Finding the Story in History

The Massilliote Periplus

2011-09-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Broighter Gold Boat, National Museum
of Ireland, Dublin

The what? you say. I know, I can’t pronounce it either. The Massilliote Periplus was a Phoenician sailing manual or sea merchant’s handbook thought to date from c.600 BC. The word periplus comes from the ancient Greek for “circumnavigation.” Massilliot(e) derives from the Greek colony of Massalia, founded around the same time from which the manual comes. Unfortunately, the original book has been lost, but the good news is: in the fourth century AD, a Roman writer called Rufus Festus Avienus wrote a poem called Ora Maritima that draws information from the periplus. The poem’s title translates as The Maritime Shores or The Sea Coasts. Avienus was a native of Volsinii in Etruria, and according to an inscription his full name includes another name, Postumius, that precedes all the rest. In a few modern references, Rufus appears as Lucius instead, but this could simply be error.

The periplus is important for its account of a sea voyage from the city of Massalia, which became the French city of Marseilles on the western Mediterranean. The manual describes the coast from Cadiz, Spain northward along the European Atlantic coast to Brittany, Ireland and Britain. The description is also the earliest known account of the sea trade route between southern Europe and the British Isles. Archaeology has corroborated these trade links.

The original book’s full contents, having been lost, are only known through Avienus’s poeticized and confused work based on the original. Only one manuscript of the poem survives. Scholars tell us that Avienus was simply copying information from the earlier material and had not actually traveled the seacoasts that are identified in the manual—he wrote as if some the cities were still in existence but had actually been abandoned by the time he wrote his poem. He also relied on Roman itineraries to give distances, sometimes incorrectly. That he did not update the material to reflect his own time turns out to be a good thing—it preserves the historical information from the manual that would have otherwise been distorted or destroyed.

For anyone involved in the history of the Celts, the periplus and the Ora Maritima are important because the periplus contained the first known recording of the Celts’ existence. In the poem, the Latin name “Celtarum” appears, meaning “Celts.” An English translation gives the following: “If anyone should dare to drive his ship into the waves from here at the Oestrymnic Island to where the air of Lycaon grows stiff, he enters the Ligurian land, empty of inhabitants. For because of a band of Celts and frequent battles, the fields have long been empty…”(1) Assuming this information was picked up directly from the manual, we are being told about a voyage from the extreme west of the Iberian peninsula (Spain) to the lands of the Ligurians who lived in northern Italy and southeastern France, and that the Celts had driven them out. There are also passages that name “Gallic soil,” a reference to Gaul, which is identified with Celtic lands before the Roman conquest.

Additionally, Ireland, called the Holy Isle in this case, is mentioned and said to be inhabited by the race of Hierni—the Irish. The island of Albiones is also named. This is Britain. The important issue to note is that although the British Isles, Brittany, and the Celts have all been identified, the poem does not place the Celts in the British Isles. That doesn’t mean the periplus itself did or did not—this will never be known—but it does establish that trade routes between the islands and Celtic lands on the European continent existed as early as c.600 BC., the same time the Greeks were colonizing all over the Mediterranean, the Near East and the Black Sea regions. We do know some form of the Celts eventually ended up in the British Isles—attested from their languages, art and other material evidence that spread and absorbed the earlier Neolithic people already there. The question is: did they migrate because of the trade routes? Did they do so sometime later? Or were they already there by the time the Phoenicians came?

(1) Avienus. Ora Maritima. Trans. by J.P. Murphy. Chicago: Ares Publishing, 1977.

What is History?

2011-09-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

It’s been quite a while since I posted on my blog—too occupied with researching my next book and taking graduate classes in history. Currently I am in the midst of a historiography course. Not to be confusing—this is the history of history writing and historians. Required for the masters degree, it looked a bit more technical than the rest of the program, but it is turning out to be quite interesting. This post is inspired by this week’s class forum loosely based on the question, “What is History?”

One aspect I’ve learned from this class that amazes me is how differently history was viewed in previous eras. To our knowledge, the Greeks were the first to write history. Yet these beginning works by Herodotus, Thucydides and a few others were not considered any more important than a low subcategory of philosophy. Most often, it was taught as literature, an example of how to write, or as rhetoric, not as the separate idea of history.

According to one of the textbooks for the class, until Herodotus and his history-writing heirs gave a sense of the length of other civilizations compared to the Greeks’ civilization, people apparently had no concept of past vs. present or a sense for the dimension of time. The best known previously written works are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer and which touched on the Trojan War and its aftermath. Neither epic poem had any dates or allusions to events that could place the stories somewhere in time, though modern scholars place them in the Mycenaean period, perhaps in the twelfth century BC.

