Marcus Antonius: Dredging Up the Perfect Protagonist ~ by Author Brook Allen

A little over fifteen years ago, I finally found myself in a position to begin my first novel. I knew I wanted to write on Late Republican Rome, doing something biographical. But who to write on? Julius Caesar had been done by big names like Conn Iggulden, and Cleopatra had been done so completely by Margaret George and Colin Falconer. Cicero had just had his day in the sun under the skillful pen of Robert Harris. Who else was there?

The one name that kept coming to me was Marc Antony—Marcus

Antonius.

Antony had an illustrious political and military career, but he wasflawed, too. A lover of women, lots of wine (too much, really!), impetuous, and did I mention he loved women? On the other hand, he was extremely courageous, a loyal friend, a man of his word, and a soldier’s soldier, but he really loved women! In fact, he rarely ever let an opportunity slip to sleep with someone new, and as most people know, his life ended tragically.

So why Antony? How could a no-name author create a debut novel on a man whose life ended in horrible disgrace?

The more I looked his life over, as well as the treatment with which

Rome and the first emperor Augustus tarnished his name, the more I thought, “I can’t believe more authors haven’t jumped at the chance to write this guy’s life-story before”. 

Oh, yeah—everybody has read about his affair with Cleopatra and many readers are familiar with Shakespeare’s take on his “Friends, Romans, countrymen…” monologue. But if I was going to really do this and do it well, I had to read between the lines of ancient sources and determine to the best of my ability, what motivated him and eventually even caused him to turn his back on his own countrymen.

That being said, to this very day, Marc Antony is a polarizing personage in history. To listen to Classicists on Twitter or military strategists, a lot of people might ask, “Why even bother with him?” And yet, Marcus Antonius, as he was known in his day, became the central catalyst of Rome’s transition from Republic to Empire.

I discovered there was MUCH more to Marc Antony’s story than his romance with Cleopatra or Julius Caesar’s funeral. First of all, his grandfather was a national hero, but his own father ruined all of that glory by betraying Rome to a bunch of low-life pirates off the coast of Crete. That is exactly where my story takes off. 

Eleven-year old Marcus must deal with a disgraced family—one that will struggle to see the light of day again until he rises to power. It’s an unforgettable story, and one I’ve lived with for fifteen years, turning the man’s life into The Antonius Trilogy.

My perfect protagonist’s story begins with Antonius: Son of Rome, dealing with Marcus’s tragic loss, through his wasteful early years, until he finally finds himself in the East—snuffing out the remnants of rebellion against Rome’s instated rulers and coming face to face with a major portion of his destiny when he meets a precocious, adolescent Egyptian princess. 

At Actium

Antonius: Second in Command follows Marcus as he rises to the heights of power at Caesar’s side, only to taste his first bitter betrayals in loyal friends and supporters. At the end of the second book, Marcus finds himself victorious and at the height of his power. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, this is one excited author, because today (FINALLY!) after multiple trips to Italy and Greece, and one to Egypt… my third and final portion of the trilogy will launch: Antonius: Soldier of Fate. Naturally, I’ve had some pretty spectacular experiences with my “perfect protagonist”. But he was difficult to hunt down. Aside from the damnatio memoriae—the damning of Marcus’s name, which was the postmortem punishment for men and women who disgraced Rome in some way—I had another set of problems in rediscovering this elusive character. 

Two-thousand years’ worth of extant buildings that hid sites from his period, destruction of historical sites, and changes in geographical river-routes, erosion, or the simple withering-away of historical evidence over time has made it incredibly challenging to recreate Marcus’s world.

Nor was his story intact. Just as damnatio memoriae decreed that his monuments be leveled, his statues smashed, and his inscriptions chiseled away, so did the truth behind his story turn to dust. Men who hated him, such as Cicero, smeared his name before Marcus ever died, but writers like Plutarch, Dio Cassius, and Appian of Alexandria (just to name a few) were all ancient sources that aided me. And there were dynamic secondary biographers to, like Eleanor Goltz Huzar and Patricia Southern.

A full-throttle adventure through ancient Rome, her corrupt Senate, the exotic eastern provinces ensues, and at last ending in Egypt. Difficult? Yes! Marcus’s ultimate punishment of damnatio memoriae didn’t make this easy. But this author learned so much and has developed the grit necessary to pursue a protagonist, regardless of how little of him has survived. 

From photographing the shores of Alexandria in a rocking, water-logged row-boat, driving all over Thessaly and locating the river where Marcus and his legions kept Pompey’s army at bay in the Battle of Pharsalus, to communing with the mystical ghosts of Rome’s past inside the shadowed Tabularium at the west end of the Forum Romanum… I feel that I’ve not only had the perfect protagonist, but that he’s become a friend, of sorts.

Author Brook Allen (and Marc Antony)

Award-winning author Brook Allen graduated from Asbury University with a B.A. in Music Education. However, she has always loved writing. A Master’s program at Hollins University with an emphasis in Ancient Roman studies helped prepare her for authoring her present works. Brook teaches full-time as a Music Educator and works in a rural public-school district near Roanoke, Virginia. Her personal interests include travel, cycling, hiking in the woods, reading, and spending downtime with her husband and two amazing Labrador Retrievers. She lives in the heart of southwest Virginia in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. You can reach out to Brook via the links below.

