Devil's Brae- New Release by Faith Mortimer

Synopsis for Devil’s Brae

Imagine a warm autumn afternoon in a remote village in the Scottish Highlands. Cassandra  Potter, fleeing from the memories of two traumatic deaths, goes walking alone on Devil’s Brae.

The wild country is empty, stretching for miles in every direction, it is then she sees him. A dark brooding figure, standing and watching as Cassandra climbs the brae. Apart from a lingering uneasy feeling she ignores the watcher, until the next time and it is then she realises her mistake. Someone wishes her gone from the village – at all costs.

Cassandra’s life is plunged into danger. Who is threatening her existence and her sanity? Who is the mysterious stranger? An inhabitant of the village of Inverdarroch? Or a person from her clouded past?

Above all, why is this happening to her?

Author Q&A

What attracted you to writing in the first place?

Loving literature as I do, I’d always wanted to write – whether it was novels, plays or poetry. As a child I used to write stories for my sisters and then as I grew older, my short stories became much longer until they resembled novellas. But it wasn’t until the early 2000s that I started writing my first full-length novel 

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

There’s more than one and I like to switch from one to another making sure I don’t become stale with my writing. I love crime writing; murder mystery suspense, but I don’t do real hard core violence – I prefer to let the reader’s imagination take over after I’ve laid down some hints. I love writing adventure and action mixed in with romantic suspense. Finally I’ve recently begun writing pure romance and I’m enjoying writing in an entirely different vein.

How has your upbringing influenced your writing?

I’ve lived an amazing life – and God willing I’ve got a lot of living still to do!  Since the age of five I’ve been fortunate in visiting many countries and six of my tender years I spent living in Malaya and Singapore. I think living abroad and mixing with different cultures and class has enriched my life and hopefully my writing.

Where do you get your inspiration and ideas from?

From all sorts of places. It could be a simple snippet from an overheard conversation, talking with friends, reading an article in a magazine or something from the television. I have an antenna that turns towards interesting themes and I log on – especially if the subject is unusual!

Do you have any writing rituals or listen to “mood music” when you write? Where is your favorite place to write?

I try and write in the morning for a few hours, then break and do something else. If I have time and the inspiration I’ll pick up and carry on. The next day I go over the previous day’s work and edit it. I rarely listen to music – I need quiet and I write in our ‘snug’.

What’s your favorite place in the entire world?

Being with my husband and family.

Fame or fortune, which would you prefer?

Can I have both please?!!

If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?

Either a surgeon or an actor/singer

Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?

Chocolate! Every time. Even when I diet I save room for a tiny piece as a reward!

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

Unlimited supply of water and food. My reading glasses and books. My mate.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

My editor is pretty excited about this book – she says I improve with each one! This is the first of a new ‘Dark Minds’ series and I enjoyed writing it - I’d love you to share the experience with me.

So what’s next for you as an author? Any last words?

I’ve finished writing a new romance this one is set around Christmas so aptly names, On Christmas Hill. I love it and made my husband cry when he first read it! On the thriller side of things, fans are demanding another Diana Rivers Mystery…so I’ve already started a new novel and this is set in Portugal.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Now let’s talk a little about, ‘Devil’s Brae’.

When asked about the inspiration for, ‘Devil’s Brae, I immediately think of my fans and followers. ‘Devil’s Brae is the first in a new psychological thriller series – the Dark Mind series.

My first series, the Diana Rivers series, currently has five books with a sixth planned. The books are:  The Assassins’ Village, Children of the Plantation, The Surgeon’s Blade, and Camera Action…Murder! and Childhunt– My followers keep asking when the next book is coming out and I’m doing my best to keep up! So either last in 2013 or early 2014 there will be a sixth added to the collection!

Mystery suspense thrillers are fun to write, perhaps because there are so many little threads which need to be absolutely correct. I enjoy thinking up little clues to keep the reader guessing and a few red herring to throw them off the track. As well as pitting my wits in writing the story I have to remember that my audience is often very skilled in working through the mystery, so there has to be lots to keep everyone interested right through to the final page.