If the textbook is correct in stating pre-Herodotan people had no sense of the progress of time, was their mindset so narrow that they never wondered what had come before them? What about their ancestry? Or who had built the crumbling buildings from hundreds of years earlier that were still visible in Athens?

The textbook is silent on people who kept their history orally. It is also silent on cultures that were not of the so-called great civilizations. Why not at least acknowledge some, like the Celts, who existed concurrently to the Greeks? Their druid class memorized their ancestry, mythology and history so it could be recited accurately to the people to whom it belonged, generation after generation. In fact, to write it down was taboo. Many other tribal people across Europe before written history took hold embraced similar customs. Did they not have a sense of time? They certainly had a perception of their ancestry.

Or is my own sense of history getting in the way of understanding this mindset? History, the written kind, has been subservient to many other disciplines since its inception: to philosophy in the classical period, theology during the middle ages, science, law, literature and art from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. With each age it is reassessed and redefined. Finally, towards the end of the nineteenth century it became a discipline of its own and professionalized, although it ran through a profound number of additional readjustments called “schools.” So the next question is, in another hundred years, will it change again, needing another reassessment? And what will it look like?

Re-release of Into the Path of Gods

2011-05-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

The recrafted edition of Into the Path of Gods, complete with its new cover, is now in paperback. As always, available on Amazon.com and wherever books are sold!

A Different Kind of Normal

2011-05-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of
The National
Museum of Wales

In the process of researching my next book project, I’ve found myself steered into the ancient world of Eurasia, southeastern Europe and those two regions’ relationship to Greece, which was the reigning power at the time. I haven’t found my story yet, but I do know the time is the fourth century BC, perhaps slightly later, and at least one of my main characters will have been taken into slavery.

Logically the first question I asked was, “what was the extent of slavery in this time and place?” In the search for answers, I began looking into the work of Sir Moses I. Finley (1912-1986), who was a long-time professor at Cambridge University and wrote several books on Ancient Greece. I was exceedingly pleased to discover a collection of his essays, several of which focused on slavery. While I found a lot of what I was initially looking for, I was also surprised to find that one of Finley’s gifts as a historian and writer was his ability to intuit the mindset of the ancient world.

First off, slavery in ancient Greece was absolutely all-pervasive. At all times and in all places, compulsory, dependent labor was used to meet the Greek world’s needs. It was so normal, so taken for granted that few, if any, questioned its existence. The ethics of it were not questioned either, nothing like in later times, nothing like we would now.

Agriculture formed the main economy. The owner of a small farm worked his holding alone or with his family members if he had any. If he could afford one, he bought a slave, usually just one, sometimes a few. Like these farms, small mining concessions, shops and manufacturing operations could be worked alone as well and any additional labor was usually a slave. A free man might also own one slave to run his household, attend him in town or when he did military service. Unfortunately, no reliable figures have been left behind to say how many slaves were used in smallholdings like these.

Large landholders, in contrast, were usually absentee, lived in town and owned many slaves to work the land. Likewise, large mining operations in Greece and neighboring Thrace had large slaveholdings. It is estimated there may have been 30,000 slaves in Athens’ silver mines and processing mills at one time. That’s just Athens.

One of the most surprising aspects is that not all slaves were assigned to pure drudgery even though, of course, many, perhaps most, were. One ancient writer says the life of slaves consisted of three things: “work, punishment and food.” But slaves were actually in every part of life except political office. Finley says, “The efficient, skilled, reliable slave could look forward to managerial status. In the cities…he could often achieve a curious sort of quasi-independence, living and working on his own, paying a kind of rental to his owner, and accumulating earnings with which, ultimately, to purchase his freedom.” Records also show that archers from Scythia made up the Athenian police force, but they were state-owned slaves.

Even in the face of civil war, revolution or other crises, slavery remained unchallenged because it was so rooted in society. Free workers apparently did not see slaves as competition for work, nor did they join up with slaves in a struggle against authority. If a slave did revolt, it was usually to flee for his homeland. A completely different sense of freedom existed in the ancient world. Finley explains that freedom came in a range of degrees along a “spectrum” that ran between true freedom and pure slavery. He described it as a complex array of statuses of being ‘unfree.’

Value, in Greek thinking, was in status, not in the nature of the work. According to Aristotle, “The condition of the free man is that he does not live for the benefit or profit of another.” In other words, those who work for another were rare because that would not raise their status. Likely, a free man, even if he could not truly afford one, often bought a slave to raise that all-important status.