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Research Makes for Great Stories ~ by Author Stacy Hawks

After graduating from Brevard College in 2008, Stacy Hawks  returned to her hometown to teach and work on completing her MEd. Some years before, in 2005, her grandmother had passed leaving Stacy her scrapbook filled with notes, newspaper clippings, and photos. 

It wasn’t until Stacy opened the scrapbook that the story from Terry Martin of the Winston-Salem Journal dated 1981 caught her attention. At that moment, the historian in her knew how important this story was. Not only had the case of Elva Brannock, whom everyone described as a 17-year-old brunette beauty, gone cold for over 70 years by this time, but the stories of those who had worked tirelessly to solve it had also gone untold.

There were a lot of late nights, weekends, and spare moments during lunch breaks to tackle the research. None of which would have been possible without the amazing individuals who work for the local Newspaper, The Alleghany News (formerly The Alleghany Times), and the Register of Deeds Office. 

Stacy's editor, Lynn Worth, who passed a couple of years ago, was also instrumental. Without her insight and edits, Stacy wouldn't have been able to take the next step in publishing the book. However, despite it being finished and the edits mostly complete, Dividing Ridge remained on her hard drive for 8 more years.

Stacy wrote to publishing houses, printed off and mailed her manuscript to countless presses, and with no success finally decided to take a step back and do some research into self-publishing. She says this was perhaps the best decision she made when it came to her writing. Thankfully, her local community is also home to Star Route Books and Imaging Specialists, Inc.

Owner Jeff Halsey, who works alongside his daughter Claire Halsey Brooks, has been involved in her local community’s historical society for years. Their efforts to preserve, educate, and provide a sense of pride in Alleghany heritage drew Stacy to ask if they would publish her debut novel, Dividing Ridge: The Unsolved Murder of Elva Brannock.

Imaging Specialists, Inc. and Star Route Books offered guidance in everything from mark-up pricing to the cost of marketing and author copies. Jeff Halsey also used his own image from Devils Garden, an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Stacy's book title was inspired by that photo. In case you’re wondering, yes the book’s title is significant, it is the name of the local school Elva attended.

A portion of the proceeds from her book is going to the efforts of the Alleghany Historical-Genealogical Society museum located on our beautifully and recently revitalized Main Street. 

It was through the Historical society that Stacy was able to host her first book signing in September 2019. It was also the first place she met her main character's granddaughter, Brenda Irwin Frizzell. Brenda’s grandfather, Sheriff Walter Irwin, tirelessly searched for Elva’s murderer longing to bring the perpetrator of such a crime to justice. The ability to have these moments was well worth all those tireless nights researching and the pain of being turned away from publishing houses.

Her advice to anyone looking to publish would be to write about something you love, find a great editor, and really do your research on traditional versus self-publishing before you commit. It pays to have a great support system, too. If you cannot find it in family or friends, look for a writing group. There are online groups available now that were not available before. Publishing is certainly something Stacy never thought she would do, but now that it has happened she cannot wait to do it again.

Author Stacy Hawks

Stacy Hawks is a resident of Alleghany County, North Carolina located in the Blue Ridge mountains. After graduating from Alleghany High School as an NC Scholar, Stacy received her Associate of Arts Degree from Wilkes Community College, NC, a Bachelor of Arts in History Cum Laude from Brevard College, NC, and a Masters of Education degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.

Stacy is the author of a research paper completed during her time at Brevard College titled "The Success of the New Deal in Cherry Lane Township." The research helped to focus her interest on the Blue Ridge Parkway and how the project shaped Alleghany County.

She is also an Author in Residence for Appalachian Memory Keepers and her articles have been featured on the site discussing the history of places, events, and people of the rural mountain community she is proud to call home. 

Currently, Stacy is the author of three books, two being poetry. She is working on her third and final poetry book, and second novel, which is also a historical-fiction/true crime story that happened in her community.

When Stacy isn't working or writing, she is reading one of her favorite authors:  Jan Morris, Horace Kephart, Harley Jolley, Margaret Brown, Steve Berry, Vince Flynn (Kyle Mills). You can reach out to Stacy at the links below.

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Adventures in Writing ~ by Holly Barbo

Every author brings to their writing elements of their past, their interests and… what makes them tick. They create the magic from the essence of what they are and you; the reader, gets transported into another world. I write in and mix several genres. Not sure if that makes me confused or multi-faceted.

~ grin ~ 

One of my earlier childhood memories is of wanting to learn to read. Starting school meant going to that place where I would learn the key. It was the only purpose for school, in my mind. Well… it turned out it wasn’t quite that simple, and I struggled with the skill. The much younger me persevered. I was determined even then.

Once I caught on, I sampled different genre of books in the school library but, I found the stories that swept me into another place fell into a cluster of categories: adventure-intrigue, suspense, thriller, sci-fi / fantasy and historical fiction. Those were magic. My childhood favorites were: Mara- Daughter of the Nile by McGraw, Mrs. Mike by Freedman, several of James Michener’s books and, of course, all of the Dragon Riders of Pern tales by Anne McCaffrey. If you are familiar with any of these you can see what makes my writing tick. Writers were a marvel! I was content to sit with these books and never write… only read.