I’m so lucky in that I love what I’m doing and feel privileged because I have some amazing followers. I sincerely hope I never forget that it is my readers who have helped get me where I am today. Thank you.

Get it Here:

Link to Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/15We7wG

Link to Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/DEVILS-BRAE-Dark-Minds-ebook/dp/B00F0MRYWA/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378539779&sr=1-12&keywords=Faith+Mortimer

Link to B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/devils-brae-faith-mortimer/1116851743?ean=2940148564621

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FaithMortimer.Author

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/FaithMortimer

Author Website/blog: http://www.faithmortimerauthor.com/

Goodreads author/book page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2967303.Faith_Mortimer

Link to Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/faithmortimer/boards/

Link to Awesome Indies: http://awesomeindies.net/

AUTHOR BIO

Faith Mortimer is a wife & mother, dividing her time between Hampshire, UK & Cyprus. Since childhood, she dreamt of writing novels which readers would love, & spent many hours writing short stories which she read to her sisters.
Later her dreams were put on hold while she focused upon her family & careers as a nurse & later overseeing a string of travel & sport related companies.
Born in Manchester & educated in Singapore, Malaya & Hampshire, England. A Registered nurse & in later years changed careers to oversee a number of travel & sport related companies.

Audiobooks. Love ‘em or hate ‘em?

Audiobooks. Love ‘em or hate ‘em?

Update! Desperado Just went live on Audible.com. 

Listen to a free sample!

I have never been a fan of Audible books. Part of the problem is that I already have enough voices in my head and it gets distracting.

I have tried to listen to them while commuting (big mistake) or even doing laundry. I have discovered that I can’t do both at the same time. But some people love audiobooks. And with today’s technology you don’t have to shuffle through a bunch of cd’s or tapes while you're driving.

You just hook up your smart phone, ipad, laptop, ereader, etc, and listen to an mp3. Kind of like a really long song.

I have decided to jump on the Audio band wagon and have my books read by professionals. New implements are in place where once audiobook production would have costs thousands of dollars, costs can now be offset to a more reasonable figure.

And the number of audio listeners are growing. These listeners are much more savvy than myself and many “read” several books a month.

Audiobooks are a whole other beast to publishing. Unlike print books where the Author is acclaimed. In Audio land, it is the Narrator who gets the glory.

Narrators usually come with their own fans, and actually get reviews just on their voices. This talented pool of folks deserve much credit. I couldn’t read for five minutes without my tongue drying up and gasping for breath.  I would much rather leave it for the professionals.

So tell me are you an Audiobook fan?  Why or why not?

Sign up to win a copy of my new audiobooks! They are available soon on itunes, audible and amazon.
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Guest Post by Author M J Holmes: Seeking the Zen of the Golden Word

Hi MJ and welcome to my humble abode. 


My blog is  BYOB. Bring your own book. ;-)


MJ shares his view on the wacky world of writing. Be sure to check out his book at the bottom and share your favorite drink in the comments!






Seeking the Zen of the Golden Word

“You can write a million words of s***, before you write one word of gold.”

     


      I don’t know the origin of this quote exactly, but I heard it from a traditionally published author.  Three years ago, my first book was only in planning stages with a few pages of the manuscript written.  I was taking a break tooling around Myspace when I saw Mr. Dolley’s page. 

He was kind enough to answer my email asking which way to publish was better: traditionally, or by “Vanity Press”.  He cited the merits of both, however, he suggested in the time I spend waiting for answers I should keep writing.  I even titled my weblog page “A Million Words of $#!t” to keep me in mind of the issue.

So it’s about 3-4 years later, and here’s me with one book published, book #2 a fifth of the way finished, and a handful of blog entries to my credit.  That, and doing a guest blog – my first – appreciative of the writing space I’m graciously allowed.  Which gives me pause for thought: did I ever figure out what my Golden Word was?