One more note on how deeply rooted slavery was in ancient Greece: the Greek language had many words for ‘slave.’ Compared to modern English, Greek’s many fine nuances demonstrate the complexity of the slave system and how it was interwoven in society. In addition, meanings changed from one place to the next and from one time to the next. The character I have envisioned for my story is a Celt who had dealings of some sort in the Balkan region or the Pontic steppe and ended up being taken as a slave. The Thracians of the Balkans likely had a similar mindset like the Greeks regarding slavery. The Celts, however, appear to have had a deeply imbedded sense of freedom that was reflected in their lifestyle, art and mythology. Imagine how this character must react to the very different attitude of the Greeks and Thracians.

A New Journey

2011-02-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

I’m heading out on a new journey! No, not a vacation—I wish! Having finished my fifth century Arthurian series, I am in search of a new adventure to write about.

Where to start?

Photo of torque
courtesy of
Canadian Museum
of Civilization

Many historical novelists take up a new story related to others they have already written. For example, say an author has written a novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine. Since the research done for the Eleanor book would also touch on many of the queen’s relations, alliances and enemies, an author is very likely to choose one of those folks as the subject of the next book. Makes sense—it shortens the time needed for additional research and the author already has more than a good sense of the time and place.

In writing the Macsen’s Treasure Series I discovered a lifelong love of Celtic history, especially as my ancestry hearkens from Wales and Scotland, so most of what I write has some connection to Celtic heritage. Research for the series also put me in contact with many of the theories that swirl around the idea that the legendary King Arthur may have been based on some other historical figure’s exploits and the stories raised his status to something out of proportion from reality. One of those theories claims that Arthur was actually a Roman military commander in the second century AD assigned to a post in northern Britain, and that he and the men he led may have originally come from the Eurasian steppes. Allegedly, the folklore of these Eurasian men created the essence of Arthur’s legend—including the grail story, the round table and so on.

Personally, I do not buy into this theory—doesn’t fit the historical evidence—but the authors mention the nomadic Scythians of the Eurasian steppes as having been predecessors of the men stationed in Britain. (actually Sarmatians, who conquered the Scythians around 300 BCE.)

The Scythians, indeed, are an intriguing bunch. In the last few centuries BCE, around the fourth and third centuries BCE, they moved westward into eastern Europe, particularly in to the Hungarian plain, Transylvania and the Balkans. A few of their artifacts have been found even farther west in Germany. During this time, the Celts expanded eastward into the Balkans, the Danube basin and even beyond with some settlements established in the Scythians’ main homeland of the steppes north of the Black Sea.

Here comes the most exciting part. Both the Celts and the Scythians are known for their artwork, the Scythians primarily for their fabulous gold decorative pieces that adorned both themselves and their horses’ trappings. In particular, animal figures were most prominent. The art that the Celts began to produce during this period, called La Tène, indeed not only incorporated similar figures, but animal figures that very closely resembled those of the Scythians. Having studied art, this thoroughly captured my attention.

Certainly there is a story to be discovered here. While the contact between Scythians and Celts is well established, as I go forward with research, I plan to take this a few steps further and dig into how this influence was transmitted. I have already discovered that itinerant goldsmiths moved about in this region. There was also a tremendous slave trade, as well as the ever present and inevitable war and quite a number of other possibilities. The more I research, the more ideas come to me for characters and plot. What a fascinating time and place on which to hang a new story!

Hmm—a vacation back in time—right now it’s the only kind I can afford…

Canadian Museum of Civilization

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From Little Doward to Another Battle

2011-02-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

In 2007, I posted two blog articles about the twelve battles King Arthur allegedly fought and led to his consolidation of power. They are listed in the ninth century document, The History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum), attributed to a monk called Nennius. I offered my conjecture on the location of the first battle, on the mouth of the river Glein, and the sixth battle, on the river Bassas. (See the articles: Part 1 and Part 2.) Since posting the articles, I’ve been intent on completing both my fourth book, A Land Beyond Ravens, and the overhaul of my first book, Into the Path of Gods. I got away from looking any further into the battle list as none of them pertained to either story.

Nennius tells us that the second, third, fourth and fifth battles all allegedly took place “on another river, which is called Dubglas and is in the Linnius region.” Like most of the other locations, historians have never figured out where the river Dubglas is. The only river in Britain with a similar name is in Scotland and called the Douglas. Linnius, however, is usually considered to be either the area in the east around Lincoln or, alternatively, Lindinis, the Roman name for the town of Ilchester in Somerset. However, no rivers with names similar to Dubglas exist in either region.