In spring 2009 I was working in our furniture store. The market had crashed 6 months before and business was quiet. A story crept into my mind. I pushed the bothersome thing away. I needed to vacuum, dust, fluff pillows and make my store appealing to the invisible hoards of customers who were waiting to stream in and be tempted beyond their restraint. Once the housekeeping duties were done the story pushed again. It wanted out. Finally I gave in and sitting down at my computer I began to write what became The Sage Seed Chronicles. For the most part, I was the conduit. Ten months later, four of the five books in the fantasy series were complete.

We list The Sage Seed Chronicles as fantasy but it also has sci-fi elements. I seem almost incapable of writing a pure genre story. Eventually I sampled writing in several other genres: steampunk, thriller, dystopian, adventure, historical fiction and suspense. Several are combination. But what I was drawn to write is where I loved to read.

One of the online groups I was a part of suggested a multi-author short story anthology. Short story? How do you write a short story? Really. I’m sincere. I hadn’t a clue. I’d just completed five books with the word count around 86,000 each. The pace and development of a novel is measured and developed. Now I’m being asked to write a story in about 5,000 words? 

After the initial disbelief in the concept I read and studied a few short stories. The pace was different, and the skill was to cut out the unnecessary… whatever that was. I took on the challenge. My first short story was also a new genre for me: dystopian. The Tin of Honey was a hit with the readers and eventually made the Semi-finals in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story competition.

Since that time I’ve used short stories to explore genres. I don’t write romances, zombies, horror but seem to be suited to weaving historical with contemporary-suspense/thriller and like world-building.

From the very first of the Sage Seed Chronicles I’ve taken current event worries and woven them into a plot. The books aren’t diatribes on what is happening now. I work hard to take concerns and put them into another setting. It’s therapeutic to “solve” something in a story I have no power to fix in real time. 

If you look at the graphics, you will note the genre spread: steampunk, thriller, dystopian, adventure, historical fiction and suspense. Currently I have nine full length books. Three books have won a single award and Vortexes has four by itself.

~YAY and Happy Dancing~ 

Also on my bookshelf are several short stories. We titled one set Quick Reads (above graphic) and the tales are longer. Perhaps a couple of lunch breaks in reading time per story. All of these are long enough to be singles but are also gathered in a five-story collection. Another set, above, is a trilogy and (LOL) one is waiting to become a trilogy.

~Whew~

Continuing to a smaller scale, I’ve a seven-story collection of mini tales that are too tiny to be out on their own and are only found under the title of Tendrils. Again, whether it be books or short stories, my genres cover the same territory… that which I fell in love with as a child.

I need to make a point here. Many of my short stories have children in them but are NOT children’s books. My readers range from 14-16 to in their 90’s. I write about serious topics which are not intended for young children. The only ones which could be read by kids, as far as subject matter, are The Dragil (from the Quick Reads set), Rockets (found in Tendrils) and the Beyond Time Trilogy.

A bit about me. Earlier I mentioned a furniture store. We closed the

Author Holly Barbo and Misha

store but continue to custom build, restore and repair wood furniture. You can see examples on our biz website: https://www.barbofurniture.com. Yes, I still write between work projects. You must do something while glue is drying, etc. My author website is http://hollybarbo-books.com. Come visit. 

Oh… and I’m currently working on a new thriller. Watch for it this year.

Whatever Possessed Me to Become a Writer ~ by author Elizabeth Keysian

Apart from writing to the Puffin Club when I was about nine—saying I wanted to be an author, and looking for advice—and producing some awful poetry full of teenage angst, my writing journey really began in 1997.

Some of my inspiration came from all the crushes I’d had (I was a sucker for unrequited love and admiring from afar.) I’d lie awake and picture scenarios where the exalted one would suddenly notice how wonderful I was, and whisk me off to bed/into the sunset/to the altar (depending upon how healthy I was feeling at the time.)

The rest of my need to write resulted from frustration with other authors and script writers. I would read or watch a potential love scene that didn’t play out the way I wanted, so I’d rewrite it in my mind.

Well, that accounts for the romance part of my writing journey. The historical part has always been with me. My father used to take me to castles and museums when I was a child. He had to really, as he was a headteacher and therefore in sole charge of me during school holidays (my mother worked). He also encouraged me to be quiet during these long vacations—I was an only child, with few friends in the village where we lived so I didn’t get out much and was always under his feet. He achieved the calm he needed by burying me in books (mostly published by Puffin, as mentioned above) and providing stacks of blank white paper upon which to write or draw.

I did try the drawing, and managed some passable stuff in pencil, but I was too messy to work with any other medium. Besides, both parents had been to art school, so I had to rebel, and choose writing over art, right?

Sadly, the creativity died when I had to prepare myself for the real

world of university (a history degree, naturally) and the need to earn money, which I did as an archaeologist, an illustrator, a special needs teacher, and a museum professional. The catalyst to start writing again came in 1997 when I moved county for a new job and had to leave my partner behind for six moths while he finished up his own job as archaeologist on a Knights Templar site in Essex, England. Coming home to an empty house each night was making me drink too much of the local beer and eat too much hard goat’s cheese (I have an allergy to cow), so writing was a great distraction. 