What is word 1,000,001?  Is it golden by status or is this some sort of riddle dropped on me that I have to figure out if I want to consider myself a good author?  Are there other authors in the world that share this Golden Word or do they have their own?

I see it as more of a question one meditates upon concerning whether or not it’s such a good idea to pick up the pen.  It’s the kind of question that isn’t answered by thinking, but rather by doing. 

I’m not satisfied with calling 3 years of somewhat steady writing (by very loose standards of averaging) my million words of s***.  I don’t factor in several spotty phases of writing where I thought a good idea should find its way to the page, but never gave it much thought to write a story around it (yet).  I don’t include social forums I’ve posted complete twaddle on for the fact that to me it equals striking up a conversation comprised of small talk with a total stranger.  So what shall I count as my million words – or my Golden Word? 

It’s a Zen question for me more profound than: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”  The answer to that one is, of course, completely pointless.  It’s so, because a clap is the desired sound traditionally made from a hand striking another hand to achieve a report.  You look like a complete moron to others waving one hand around trying to hear something. 

I suppose the first thing to consider is what fundamental need clapping with one hand satisfies.  I then compare that need with the pursuit of authorship.  You need two hands to create a clap, just as readers need authors to keep writing.

To achieve authorship we write like mad until our hands cramp, heads hurt, and fingers callous attempting to fill several dozen pages with something worthwhile for others to read.  We go back over our writing several times to figure out what we did wrong and try to correct every aggravating mistake.  Sometimes, we do such a job that all we have left is a handful of pages we’re satisfied with while the rest of the manuscript sits on the recycling pile.  We’re then forced to go write more material that still pertains to the work just to flesh it out to avoid writing nothing more than a short story.

If we’re inclined, we’ll throw money at someone who’ll professionally sieve the lot for the good stuff before handing back roughly the same thing.  Back to the desk to write some more and repeat the cycle.  Correct the errors, pick out the bits we like, and then write some more and that’s just to get the first draft of the manuscript finished.  Don’t get me started on other aggravations like correcting plot holes, culling out anything and everything ending with –ly, or changing from one kind of quotation mark to another…passive voice…show, don’t tell…strike head soundly against closest wall…

Even after the manuscript is finished we look to publishing avenues that work for us.  Do we go traditional or do we make it quick and augment the MS to fit the requirements of Print-On-Demand?  Do we accept the fact we’ll probably see enough rejection notices to paper the office walls from floor to ceiling (unless we’re writing well in a genre that’s the height of fiction fashion at the time)?  Do we resort to writing for the readers instead of ourselves?

Finally, we’ve made our work available to the public at a price we find is the acceptable norm.  We sit and wait for sales not gained from only friends and family.  We scour library and internet resources pertaining to methods that help sell books.

Some gauge the future of their work by the numbers.  They believe that great sales ranks or other contrived figures will keep them from languishing in obscurity.  More will spend half their day – like me – attempting to find the quickest/cheapest ways to advertise so those contrived numbers shrink to acceptable visibility in the Top Whatever.  Others will blindly follow every bit of “advice” given about how not to kill your sales and in the process learn what a good idea that wasn’t.

Please, for the love of all that’s good in this world, do not get me started on seeking out reviews.  That in itself is an entire blog not worth writing for all the fear it would instill in the hearts of new authors.  The trouble there is finding people who’ll take the time to tell you what they think.  May your personal god(s) help you if you find the ones who tell you before they’ve thought at all.

Once the satisfaction has set in we finally have our works polished as much as possible and in the public view; we have to start thinking about the NEXT project.  I’m guessing it would be at this point in my work that I’d ask myself, “Is this where I look completely mental swatting at invisible flies?  Will anyone read what I’ve written?  Is this worth all that effort each time I want to write a book, with or without the aid of a Publishing House?”

Yes!

I am either completely mental talking to myself like that or I can look back on it all and find the good in what I was doing all along.  Seeing both sides of the issue brought me to the conclusion of finding my first Golden Word:

Diligence.