But … one of those odd things that happens in research came out of the blue. During the re-edit of my book, I needed a little more information about the place in which the fifth century high king Vortigern allegedly met his end. According to legend, Vortigern was trapped in a stronghold called Little Doward and burnt alive when Ambrosius, his successor, chased him there in his successful quest to take the high kingship.

In the original version of Into the Path of Gods, the mode of Vortigern’s death was only noted after it happened and no more mention made. In the new version, I have added a scene where my main character, master spy Marcus ap Iorwerth, spends a night camped in a hillside cave and has a fitful dream about the refortification of a stronghold. The hill in question is Little Doward. I spent some time researching the hill’s history (click here for more on this), and checked it out on Google Earth to get a feel for the surroundings. I also wanted to find an older name for the location because Doward sounds too modern and Anglicized for a book set in the fifth century. I went looking in my trusty book, Place Names of England and Wales. [1] There is no entry for Doward, but the following note was made in the entry for a place called Dowlais:

“The Little and Great Doward Hill, lower Wye, were old Dougarth, which is O.W. for ‘two garths’ or ‘enclosures.’ ”

Well, there’s a plausible older name for Doward—Dougarth. The enclosures mentioned probably would have been dark age hill forts. Wonderful!

But wait a moment. This is the section preceding the note about Doward:

“DOWLAIS (Glamorgan). Pron. Dowlish. Disputable; perh. O.W. dau, mod. W. dou glais, ‘two streams’; but prob.=DOUGLAS. The Dewlas, trib. of Nthn. Dovey, is sic 1428 and locally pron. Diflas, clearly ‘dark (W. du) stream.’ DOWLISH WAKE (Ilminster) should be the same. Cf. DAWLISH.”

The reference to Dowlais possibly meaning “two streams” and probably equaling “Douglas” stopped me in my tracks and left me speechless. Then I got excited. Dowlais is a village in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, southeastern Wales. As noted in Part 1 of my earlier notes, the frontier in the fifth century between British territory and the westward-encroaching Saxon territory, as suggested by historian Christopher Gidlow [2], may have been roughly where Wales now borders the English counties of Shropshire and Cheshire. Gidlow proposes that some of the battles could have taken place along or near this vague line. Dowlais is not that far from the line or from where I theoretically placed the sixth battle of Bassas.

In addition, Dowlish Wake, also noted in the entry, presents another possibility. Guess where it is? Near Ilminster, which is near Ilchester. Lindinis, the other possible location of Linnius. Could either of these possibly be the location of the four battles on the river Dubglas? Perhaps. This is still simply conjecture as there is no proof.

I’m curious as to why the Arthurian community of scholars has not picked up on these clues. Perhaps the notion has been considered but ended up dismissed out of hand so quickly that no one has ever presented the theory. Perhaps I simply have a different way of looking at place names or just had a moment of plain old luck to have discovered two possible connections. Maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about.

And now…am I bold enough to stick my neck out and let the Arthurian historians get a whiff of this idea? They are excellent at hacking theories all to pieces. Or should I quietly approach one—like Christopher Gidlow—and ask what he thinks while I hope he won’t ignore or scoff at me? Regardless, the discovery sure sent the chills rippling. To know if it holds any water with other Arthurian enthusiasts would be even more exciting!

[1] Johnson, James. Place Names of England and Wales. London: Bracken Books, 1994.

[2] Gidlow, Christopher. The Reign of Arthur: From History to Legend. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 2004.

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Ebooks!

2011-02-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

Great news! The entire Macsen's Treasure Series is now available in most ebook formats!

Surprise!

2010-12-27T13:19:00.000-08:00

This list of Best Fiction Authors in the Denver Area was a complete surprise to me. It's dated 8 December, but I didn't know about it until two weeks later when a 'google alert' came in. (Don't know if this was on the television or not.) I'm the third one on the list.

Click here to see the article:
Best Fiction Authors in the Denver Area

Thank you, CBS Denver!
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A thrill of a lifetime!!!!!