The other incentive was that we’d been to Cape Town that summer

to visit family, and I wanted to raise enough money to go again.

I started putting my fantasies and daydreams into words and submitting to Mills and Boon, in hopes of making enough money by the year 2000 for the flights back to Cape Town. I shall pause here, to allow the reader time to laugh at my naivety. Yes, I got some interest from that publisher and was asked to submit several complete manuscripts, but I just couldn’t get the formula right. I now know it was because I fleshed out my stories with too many subsidiary characters. Whoops.

Then came the illnesses, which meant there were long spells of time when I couldn’t write at all. Chronic fatigue in 2000, worsening migraine and chronic daily headaches shortly thereafter, then RSI in both wrists as a result of working too hard on a museum exhibition.  NaNoWriMo kept me going when I was well enough to write, and then I broke my foot. 

Having to sit in a chair all day with your leg propped up can be a bit boring, so I started tapping away on my laptop and trying to finish some of the stories I’d begun. Finally, in 2015, after eighteen years of failing to be published by Mills and Boon, I entered Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest, which operated via the Wattpad platform. Hurrah! People wanted to read my stories! I wasn’t a complete failure! I didn’t qualify in the contest, but I met some awesome fellow writers and learned about pitch contests. 

In 2016, just after losing my job due to the chronic illnesses, I entered several stories into the #PitMad contest and got a bite from Nina Bruhns, senior editor at Entangled Publishing. I went on to publish five books with them, one with Soul Mate Publishing, and a few novellas which are self-published. 

This year I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (an autoimmune disease I’d never heard of before) that can mess up your health quite badly AND I damaged my back, which made writing difficult yet again. But there IS a silver lining—while lying in bed in pain, or unable to move or sleep, you can cook up some pretty stonking plot lines! I’m getting treatment for hypothyroidism now, which has helped a bit, and my hunger for writing is returning. You have been warned, people! There’s life left in this old dog yet!

My latest offering is A TREACHEROUS ENGAGEMENT, Book #2 in the Marry in Haste series, and I’ll be finishing Book #3 and writing Book #4 during this November’s NaNoWriMo. I hope…

If you’ve stuck with me and read the above ramble, thank you. 

**Note: All photos are property of Elizabeth Keysian and may not be reproduced without permission

Bestselling author Elizabeth Keysian adores history and archaeology, and writes romances that give the reader an experience of travelling back in time.

Elizabeth Keysian

She feels very British-despite her Viking ancestry-and loves creating rich backdrops for her stories based on real places and actual experiences. She used to be a re-enactor, so has sampled the living conditions, clothing, and smells of the past. She’s also sampled the food, which was actually pretty good.

Her characters battle their problems with both tears and laughter, but she always guarantees them a Happily Ever After, no matter what she’s put them through.  You may connect with Elizabeth by clicking on the links below.

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Choosing Historical Fiction ~ by Author DK Marley

I am sure my story is not unique among writers. We all have that little itch that begins in childhood (at least that is when mine started) of telling stories, creating imaginary worlds, falling down rabbit holes, and the like. Alice and I were kindred spirits, skipping through the woods behind my grandparent's house, lost in a world of our own.

My childhood imaginings later developed into writing around middle school. The book that truly got me thinking about writing something of my own was Green Mansions by William Henry Hudson, as well as an insatiable appetite for all the books of Victoria Holt.

During my first year of High School, I started my very first novel. I think about that story now and cringe, but also smile to see how far I have come on my writing journey Oh, how I have learned and continue to learn, which is how it should be for a writer in any genre. For me, a writer needs to be a voracious reader, which I am to my own detriment sometimes because I have to remind myself that I need to get back to own stories.

The choice to become a historical fiction author felt so comfortable when I finally started finding my voice in the late 1980s. I wrote a novel back then of a young girl growing up in Kashmir during the British occupation, right before the Indian Mutiny, who was half Indian and half British. When I started doing the research for the novel, I knew then where I needed to be. Researching historical people and events found a home in my heart and in my novels.

That manuscript still sits on my shelf waiting for awakening. Perhaps, one day.

In 1997 is really when I started finding my voice as a writer for that

year was my very first visit to the UK. I dove into the history, toured every historical place I always heard about and dreamed about, especially anything having to do with William Shakespeare.

All those years ago, when I was that little girl creating worlds in my mind, my grandmother, an English Literature teacher, sparked my interest in literature and Shakespeare at the burgeoning age of eleven. She gave me her college textbooks and I finished reading both from cover to cover within a few months. My mind blossomed with the words of the Bard, Milton, Marlowe, Jonson, Sidney, and on and on... So when I visited the places in 1997, I knew a story was begging to be told. I just needed to find the right one.

During the trip, I visited the Globe Theatre in Southwark, and it was here that something spoke to me. A pair of eyes looked back at me from a display in the museum at the Globe, almost begging for me to tell his story. I started researching the relationship between Kit Marlowe and William Shakespeare, about the authorship question, and the rest is history.

Since that faithful day, and after years of writing, and editing, and

rewriting, and crying, and almost giving up; then going to an amazing writer's retreat and finding some incredible mentors, my first novel saw the light of day.