            Despite every disheartening or negative response, every unkind pursuit against the SPA community in part or whole, writer’s block, data loss, revision after revision after revision…

            The diligent writers command their pen and do what they must to succeed.  They continue to write even though they are confronted with doubts and uncertainties.  They look past bad reviews, and voting wars.  They couldn’t give the southern end of a northbound rat about who thinks whatever about them.  They don’t have time to; they’ve got a self-appointed deadline to meet.  I for one don’t even have time to care about deadlines.

            I learned I have to ignore false labels like nuisance, liar, cheat, fraud, and other adjectives too unsavory to mention.  I learned I must respond to insults, snarks, and What-you-should-have-done-isms with politeness I surprise myself that I am capable.  I understand I’ll be exposed to the kind of emotional sapping that would normally make me wonder why it is I continue. 

The truth is I am writing for myself.  If I write how others say they think I should I’ll be cheated of the pleasure and the stories I want to share.  I would be cheated of the kind of fun being completely mental provides.

            In retrospect, my million words is the embodiment of all the work I’ve created to reach that crazy enlightenment where I can sum the entire experience in one word.  Like a cross-referenced database in the depths of my consciousness, I can see that word for what it represents to me.  It is the sum of my writing so far.  I’ve marred the surface and proved its worth to be pure and invaluable.

            However, whether I reach this ink-soaked Zen alone or with others, we all know that a little bit of gold will only get us so far or buy us so much.  I’ve completed too much to not continue slogging through the process, finish writing the next book, write another blog, and seek the Zen of the (Next) Golden Word…

            …because I’d be f***ing insane if I stopped now. :-)

-M-

§

Book Blurb:

M.J. Holmes sets the stage and narrates the travels of strangely assorted characters in their pursuits to save the post-cataclysmic world of Bu’Kre’Knunkt. Based on a plot written for a Role-Playing Game, in Act 1; Book 1, Holmes lays the foundation of the Scorched Reality Project: Gamma Series, and creates an enigmatic flashback of events. 

He begins by introducing the Council of Control (“The 5”) – a shadow government of sorts – as they oversee events. Their watchful eyes follow the pursuits of “The Two”: A Necromancer and a mysteriously disguised Narrator who relates to him the tale of The Dhuras Protectorate. 

Quested by Divine Intervention to locate and destroy the source of a threatening instability, “The Otherworlders” begin their trek having neither any knowledge of the world they’ve been transported to nor idea what they should do next. Thrust into one peril after another they struggle to adapt and survive; becoming bounty hunters, exterminators, and conscripts of the city religion on their way to entitlement as a Protectorate. An item found in their questing is identified by a benefactor to be part of an ancient weapon, thus providing them their first concrete lead of the Quest to follow since their arrival.

The Author looks to draw in his readers the same way he draws in players of his Role-Playing Game: characters with individuality, a setting with substance, and a story that leaves the reader wondering what will happen next.

Buy Links:

For Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Tyme-Serpent-Serpents-Tail-ebook/dp/B004FPZ0BU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&am p;qid=1335508531&sr=8-1

For Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tyme-and-yon-serpent-mj-holmes/1028739638?ean=294001187131 3

Hardcover: http://www.lulu.com/shop/micah-holmes/tyme-and-yon-serpent/hardcover/product-14917452.html ;jsessionid=9145C687C463BDB1B90A67AFFDFB39F9

Softcover: http://www.amazon.com/Tyme-And-Yon-Serpent-Serpents/dp/1257083449/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&q id=1335510492&sr=8-3

 

Book & Blog Site:

http://whenrealityburns.weebly.com

 

Thank you for taking an interest!

-MJ Holmes-

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Interview Author Cindy Smith

Today I’m interviewing our local gal, Cindy Smith. 

Not sure how to introduce her because she does everything!

She is an author, a singer, a song writer, an artist and much, much, more!