2010-06-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

I'm utterly thrilled and humbled to announce that A Land Beyond Ravens has won the Colorado Book Award for historical fiction! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

This is part of the press release my publisher is putting out:

Longtime Colorado resident Kathleen Guler has won the Colorado Book Award in historical fiction for her novel, A Land Beyond Ravens. Guler accepted the award in Aspen on Friday. (June 25, 2010)

Reviews have hailed the book as “one of the most historically realistic Arthurian novels ever written, a thoroughly mature work...” The book tells the story of a spy and master of disguise in fifth century Britain who, while being squeezed between the politics of two powerful kings, accidentally sparks off what becomes the quest for the holy grail.

“Twenty years ago today, I adopted Colorado as my home, and now I feel like Colorado has adopted me back,” Guler said in her acceptance speech. She then read a brief passage from her book.

The prestigious Colorado Book Award is sponsored by Colorado Humanities’ Center for the Book, established as the state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A Land Beyond Ravens, as well as the other books in the Macsen's Treasure Series, are available by order from any bookshop or online at amazon.com. It is also available in ebook format at Smashwords.com: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/15861.

###

Still dancing on the tabletops here :-)))

Castell y Gwynt

2010-05-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Shhh! Don't tell anyone. This is one of the places where Marcus ap Iorwerth in Into the Path of Gods exchanges messages from the secret alliance that will attempt to depose the old high king Vortigern and replace him with Ambrosius, the man they believe to the not only the rightful high king, but who will also be a much better leader.

The link below leads to a photo of Castell y Gwynt, which is a volcanic formation that pushed up between the two peaks, Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach in Snowdonia, North Wales.

http://bit.ly/bMjytL

Events for A Land Beyond Ravens

2010-05-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

Please join me if you are in the Denver, CO area for the following events:

1. 14-16 May 2010. All shortlisted books for the Colorado Book Awards, including my historical novel, A Land Beyond Ravens, will be featured in a Book Fair at the LoDo (downtown) Denver Barnes & Noble store, 16th & Curtis Streets, Denver, CO. I will be there on Friday, 14 May between 3pm and 5pm to sign books and answer questions.

2. 16 June 2010. The sponsors of the Colorado Book Awards are also featuring a series of readings for the finalists. I will be reading from A Land Beyond Ravens on Wednesday, 16 June between 5pm and 7pm. The readings take place at Baur's Ristorante, 1512 Curtis St, Denver, CO.

Bring friends, family, colleagues and celebrate with the finalists!

Shortlist!

2010-04-30T16:39:00.001-07:00

A Land Beyond Ravens has been shortlisted in the Historical Fiction category of the 2010 Colorado Book Awards! This is the most prestigious statewide award in Colorado, where I live. Woo-hoo!!!! Prior to the Awards ceremony, I'll be joining other finalists for books signings and readings throughout the state, including a book fair at the downtown Denver Barnes & Noble, May 14-16. More info on this soon. Final results of the Awards will be given Friday, June 25 in Aspen during the Aspen Summer Words Literary Festival. Fingers crossed for luck!

Another award for A Land Beyond Ravens!

2010-03-31T08:00:00.001-07:00

Woo-hoo! A Land Beyond Ravens took 2nd place Fiction at CIPA (Colorado Independent Publishers Association) Book Awards banquet Saturday night! The novel has been nominated for several more awards--should hear more starting in April.

Thunder Fire!

2010-02-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

While moving along with the re-edit (which is turning out to be more like an overhaul) of my first book, Into the Path of Gods, I decided to reassess one of the secrets my main character Marcus discovered. Ok, actually, he stole it from the druids.

We know very little about the druids. Mostly, it’s some skewed, propagandized information left from the Romans who destroyed the druid enclaves in Britain as part of their conquest of the island. Because they banned all forms of writing, the druids left behind no documentation of their own. They were, however, considered well educated for the time and along with the histories, mythologies and genealogies of their people, they may have also understood some astronomy and other scientific disciplines. When the Romans destroyed their groves, schools and culture, this vast knowledge was lost.

Or was it? It is believed that a few druids escaped the annihilation and continued to practice in secret. One reason for banning the written word may (and that’s a big ‘may’) have been to protect their knowledge. Were some of their secrets dangerous? Something they didn’t want people to use on each other?

In the original version of the book master spy Marcus ap Iorwerth stole one of those secrets. He reproduced a recipe of charcoal, saltpetre and sulphur, an explosive powder he enclosed inside fragile clay balls and lobbed over fortifications to make noisy distractions and wreak general havoc. Anyone in the know would recognize this recipe as what we call gunpowder. Having no guns in the fifth century, Marcus called his weapon a powder ball. Historians believe gunpowder, invented by the Chinese, was not known outside of China until the thirteenth century, although the Chinese possibly knew it as early as the tenth century. Could the druids have actually known or figured out how to make gunpowder? It’s possible, but we’ll never know without a time machine.