I published "Blood and Ink" (the first edition was only ten copies for my family and friends in 2010). The reaction was not what I hoped for and as a newbie writer, my heart broke. I gave up writing for five whole years. For five years, the itch never left me, but I never scratched. And then, tragedy struck our family. In February of 2015, a drunk driver took the lives of my daughter and son-in-law. In a flash, everything changed.

During my attempt to find a way to cope with the unbearable grief, I started a journal to my daughter, telling her things I wanted her to know as if we were still having conversations on the phone. A grief counselor told me that I needed to use this outlet as a way to heal. Writing burst back into my life at the moment I truly needed it. The release of writing the actions of my characters, the arc of the story, and the way the story ends gave control back to my life in a most unexpected way. Even the decision to self-publish empowered me.

Too many things were out of my control - the loss of my precious children, the day-to-day waking up with the emptiness and depression, the dealing with a callous unrepentant wrongdoer in the court case against the driver - so writing is healing me.

I will never be the same, of course. I am forever in that club now, a club I never wanted to be a part of, but it is what it is. Writing gives me a voice and writing about historical people and the past gives me the chance to connect with the past. Through the generations and centuries, we touch those now gone, we hear their voices, when we write historical fiction. Who knows, perhaps one day I will write a story for my daughter; but for now, to continue the legacy my grandmother gave me is enough. One day at a time, one word at a time, we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past (my favorite line from F. Scott Fitzgerald).

D. K. Marley is a historical fiction author specializing in Shakespearean themes. The "Shakespearean Madeline Miller", if you will. She is a true Stratfordian (despite the topic of her novel "Blood and Ink"), a Marlowe fan, a member of the Marlowe Society, the Shakespeare Fellowship and a signer of the Declaration of Intent for the Shakespeare Authorship Debate. Her new series titled "The Fractured Shakespeare Series" adapts each legendary play into a historical fiction novel. She has traveled to England three times for intensive research and debate workshops and is a graduate of the intense training workshop "The Writer's Retreat Workshop" founded by Gary Provost and hosted by Jason Sitzes. She lives in Georgia with her husband and a Scottish Terrier named Molly. You can get in touch with her via the links below.

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An Incurable Romantic Anglophile ~ by Author Mary Ann Bernal

I guess one would say my writing career began in the fourth grade where my teacher was impressed with an original poem of twenty-seven words, and yes, I still remember the verse. Her encouragement remained with me throughout high school when my abilities were recognized during extra credit presentations. Although my college degree is in business administration, I attended creative writing workshops throughout the ensuing years.

Required reading during tenth grade was “Ivanhoe” by Sir Walter Scott and “To Have and to Hold” by Mary Johnston. Why do I recall these particular novels? The aforementioned titles are the building blocks of my literary aspirations. 

Ivanhoe, the heroic knight who saves the Jewish maiden, Rebecca, and marries his love, the lady Rowena. This story is set during the reign of Richard the Lionheart in 12th century England. Thus began my love affair with the Middle Ages, specifically, Britannia.

In “To Have and to Hold”, English soldier, Ralph Percy, buys a wife, Jocelyn Leigh. Over the course of the story, husband and wife are separated, and Ralph Percy does go to the ends of the earth to be united with the woman he had come to love. Romantic, isn’t it? 

Blend the two tales and, behold, an incurable Romantic Anglophile finds the perfect genres to explore.

Hollywood also deserves some inspiration credit. During my formative years, period blockbusters such as “Ivanhoe” and “The Vikings” appeared on the big screen. And because these films made money, more followed from “Knights of the Round Table” to “Prince Valiant” and so on. You might recall Hal Foster created a Prince Valiant comic strip in 1937 (before my time) and continued through 1971 (Mr. Foster’s last). 

When did Erik the Viking become a spark? After seeing Kirk Douglas wield a sword, followed by King Alfred, and we must not forget Beowulf.

Of course, life has a way of interfering with literary aspirations, which kept Erik in the recesses of my mind until my son married. Erik now demanded to be heard. He was tired of being in the shadows, he wanted the recognition, he wanted his story told. 

Hold on – I needed to learn the craft because there are rules, aren’t there? Writing workshops were not enough. With the advent of the computer, more choices were open to me. I could enroll in an online course and participate when I had the time, even if it meant wearing my pajamas and drinking coffee at first light.

Success, I completed several courses, so now I could put paper in the typewriter – not really. No need for correcting tape or white-out and forget carbon paper! We had word processing software and all you had to do was backspace to delete a word, and there was Spellcheck! Wow. One drawback with Spellcheck – causes a person to not be overly concerned with possible misspellings – Spellcheck was on the ball, Spellcheck would pick up the slack if auto-correct didn’t fix the error immediately. 

Being an organized person and following established guidelines, I

created an outline, scribbling a few words next to each chapter heading including the characters controlling the story line, Erik and Gwyneth, the femme fatale, who arrived on the scene shortly after Erik dominated my thoughts. But I was not able to start writing yet. There were the supporting cast members to be named, there were locations to add, there were maps to draw and a glossary to list archaic words for historical fiction newbies.