Welcome Cindy, tell us a about your books, The Time in Contention Trilogy:

 I was fascinated with Contention City from the first time I heard it mentioned in (the original) "3:10 to Yuma" movie back in the 1960's.  I knew then that one day I would write a book about Contention. I began writing a few years back and sent what I had to my gun coach, T. B. Burton. He read it, answered me back that I had told the story one sided. And since he was a man, he wrote what a man would have seen and felt standing on the sidewalk (from the first chapter) in the book.  I immediately thought, this is what I want! A book telling both sides of the story from the prospective of a (fictional) man and woman.  Overall, I did about 2 years of research on the history and T.B. and I filled it in with fictional characters to tell the events leading up to the gunfight at the OK Coral.  We wanted to give life to Doc Holiday, Wyatt Earp and the women you rarely hear about. The Earp wives and Big Nose Kate have an important role in TIME IN CONTENTION.  It's written with the backdrop of a romance novel (for all the female readers!) but with all the action and gunfighting drama of a western (for all the males!).  The books are available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, both as paperbacks and e-books. They can also be purchased locally or via our websites. 

Now tell us about your music, what inspired you to start singing?

I started singing late in life! I saw someone playing a mandolin in church a few years ago and said to myself.... I want one! I found a great music teacher, Gerry Hall. I would not be singing today if it was not for him. He literally 'made me sing' while I learned to play guitar and mandolin. From then on, he encouraged me. Once I started singing.... I never looked back! 

Congratulations on winning the GCGMA 2011 Songwriter of the year award. What is your favorite song you have written?

Thank you!  It's hard for me to choose my favorite song that I've written. I'd probably say that my favorite was the one I had just finished most recently. It's the one you're excited about writing music for, arranging where all the instruments will go, or going into the studio to record it.  I just finished a western song called "The Bar Maid and the Dealer". So, right now, it's probably my favorite song. But this will change as soon as I write something else! 

What do you like doing the best?

Writing in general. Whether it be books, stories, lyrics or music. I remember back in grade school and high school, my favorite subject was literature. I worked for a Houston, Texas area newspaper for 2 years and wrote a quarter page column every week. I met entertainers, politicians, local celebrities, sports heros and loved talking and writing about them all. But of course, there are times when you would ask me this same questions and I may answer I like doing "art" best.  I love oil painting and drawing charcoal portraits.  I am very honored to have had two pieces of my artwork displayed (for special events) in the Booth Western Art Museum! I have a theory, if you love to write, you probably love art as well. 

What or who inspires you?

Many of the songs I have written were inspired by "Time In Contention". I grew up listening to all kinds of music from Dean Martin to Ernest Tubb, from Burt Bacharach to The Louvin Brothers. But I loved Marty Robbins! There was just something about him dressed in his black cowboy clothes playing that western music that never left me. I think most of my songs sound like a female version of Marty Robbins songs. I am inspired by everyday occurrences, something I might hear my friends or family say, or something I see on a billboard sign. Inspiration can come from anywhere! And one song, Lynn, was inspired by your novel, "RUN INTO THE WIND".  I was honored that you asked me to write a song (by the same title). After reading the book, I wrote what I thought your character, Sabrina, would say if she wrote the song herself. I have received many compliments on the song, with some saying it is their favorite! 

What are you currently working on?

I always have a song in the back of my mind! I will soon be recording "The Bar Maid and the Dealer" and "Bring Back Hopalong".  "Bring Back Hopalong" is a song I wrote to sing at the Hopalong Cassidy festival in May this year. I have always been a fan of western stars, such as Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Hopalong Cassidy. TV heros that taught values and morals to kids have long passed away, but fans continue to attend festivals each year in their honor. I am privileged to attend a few of these festivals each year and sing about their heros.  I also have a children's book I want to write. It will be about my grandson, Gabe and his ghost friend Herman and their adventures in the haunted club house. I will do all the artwork of Herman and Gabe dressed as cowboys and pirates and anything else his imagination will come up with! 

Any upcoming Events you would like to share with us?