So if the druids (and Marcus) didn’t have this explosive powder, to what else could they have had access? In doing a little research, I learned that accounts of incendiary weapons have been documented as far back as the ninth century BC and have encompassed a wide variety of formulas, delivery systems and names in the centuries ever since. The most common name applied to the entire range is ‘Greek fire,’ invented by the Byzantines. This term actually only originated since the Crusades and in truth should apply just to the particular mixture the Byzantines employed. Other names, some from earlier times, some from later on, include sea-fire, Roman-fire, war-fire, liquid-fire, prepared-fire, automatic-fire, and processed-fire.

Because druids belonged to Celtic culture that goes back to ca. 500 BC, and because it was widespread across much of Europe and even into parts of western Asia in those days, it is possible the druids could have known of this form of weaponry and kept the formula secret. Indeed, throughout the centuries these formulas were heavily guarded military secrets.

Now, I’m not a chemist or scientist, so I’m hoping this makes sense. Of the substances used in these formulas, a petroleum-like fluid, ala tar, pitch, naphtha, or tallow would have created the base. Other ingredients might have included sulphur, saltpetre (aka stone salt), charcoal, and quicklime. Marcus would have had access to tar (distilled wood, peat moss, heath, among other sources), as well as stone salt, charcoal and quicklime.

Here’s one of those instances that makes me love research. Quicklime, when in contact with water, immediately increases in temperature to 150° C. So if a pile of wood is soaked with tar in combination with some of these other substances, and quicklime is added to it, it’s possible to start the fire with water of all things!

[Note: a demonstration of this was done on television, probably on The History Channel or a similar channel. I’m trying to locate a DVD of this, but haven’t figured out which channel/program/episode yet.]

This liquefied fire was delivered by various means, often out of pressurized siphons—primitive flame throwers. Another innovation in delivery of this fire is shown in a picture from the National Historical Museum in Athens: clay grenades! These were used in the 10th – 12th centuries, and were filled with Greek fire. In the picture they look like they are made of glazed ceramic. Other pictures show them made of unglazed terracotta. This seems to partially validate Marcus’s use of clay spheres to deliver his destructive message. Clever fellow that he is, he could have improvised this delivery system as good as other innovators did. Just because it’s not recorded somewhere, especially in a time when things were rarely or not recorded at all, doesn’t mean it couldn’t have existed then.

So, we have Marcus stealing the recipe to produce liquefied fire, making up or stealing the idea for some device to deliver the goods, but what would he call it? As he’s discovering this for the first time, he might overhear a term from the druids or dub it something logical as he sees it. Of the names listed above, perhaps war fire or liquid fire might make sense. Because he intensely dislikes the sea, he’d never call it “sea-fire.” He might be tempted to call it a “river-fire” instead because it looks like a flaming stream or river. But when he first sees it, a loud boom is set off. I think he would call it “thunder-fire.” Maybe by the time the editing is done I’ll have decided on another name. Or Marcus, in his clever, convincing way, will have decided it for me.

Photo courtesty of National Historical Museum, Athen Greece, as noted in the Greek Fire entry on Wikipedia.com

Interview with the Steamboat Today

2009-12-13T08:28:00.000-08:00

Local author finds mystery in history
By Margaret Hair Saturday, December 12, 2009

Steamboat Springs — Kathi Guler jumped into a 27-year writing project after what she calls “a moment of great egotism.”

“Originally, it was going to be one book, just to see if I could do it,” the Steamboat Springs author, who writes under the name Kathleen Cunningham Guler, said about her four-part Macsen’s Treasure Series.

“I had read this other historical novel that I didn’t find very good. I thought, ‘Gosh, I could do better than that,’” she said.

That was in February 1982. Sixteen years, a library of books worth of reading and a research trip to the United Kingdom later, Guler had “Into the Path of the Gods,” the first book in her series.

With almost 10 years behind her since that first release, Guler is promoting the fourth and final Macsen’s Treasure novel, a historical spy thriller called “A Land Beyond Ravens.” She will sign copies of the book and answer questions at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Epilogue Book Co.

“A Land Beyond Ravens” closes the evolution of Guler’s main character, a fifth century British spy named Marcus ap Iorwerth. Marcus and his wife, Claerwen, work through the series to unite factions to defend against a Saxon invasion.