Is it safe to assume the story starts now? Well, sort of: we do meet Erik and Gwyneth in the first chapter, and they do continue to dominate the early pages of the novel, but something unforeseen happens, and I wasn’t ready for the onslaught of the secondary and less important characters demanding, and I mean DEMANDING more “screen time”. 

What was happening here? Who were these fictional characters that had come out of nowhere as the story developed? Why should I have listened to them? It was getting out of hand and complicated because now, I had to have a map of Wessex updated frequently so I could remember which character was where at any given moment. Suddenly, I found myself fully immersed in an epic, voluminous

narrative, and my Erik the Viking novel had evolved into a trilogy. How could I, in good conscience not tie up loose ends when everyone deserved an ending, happy or not? We, the reader, want to know.

I did not wish to leave Wessex yet and decided to write a character spin-off, a coming of age story with “The Briton and Dane: Concordia”. This time I fought with the minor characters, refusing to let them “rain on Concordia’s parade.” They tried, but they failed. And I was proud of maintaining control. I was in charge, wasn’t I? Not my fictional characters.

Reflecting on Erik and Gwyneth’s role in the trilogy had me feeling guilty because the trilogy wasn’t really just their story, it was David and Helga, and Stephen and Elizabeth, and Rigr and Dalla – you get the drift. There was nothing else to do but try again with another novel, “The Briton and the Dane: Timeline.” Grant it, “The Briton and the Dane: Timeline” is a time travel romantic fantasy, and Gwyneth is transported back to England before William the Conqueror’s invasion in 1066. While they might not be the original Erik and Gwyneth in my mind’s eye, it is still their connection, a bond that transcends time. And I was successful! I finally wrote my Erik the Viking novel.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. I had to leave Wessex and move on to other projects. It was hard saying goodbye to these wonderful characters who took up a good portion of my life, but I would not change anything, because I had fun in Alfred the Great’s England.

Mary Ann Bernal

Mary Ann Bernal is an avid history buff who also enjoys science fiction. She is a passionate supporter of the U.S. military, having been involved with letter writing campaigns and other military support programs since Operation Desert Storm. All of Mary Ann’s novels and short story collections are dedicated to fallen military heroes who gave their lives defending our freedom. A prolific writer originally hailing from New York, Mary Ann now resides in Elkhorn, Nebraska.  You can contact her at the following links:

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Media: How Do You Take Yours? ~ by Cynthia Land

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Hong Kong Kung Fu has fascinated me ever since my father/family was stationed in Manila in the early 1980’s. I remember being both mesmerized and amused by a female actress handily beating on men in a roadside cafe scrap.  Fast forward a few years later when a co-worker introduced me to the work of Jackie Chan. This combination of choreographed martial arts and humor just hit my brain in a new and delicious way. Of course the movies weren’t all humor but the Kung Fu was what epically drew me back like a tide on a beach.  I made forays into Hong Kong directors such as John Woo and found I didn’t have the same love for his movies because the level of violence was so high I couldn’t manage it. The funny Kung Fu of Jackie Chan was obviously slap stick and I could compartmentalize it into humor but the outright anger and revenge of Woo and his contemporaries was hard to take. 

As a yogi, I'm hardwired against violence for the sake of violence.  However, I don't seem to be against a good wack up the side of the head in order to get someone's attention.  Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle (2004) is a master class in a good wack for comedic effect. Here's what I'm talking about. Kung Fu Hustle scene I will state that I was not a fan of the Ax Men massacre scene.  I know he had to go over the top, but that did reach my limit.  One of Chow's other movies, CJ7 (2008) is a howl.  Check it out.  Here

Yoga teaches cultivation of inner stillness.  Martial arts also has a long tradition of teaching inner stillness.  Many Kung Fu movies show the young acolyte made to head to some far away mountain cave to meditate for some impossible amount of time.  I'm seriously over exaggerating here but, after said impossible amount of time they perform as in this scene cut from a Jackie Chan/Jet Li film from 2008 called The Forbidden Kingdom. Here's the deleted scene. Overall a

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pretty crap film but I enjoyed the fight scenes.  Which brings me to another amazing Chinese director, Yimou Zhang, who made Hero which came out in 2002. It has what is quite possibly the best martial arts sequence ever made, between Jet Li and Tony Leung.  I know you might not think of there being silence in a fight but I think there is a lot of meditative space in this sequence.  Decide for yourself.  

Now if we take these physical forms and move them into the mind we can see how we wrangle with ourselves in messy ways.  We wack ourselves with imaginary shoes, slam ourselves against imaginary walls and bang our heads into imaginary tables, probably to no effect.  And there's no laugh track.  Yoga invites us to study and practice the Eight Limbs and delve into ideas such as contentment and self study so that we feel less inclined to engage in acts of violence against ourselves and others.  Just like any of the martial arts, these take daily, sometimes hourly practice and are never truly mastered.  Something is always left to learn.  