Yes. March 10th, I will be at the Bartow County Library doing a book event. I will be at the World Congress Center (in Atlanta) on March 17th and 18th during the Atlanta Auto Show. There is Wild West section and I will be singing and doing a book signing as well.  You will also meet my good friend "Fuzzy Q. Jones", side kick to western heros. Robert Brooks portrays "Fuzzy" and he's always a "hoot' to be around! T.B. Burton will be there, besides being my co-writer for "Time In Contention" he is also the 2005 World Champion Fast Draw. Then the following weekend, March 24, I will be at the Jim R Miller Park (Cobb) Fairgrounds in Marietta for the 2nd Annual Wild West Festival. This promises to be a wagon load of family fun with shoot-outs, cowboy music, kids coral, roping demonstrations and so much more! All my cowboy and cowgirl friends will be there with something special to offer in entertainment. 

How can we contact you?

You can email me at: txredmollie@mac.com  

You can also visit my websites for more information and listen to my music. 

Music on Amazon

CindySmithWesternMusic.com

Reverbnation-Cindy Smith Music

Is there Good in Evil? Interview with Athanasios creator of Mad Gods

  

Blog talk radio interview

Note: I was going to call this post "Good Versus Evil" but talking with Athanasios changed my mind. Life is not as simple as that. There is good and evil in everyone; it's a constant battle which roars on in Mad Gods.

Athanasios, welcome to my humble abode! 

As you may (or may not) know, I am a visual person. I love art, design, and your book covers. What do you try to capture in your covers and how long does it take for you to create them? 

It varies with each cover and who I'm making it for.  They can take between a few minutes to a few hours and sometimes days. I'm not necessarily consciously working on it but I'm thinking on it.  I'm a firm believer that no matter how hard you try to do something if it's not coming it won't unless you leave it alone to let your own subconscious, luck, providence or whatever you want to call it, help.  I try to capture what the author intends to portray, sometimes it's enticing a reader to look further than the cover others it's being literal with what the story contained therein conveys. I know in my own covers I first tried to be literal and then saw they weren't doing much for sales so I just switched to being enticing and moody and it's worked better.

Your books give a new twist to darkness. Reminds me a bit of Pandora’s box. Lots of bad stuff going on but there is still hope.Tell us about them.

The darkness I'm taking from your question is evil? It's great that you brought up Pandora's box, the myth I mean, not some bad 1980s Ron Jeremy or Vanessa Del Rio porn. I've researched, not for the writing but because it's interested me, religion and why we must look outside ourselves for justification of our motivations and life's trials. In that research I discovered many other people's works, notable and varied intellects from Thomas Aquinas, Joseph Campbell to Bill Hicks and many of them have a pliant view of darkness. I've come to agree with this view that there isn't any total darkness there's always degrees. Not the trite shades of grays that many use to describe despicable behavior but the darkness or evil within everyone they must accept in themselves. I try to portray EVERYBODY in Predatory Ethics from Mad Gods to Commitment and the forthcoming In Whom To Trust as multidimensional. I want to have GOOD, SYMPATHETIC and BELIEVABLE reasons for what they all do. I think I've even given Satan a reason for becoming the embodiment of evil and a bitter, rejected, fallen angel. Yet I also scuff up and bloody most of the good guys too. Most are portrayed as stiff and humorless to the point of being without compassion or empathy for anybody or anything save their view of good and evil.

Adam, the main character is the Antichrist: introduced through a codex about his past lives. It describes his unwillingness to enslave the world and fulfill the destiny. Satan, his biblical father, still wants to go through with Revelation and Kosta, his adopted father, wants to give him the freedom to chose. Kosta could've just killed him as an infant, or raise him in ignorance of who he really was but wanted to Adam to know everything and make the choice with nothing hidden. He saw what he was doing as the real Revelation and also chose to let Adam see what a life filled with simple pleasures and pursuits could be. 

What inspires you to write?  

