You bring these characters to life with so much vitality, Michael. Ooh yes, you'd be a great fit for Merlin, hope somebody makes this movie soon! Did they ever pay the smith? (This worries me!) Love the way the blades seem to come alive when heated, show the wavy patterns, you have evidently watched forging and sharpening :)
Hi Rachel, many thanks for your kind words. It's been quite a journey but all worth it! Yes, don't worry, the smith did get paid for his work but they are very tight-lipped about their rates so I have to keep schtum! Hoping all is well with you! Mx
One thing that struck me – there are now different interpretations, plus better info based on archaeology, about the ways of the megalith builders. See The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow; and even more interesting, Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy, West Asia and Europe, by Heide Goettner-Abendroth. Both talk about egalitarian societies self-organising to build megaliths, no elites such as used to be assumed. All good here, thank you :) I'm working on my historical novels.
Hi Rachel - thanks for your insightful comments and reading recommendations!
One of the most revolutionary but often overlooked bits of the story is the final impossible task imposed by Ysbaddaden the Giant which is something like 'and all the people of the Island of Britain must be there to yell and scream and shout so you wouldn't care if the sky fell on your head!'
King Arthur is saved because the people come to his rescue and Pig Boy and others start to look towards a post-monarchical world. To balance that I did ramp up the oppression of the monument builders. This was narrative reasons rather than anything based on archeologival evidence.
You seem to be on a similar track to me regarding material and sources and I was wondering how you manage to balance the tricky and competing needs of rigour and truthfulness with creating a gripping story.
Good luck with your historical novels! What period are you looking at?
Hi Michael, that's very interesting about the giant, and about the people saving Arthur! How to balance research with plot?...Stay immersed in reading background material as long as possible; get interested in side-shoots and underground roots; decide to just make something up; find some bits have lodged in back parts of brain; talk with essential writing buddy; find characters are jumping up and down demanding action... ! I'm helped by working in 598 CE/AD, just before the Venerable Bede wrote anything down and after the Romans had toddled off with their inscriptions too, so I feel I have a bit of leeway... Also, most readers don't know anything about the 'Dark Ages' and care more about how the story is relevant to their lives, which is of course my cunning plan too :)
The other thing that stops me spinning out of orbit is the landscape of the stories I'm working with and all the resonant parallel texts that I'm using. It humbling how just going to the place where part of the story 'happened' just stops me thinkng about archeology (in fact any -ology) and just be there experiencing and not understanding!
You bring these characters to life with so much vitality, Michael. Ooh yes, you'd be a great fit for Merlin, hope somebody makes this movie soon! Did they ever pay the smith? (This worries me!) Love the way the blades seem to come alive when heated, show the wavy patterns, you have evidently watched forging and sharpening :)
Hi Rachel, many thanks for your kind words. It's been quite a journey but all worth it! Yes, don't worry, the smith did get paid for his work but they are very tight-lipped about their rates so I have to keep schtum! Hoping all is well with you! Mx
One thing that struck me – there are now different interpretations, plus better info based on archaeology, about the ways of the megalith builders. See The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow; and even more interesting, Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy, West Asia and Europe, by Heide Goettner-Abendroth. Both talk about egalitarian societies self-organising to build megaliths, no elites such as used to be assumed. All good here, thank you :) I'm working on my historical novels.
Hi Rachel - thanks for your insightful comments and reading recommendations!
One of the most revolutionary but often overlooked bits of the story is the final impossible task imposed by Ysbaddaden the Giant which is something like 'and all the people of the Island of Britain must be there to yell and scream and shout so you wouldn't care if the sky fell on your head!'
King Arthur is saved because the people come to his rescue and Pig Boy and others start to look towards a post-monarchical world. To balance that I did ramp up the oppression of the monument builders. This was narrative reasons rather than anything based on archeologival evidence.
You seem to be on a similar track to me regarding material and sources and I was wondering how you manage to balance the tricky and competing needs of rigour and truthfulness with creating a gripping story.
Good luck with your historical novels! What period are you looking at?
all the best,
Michael
Hi Michael, that's very interesting about the giant, and about the people saving Arthur! How to balance research with plot?...Stay immersed in reading background material as long as possible; get interested in side-shoots and underground roots; decide to just make something up; find some bits have lodged in back parts of brain; talk with essential writing buddy; find characters are jumping up and down demanding action... ! I'm helped by working in 598 CE/AD, just before the Venerable Bede wrote anything down and after the Romans had toddled off with their inscriptions too, so I feel I have a bit of leeway... Also, most readers don't know anything about the 'Dark Ages' and care more about how the story is relevant to their lives, which is of course my cunning plan too :)
The other thing that stops me spinning out of orbit is the landscape of the stories I'm working with and all the resonant parallel texts that I'm using. It humbling how just going to the place where part of the story 'happened' just stops me thinkng about archeology (in fact any -ology) and just be there experiencing and not understanding!
Many thanks for your kind comment, Christiane! Best wishes, Michael