“I’ve always been interested in history, and when I read Mary Stewart’s ‘Merlin Trilogy,’ that got my interest going,” Guler said about the series. She flipped to the further reading section of Stewart’s books and started plowing through the listed titles. Guler has built her own library of about 1,000 books on related topics, she said.

“The history behind this time is very interesting. I probably would have been an archaeologist if I hadn’t done everything else in my life,” she said.

Guler’s series takes place in the last third of the fifth century, around the time King Arthur is supposed to have lived. The mystery and lack of documentation from that time inspired Guler — who also credits some of her interest to her Scottish and Welsh ancestry — to frame her story as a spy novel with Marcus as the leading role, she said.

“He’s kind of one of these James Bond meets MacGyver meets Braveheart kind of characters,” she said. Guler hopes fans come away from the series with more than a good read.

“One thing I like for people to take away from the series is how resilient people are. Even in times of war and great stress and disaster, we’re resilient, and we try to find a way out of it. I think that’s the appeal people find in the Arthurian legend,” she said.

The Steamboat Springs Writers Group offered workshop tips for the second, third and fourth Macsen’s Treasure books. Guler moved to Steamboat Springs in 1990 and has been a member of the writers group since 1998. At weekly meetings, Guler’s peers pointed out any gaps in plot or character development or dialogue in a way that was honest but not critical, she said.

There are ideas for a new project, possibly a series of interconnected short stories set in different historical periods, she said.

Books from the Macsen’s Treasure Series are available locally at Epilogue and online at www.amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as at Guler’s publisher’s Web site, www.bardsongpress.com.

Photo credit: John F. Russell from Steamboat Today

On Writing Historical Fiction

2009-11-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

Daydreaming is a good thing. Some will disagree, like one of my grade school teachers who asked the question: “what’s first person singular of the verb ‘to be’?” She followed with, “You look like you’re daydreaming,” and called my name. I answered flippantly, “I am,” meaning I was, in truth, daydreaming and had not heard the question. By coincidence, it was the right answer. Miffed that she hadn’t embarrassed me, she scowled and moved on to the next daydreamer.

Indeed, I don’t remember what I was daydreaming about then, but it very well could have been of knights in shining armor, the Three Musketeers, or that clever fellow Zorro of early California. To escape the present world and seek the adventure of another time and place always felt comfortable back then. The truth? Still does! Inexplicably, being transported to another time has a certain appeal. Is it ladies in long dresses? Big hunky men in kilts? Exotic languages no longer spoken? Great sword fights? Sea battles? Who knows?

The daydreaming eventually led to an insatiable interest in history after watching the BBC’s “The Six Wives of Henry VIII.” Visualizing the Tudors’ lives made me understand that history examines the dynamics of people’s actions and is not the dull, dry business it’s been made out to be by countless school systems. By the time I attended university, I found my favorite studies of art, music, literature and drama were all closely interconnected by their histories. So much to discover!

Throughout the decades that followed, the fascination remains strong. The desire to communicate that interest manifested in the form of historical fiction. This took a lot of learning, patience and persistence. Writing historical fiction goes far beyond simply telling a story set in another time. It’s many disciplines: the historian’s craft of performing thorough, solid research to recreate the world of another era; the art of the written word; and the intuition—the creative daydreaming—that takes the spark of an idea for a story and gives it the fire to unfold in all its power.

After writing four books, I still wonder why certain eras intrigue me, some quite strongly. Is it my Welsh and Scottish ancestry? Dark Age Britain’s Celtic culture draws my attention the most and began doing so long before I discovered my heritage. Is it something as ethereal and unprovable as reincarnation? Sometimes dreams and images come to me so fiercely while I’m writing that they seem more like memories than imagination. Or is it the challenge to puzzle together what happened long ago and find the story within that context?

I wonder what that grade school teacher would say if she knew where my daydreams have taken me. With apologies to Descartes: I write, therefore “I am”?

USA Book News: Best Books Awards 2009

2009-10-19T10:41:00.001-07:00

Great news! A LAND BEYOND RAVENS is a finalist in The National Best Books 2009 Awards in the Fiction & Literature: Historical Fiction category! Woo-hoo!

http://www.usabooknews.com/2009bestbooksawards.html

Literary Sojourn - 2009

2009-10-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

I love this event! Literary Sojourn is a fabulous annual gathering held each fall in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, that brings together a handful of critically acclaimed authors to speak to about 500 attendees. This was the tenth I’ve attended. This year we had John Darnton, Jayne Anne Phillips, Linda Hogan, Amitav Ghosh and Richard Bausch speaking, plus Erin McKean as Master of Ceremonies. The authors speak on topics that can range anywhere from the writing process, to career paths, to the background of one or more of their books, to where an idea or observance created the spark that turned into a story.

