casually in the road. Rory bowed elaborately and Shannon, looking wary, nodded his head. The man who seemed to be in charge of the small party stepped forward.

"Well met, good fellows. I see ye are musicians by this fellow's lute. Come and entertain us at our camp." Both of the minstrels knew this was not an invitation and Rory, acting as spokesperson, accepted the command graciously. He and Shannon followed the men deeper into the forest away from the road.

Rory tried to come next to Shannon to warn him to be careful not to anger their "hosts". He feared Shannon would refuse to sing as he had done at their inn. He would look over at his friend and see him staring warily at the outlaws, and never could get a moment to speak with him. So instead he went up to the leader and explained, "Please, me good sir, me friend is terrible sick. He cannot sing or play. I shall entertain ye."

The man laughed. "He be not sick, man. He be thrashed. If he keeps himself calm, we will not bother him."

"Let me be after tellin' him, then," Rory requested.

The leader eyed him suspiciously. "Nay, I will not. He is on his own."

They were taken to a clearing with numerous campfires and makeshift cottages, with men, women and children all about. The minstrels' appearance drew the attention of all, and they crowded around. A path was made among them for what was obviously the leader of all these people, a man with no nose and one missing ear and a long throw from the handsome Robin Hood. He eyed them and spoke, "Where are ye from, minstrels?"

Rory answered, "Me friend Shannon here and I are from Ireland, in the north counties. But we be employed in the court of Lawrence in Christenlande."

The man looked pleased. "Ah, aye, many years ago I was an outlaw in Christenlande, and that same King gave me a chance to come out of outlawry. Had it not been that outlawry was my nature I should still be there in Lawrencium. Welcome, Shannon and.." He paused for his name.

"Rory. Rory McGuinness."

Rory found himself suddenly staring at a half dozen daggers pointing in his and Shannon's direction. They lifted their hands and the dagger Rory wore was taken from him.

The outlaw leader said, "Ye cannot be Rory McGuinness. Rory McGuinness is dead. He was hanged. Everyone knows that.'

♫ (Ballad of Rory McGuinness, performed by Druidsong.)

Rory tried to laugh, "Och, ye mean that song. Here be the man who wrote that song, Shannon O'Neill. He will tell ye that it was a mistake. He thought I was hanged, but sure and I was rescued."

The leader stared at Shannon. "Be this true?"

Shannon croaked out a weak, "Aye, 'tis true. I am O'Neill and this is McGuinness and we are both livin'."

The leader watched them both from under glowering eyebrows. "How do I know ye are speakin' the truth? "

Rory and Shannon exchanged looks. Shannon ventured, "What if I sing the ballad, will ye believe me?"

"Everyone knows the ballad. Everyone can sing it. What would make your singin' it prove who ye are?" The daggers were still pointing in their direction along with some cocked arrows and a sword or two.

Shannon actually smiled, one of his old grins, and asked in a cheerful voice, "But can everyone sing so the women faint all about?"

The leader considered this. He nodded and signaled his men to step back. "Let's see what ye can do."

Rory and Shannon were ushered to a stump in the middle of the camp and quickly surrounded by all manner of outlaws and their families. His lute had been taken from him on the march to the camp, and now it was handed back to Shannon. He began to tune it, worried that the soaking it had taken would have ruined the sound. While he did this, Rory leaned to him and whispered, "I hope ye can do this. Ye are not exactly a handsome man at the moment."

Shannon's irritable retort was cut off by a warning from the leader of the outlaws. "No plottin' an escape or nothin'."

Shannon gave Rory a resigned look and said, "Sure, and here goes." He geld his lute and began to sing the song. Rory as usual joined in a higher voice on the chorus.

The outlaws were clearly enchanted. Shannon's voice was not its usual fine self but it was a far piece finer than any these people had heard. Rory worriedly watched the younger women, who unfortunately did not seem particularly moved. The outlaw leader occasionally dragged his attention from the singers too, to look at the listeners, and frowned.

"Sing a tooralay tooralay farewell me son, For Finnegan O'Donnell his evil has done."

Shannon and Rory finished and, their hearts in their throats, waited. An old crone made her way to where the outlaw leader stood and whispered something in his ear as he leaned low for her to reach him. Rory saw the woman shake her head.

"Och, sweet Jesus," he heard Shannon breathe. "Looks like I may get my wish after all.. and today I dinnae want it so much." They waited to learn the verdict.

The leader came over to the two of them and gave each a grim look. He reached and put one hand on each man's shoulder. He looked sharply at them and said, "My old mother said she does not belief this is O'Neill." The minstrels' hearts sank. Shannon started muttering a Pater Noster. The man continued. "She has seen both men some years back. She tells me this may be an older O'Neill. But she knows ye, McGuinness. So ye must live, as this other man claims." He smiled broadly and clapped them both hard on the shoulders. "So c'mon, give us another song!"

Shannon found that if he kept singing, while he had been given a tankard of ale, if he just did not drink it, tempting though it was, and he kept on singing, it was not refilled. He and Rory entertained the outlaws for almost three hours, with no intermission. They shared songs of all kinds, funny tales and inspiring tales, and were a complete and unarhuable success.

In the morning they were taken back to the road and deposited there, with claps on the back and much thanking and farewells. As the outlaws left them, the leader leaned to Rory and said, "Ye should get this poor man a drink. He'd be the better for it." Rory smiled and nodded.

When they were alone, he turned to Shannon. The leader said ye need a drink."

"Perceptive man," Shannon replied. Then he smiled wanly. "D'ye still have that drinkin' skin of water?"

Want more?  You can read what led up to and what happened after this episode by searching for "Shannon's and Rory's journey" at http://aninvoluntaryking.blogspot.com -- where there are many, many, many more stories.

Back to reviews of the new Robin Hood movie tomorrow.