I want to see where I'll take the story, something I don't know myself until I start to write. Do you want to call that inspiration, then so be it. I do have an idea of the direction but I don't reach it until I start on it's path. Sounds like artsy-fartsy bullshit I know, but it's true in its sincerity.  I'll go further down the artsy-fartsy, metaphysical, starry-eyed, hippie, tree-hugging road: I liken it to an old pagan belief of paradise, the Elysian Fields where you went and did whatever you enjoyed when you lived. They didn't believe paradise as the modern Christians do, there was no specific direction that everyone shared and  nobody was any different, like walking around clouds and doing ABSOLUTELY nothing.  My inspiration is the Elysian Fields, where I stand without knowing where I'll go but just walking in my feet & imagination go wherever they will.  Then sometimes I go and have a great meal or drink and feel content.

I know you have been writing over ten years. With age comes wisdom. What do you know now that you wish you knew then?  

I wish I knew about indie publishing then. It's been around since that time so I wish I was one of the pioneers. That means I wouldn't still be looking with dread at the fact that it's Sunday tomorrow and then the next day I'd have to wake up extra early to write, before going to work. At least I've got a job that pays the bills, so I'm lucky enough in that respect. 

Do you sleep with the lights on?

No, I haven't slept with the lights on since I was 10 and saw the Omen. 

Boxers or briefs? (This is a romance blog!)

Neither!  if you know what I mean! Unless the mother-in-law is sleeping over, then I've got to resort to briefs.

Where do we find your books?

MAD GODS

AMAZON                 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QOA768

SMASHWORDS    https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48579 ISBN:9781610612562

COMMITMENT

AMAZON                http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006098CSC/

SMASHWORDS   https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/99372

Guest Blogger: Romance Author Sarah Woodbury

Historical Romance Author Sarah Woodbury stopped into day with a wonderful History lesson!

 As you know, I love history and am tickled to death to have her visit!

Sarah has several wonderful titles. Today she is sharing Daughter of time, only .99, just in time for Cyber Monday!

Women in Celtic Society

It is a stereotype that women in the Middle Ages had two career options:  mother or holy woman, with prostitute or chattel filling in the gaps between those two.  Whether we like it or not, for the most part this stereotype is accurate and the status and role of women in that era revolved around these categories.

This is one reason that when an author sets fiction in this time, it is difficult to write a self-actualized female character who has any kind of autonomy or authority over her own life.  Thus, it is common practice to make fictional characters either healers of some sort (thus opening up a whole array of narrative possibilities for travel and interaction with interesting people) or to focus on high status women.  Such women may or may not actually have had more autonomy, but their lives didn’t consist of drudgery and child care from morning until night.

This is not to say that men in the Middle Ages weren’t equally restricted in their ‘careers’.  A serf is a serf after all, of whatever gender.  Men as a whole, however, did have control of women, of finances, of government, and of the Church, and thus organized and ruled the world.  Literally.

There are obvious exceptions—Eleanor of Aquitaine, anyone—but women such as she were one out of thousands upon thousands who were born, worked, and died within five miles of their home.

At the same time, within Celtic cultures, women at least had the possibility of greater personal autonomy.  In Ireland, where the Roman Church had less influence, women had a viable place both within the Druid religion and within the Celtic/Irish Church.  Wales too was less subject to the restrictions of the Church.  There, women had a higher status than in Christendom as a whole, including the right to divorce her husband and societal acceptance of illegitimate children. 

The Laws of Women (part of the Laws of Hywel Dda) included rules that governed marriage and the division of property if a married couple should separate. Women usually married through contract, but elopement was allowed, with the provision that if the relationship lasted seven years, a woman had the same entitlements as if she’d been given to her husband by her kin.

My book, Daughter of Time, tells the story a young widow, Meg, who falls through time into the Middle Ages—and into the arms of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last Prince of Wales.  One aspect of the book that I found very interesting to write was her reaction to the status and role of women in medieval Wales, and how a modern woman might deal with it.  

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