I have often heard the phrase, "garbage in garbage out."  This comes to mind when I get into phases of watching TV shows I probably shouldn't.  I am unapologetically a  child of the 70's/80's.  I grew up on Laugh In, Bonanza, Gun Smoke & The Rockford Files.  So when a remake of Hawaii 5-0 came out in 2010, you know I was going to watch it.  Alex

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O'Laughlin isn't hard on the eyes either.  However when the producers kept upping the violence ante, I finally stopped watching.  I just couldn't reconcile their use of torture scenes as entertainment.  They just didn't seem in any way necessary to the progression of their plot lines.  This also became true for shows such as The Blacklist (and I love James Spader) and Breaking Bad.  

Now I pick my TV shows a little more carefully.  Some would say; "Why watch TV at all? It's all trash."  I love stories.  I love media.  I read. I watch movies. I watch TV.  I just have to take care in the use of media.  If garbage is going in, then I can't be surprised if my mind is troubled.  I watch the barest amount of news, just to make sure I haven't missed something truly critical and then I move on to something more pertinent to my immediate life or something more entertaining.  

You may be surprised to read that I've been watching Killing

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Eve.  It's the story of two women, one an MI-5 agent and the other an assassin who have become entangled with one another.  I'm deeply intrigued by the psychology of the two women.  Each is obsessed with the other in ways that defy understanding.  The violence, while intense, is almost an afterthought.  I also enjoy watching books made into TV shows.  I'm watching The Discovery of Witches and Good Omens.  Both have Sci-Fi and historical fiction elements, ticking two of my interest boxes.  My choices must leave me feeling something but, what I'm feeling should not be dread. 

Seeing Double ~ by Lori Roberts

     You know what they say, “Everyone has a double somewhere!”  Well, I believe they are right.  I see people everywhere I go that looks like someone else.  My first memory of seeing a doppelganger was in my youth.  My dad was a doppelganger of his uncle, Knoful.  I remember seeing him at family reunions and thinking how much they resembled each other, but my dad wasn’t gray yet, so the resemblance wasn’t striking.
     Fast forward to my early twenties.  My father would stop on his way home from work at the local grocery store near my house.  His uncle also lived nearby.  As I made my way into the store, I saw who I thought to be my dad.  I even called out, “Dad!” to which Uncle Knoful turned.  Since he was the father of twelve children, he assumed I was one of his.  We both got a good laugh out of it, and I went on to tell Dad the next time I saw him.
     This happened one other time, but with my best friend. She saw Uncle Knoful dining with his wife at a local restaurant.  My best friend didn’t know him but told her husband that my dad was sitting across from them, only he wasn’t with my mom.  You can image! She called me later to tell me she saw my dad. I already knew before she finished. My parents were on a trip to Australia, so I knew who she’d seen.
     I’m sure you have similar stories or experiences. I have been doing research for a new novel I’m writing, set in the 1910-1912 Edwardian era. I was leafing through countless images and came across the story of a lady who’d survived not only the Titanic sinking, but two other disasters at sea as well. 
   

 Google Violet Jessup. She is quite the story. When I posted her picture on my history site, I started getting comments about there being a resemblance to me and some asked if this was a picture of me in character.  Of course, I didn’t see the resemblance, but out of the comments the post received, many saw something I didn’t. I share Violet’s photo aboard the Titanic, and myself as a historical character.

     I can think of several occasions throughout my life when someone approached me, thinking I was someone else. It happens to us all, I’m sure. I became interested in the idea of doppelgangers and did a bit of research after seeing an image of Nicholas Cage and his Civil War doppelganger. So, I will share a few of the ones I found. There are many! See if you agree, everyone has a twin.

Jennifer Lawrence and Zubaida Tharwat

Nicholae Grigorescu and Orlando Bloom

Ginger Rogers and Christina Aguilera

Jack Black and Paul Revere

Zora Neale Hurston and Queen Latifah

Conan O'Brien and Marshall Harvey Twitchell

unknown gentleman on the left

Maggie Gyllanhaal and Rose Wilder Lane

WWII General Douglas MacArthur and Bruce Willis

     After looking at my examples, do you agree? 

     I’ve enjoyed taking a side bar while researching. I think I’m easily distracted, which is probably why I get research for other books on my gallivanting around in history.

     I hope to have a future paranormal book (book 3 in my Lowcountry series) about something similar, only with our ancestors. I’ll keep you posted!

Our Guest today is Mary Anne Yarde #originalitybydesign

Welcome, Mary Anne! We're thrilled you could join us today!

Mary Anne Yarde

Mary Anne Yarde is the multi award-winning author of the International Bestselling series — The Du Lac Chronicles.


Yarde grew up in the southwest of England, surrounded and influenced by centuries of history and mythology. Glastonbury — the fabled Isle of Avalon — was a mere fifteen-minute drive from her home, and tales of King Arthur and his knights were a part of her childhood.

The inspiration behind The Du Lac Chronicles

By Mary Anne Yarde

What inspired you to write your book?
    This is a question authors are often asked. The answers can be surprising. Story ideas usually start out as a quiet thought which niggles in the back of your head. Over time, this quiet thought becomes louder and louder until it can no longer be ignored. That is how it was for me, anyway.

I have been fascinated with the life and times of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table since I was a child — I guess growing up a stone’s throw from Glastonbury (The Ancient Isle of Avalon) may have influenced me somewhat. In Glastonbury, you cannot get away from Arthur. He is everywhere. It is where his story ends — If you believe those 12th Century pragmatic monks of Glastonbury Abbey.

The story of King Arthur is a tragic one. Arthur’s wife has an affair with his best friend — the ultimate betrayal. But while Arthur is in Brittany fighting Lancelot, Mordred takes Arthur’s throne for himself. Arthur learns of Mordred treachery. He abandons his fight with Lancelot and sails back to Briton. Arthur and Mordred meet at Camlann. Both men are mortally wounded in the battle that takes place there. That is what the bards tell us, although with time the story has been added to, changed. In fact there is very little of the original story left. But I digress…

The King is dead…

And here Arthur’s story ends. This is also where the stories of his knights end. Everything ends at Camlann. Or does it?

After Camlann we are left with nothing but an empty throne and a prophecy. This prophecy states if Britain’s sovereignty were ever threatened then, Arthur and his Knights would ride again. Over a thousand years later and countless invasions, we are still waiting.

But what if the prophecy had already come to pass? What if we were all waiting for something which had already happened?

My series The Du Lac Chronicles explores this possibility. But this is no wild fantasy story that I have penned. There are no dragons or wizards in my books — not in the true sense of the word. There are, however, Druids and Christian monks who can perform miracles. And there are men who are as brave as dragons and sometimes just as cruel. You see I wanted my books to be firmly planted in the historical Dark Ages, and I wanted to keep it as real in the telling as I could. However, to depict the Dark Ages is no easy feat.

What happened that made the Dark Ages so…well, Dark?

Hold on to your hats, here comes the history lesson… The Dark Ages was a time of change. A drastic change. In 476 C.E. the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire had been overthrown. The stability which the Roman Empire had brought to Western Europe for over 1000 years was no more. Can you even begin to imagine what that must have been like?

This dawning new era brings us some of the most fascinating historical figures that ever lived. These are not legendary figures, far from it. They were genuine historical men and women — and have they got a story to tell!

My series is not confined to the white cliffs on the North Downs. The Du Lac Chronicles is as much a story of France as it is of England. I wanted this to be an epic retelling, and as I am now writing book 5, I guess that is what I have created.

So back to the history…

The Roman Empire has fallen — what now?

As the Empire began to crumble, one Roman commander turned his back on Rome, and he took some of his men with him. That commander’s name was Clovis. It was at the Battle of Soissons 486 C.E. where he faced the Roman Army he was once a part of. To everyone’s surprise, or maybe not, Clovis and his army won. But, Clovis’ ambition didn’t stop there. He wanted more. Roman Gaul and parts of Western Germany fell to him as well. He forged a new empire through blood, war, and marriage. He made Paris the capital of his new kingdom, and he was the first King of a united Frank (France).

But Clovis was not the only one who hankered after new territory. The Saxons, Jutes, Angles, and not forgetting the Frisians, crossed the South Sea to take advantage of vulnerable Britain who, since the Romans had left, had split back into various smaller kingdoms. There was much infighting and unrest. It was the perfect opportunity for these invaders to come over and stake their claim to this rich and fertile land.

While all this was going on, the Church — the last remnant of the Western Empire — was creeping into the crevices, and spreading the word of God and, what could be considered of equal value, one language — Latin. It could be argued that it was the Church which united Britain in the end.

What else was dark about the Dark Ages?

It is called the Dark Ages because it lacks primary sources, and contrary to popular belief it wasn’t just because events were not recorded. Brittany is a perfect example of what happened to these precious manuscripts. One word. Vikings. Unfortunately for historians, and authors like myself, the Vikings did more than pillage. They destroyed our primary sources. How inconsiderate!

So what was I to do? 

The answer was simple. I used what written sources I could find. I visited many historical sites, watched countless documentaries, and listened to many lectures, but still, I needed more, and I realised that in my search for the perfect setting with the perfect historical characters I had been chasing my tail. I ended where I started. I was back with that quiet thought, that whispered legend. The Dark Ages may be reluctant to give up her past, but folklore was more than generous. I realised that folklore is its own particular brand of history. 

Historians often overlook it because well, folklore is just stories. But I concluded that you could tell a lot about a people by the stories they used to tell. So I decided to combine history with folklore, and The Du Lac Chronicles was conceived. That quite thought, that quiet whisper, turned into a story which I have lived and breathed for over fifteen years.

The Du Lac Prophecy

(Book 4 of The Du Lac Chronicles)

Two Prophesies. Two Noble Households. One Throne.

Distrust and greed threaten to destroy the House of du Lac. Mordred Pendragon strengthens his hold on Brittany and the surrounding kingdoms while Alan, Mordred’s cousin, embarks on a desperate quest to find Arthur’s lost knights. Without the knights and the relics they hold in trust, they cannot defeat Arthur’s only son – but finding the knights is only half of the battle. Convincing them to fight on the side of the Du Lac’s, their sworn enemy, will not be easy.

If Alden, King of Cerniw, cannot bring unity there will be no need for Arthur’s knights. With Budic threatening to invade Alden’s Kingdom, Merton putting love before duty, and Garren disappearing to goodness knows where, what hope does Alden have? If Alden cannot get his House in order, Mordred will destroy them all.

Mary Anne loves to hear from readers, you can find her:  

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