I always come away with something of value. It can be a new idea of how to approach a story, a sense of validation that these highly acclaimed authors go through similar experiences that I have as a writer, or simply some inspiration. Even after many years of experience in writing, and having written and published four novels of my own, there’s always more to learn, to hone, to explore, to raise to a higher level. Being in this position, I actually find this kind of event more valuable than going to many of the writer’s conferences or workshops out there—so many of those are geared towards beginners. (Unfortunately, money and time don’t allow me to attend the better conferences.)

These are what I felt were the highlights:

Amitav Ghosh, from Calcutta, India, spoke of how so many books tell of the arrival of immigrants in new countries. He writes instead of the difficulty of leaving the old country, especially one like India that has roots in an incredibly old civilization and the land is even part of the religion. This got me to thinking about some of the things I’ve written on Celtic culture that also reveres the land. As people from Asia’s many cultures have been far flung across the world, so have Celtic people been spread in a diaspora. My own Welsh and Scottish ancestors were part of that vast migration.

Jayne Anne Phillips spoke of kismet. What an interesting surprise when she revealed that while finalizing her book, “Lark and Termite,” without foreknowledge, the name of one of the characters turned out to be nearly identical to that of a survivor of a historical incident on which the book is based. I had a similar spine-tickling experience which I’ve blogged about here before. When I needed to name a character in A Land Beyond Ravens who would eventually become one of King Arthur’s warriors, I searched through many long compilations of names associated with Arthur’s armies. The character was the son of a long dead man called Taran. In the form of Welsh patronymics, the new character would be ‘so-and-so’ ap (son of) Taran. The search paid off unexpectedly: I found a name, Glinyeu ap Taran. Yes, kismet!
(See my earlier entry:http://kathleenguler.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-was-that-fellows-name.html)

Linda Hogan, a Chickasaw poet and novelist, also hit a chord that resonated with me. She spoke of the language crows and ravens have and how they communicate with not only each other, but us as well. My husband and I experience that every day. We have somewhere between fifty to a hundred crows that live in our neighborhood. They interact with us, talking in their varied and intricate language. They leave no doubt as to what they mean, and it is not just that they want food. They enjoy companionship as well. They are intelligent, playful birds and have adopted us into their family and territory. The best highlight of my day was the gift of sitting for a few minutes with Linda and talking with her about these wonderful creatures while she signed my copy of her book, Mean Spirit.

In all, a very enjoyable, satisfying day. If all goes well, I’ll be back for number eleven!

See http://www.literarysojourn.org/ for additional information.

Announcing...Blog Tour Schedule!

2009-10-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

I will be on a virtual book tour for my new book A Land Beyond Ravens, starting 5 October. Here are the stops I'll be making. Please stop by and feel free to leave some comments!

5 Oct: The Plot http://theplotline.wordpress.com/

5 Oct: Historically Obsessed http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/

6 Oct: The Plot http://theplotline.wordpress.com/

7 Oct: Book Madness http://bookmadness.wordpress.com/

8 Oct: The Review From Here http://www.reviewfromhere.com/

9 Oct: Marta's Meanderings http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com/

12 Oct: The Fantasy Pages http://fantasy-pages.blogspot.com/

13 Oct: The Book Connection http://www.thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/

14 Oct: In My Youth http://inmyyouth.wordpress.com/

14 Oct: HistFic Chick http://histficchick.blogspot.com/

15 Oct: Historical Novel Reviews http://historicalnovelreview.blogspot.com/2009/09/land-beyond-ravens-by-kathleen.html

16 Oct: The Writer's Life http://www.thewriterslife.blogspot.com/

19 Oct: Zensanity http://zensanity.blogspot.com/

20 Oct: Just Me http://jenerahealy.com/2009/09/25/a-land-of-ravens-by-kathleen-cunningham-guler/

21 Oct: Divine Caroline http://divinecaroline.com/

21 Oct: American Chronicle http://americanchronicle.com/

22 Oct: The Hot Author Report http://www.thehotauthorreport.blogalogues.com/

23 Oct: The Hot Author Report http://www.thehotauthorreport.blogalogues.com/

26 Oct: Book Tours and More http://booktoursandmore.blogspot.com/

26 Oct: Historical Tapestry http://historicaltapestry.blogspot.com/

27 Oct: Scribe Vibe http://www.scribevibe.blogspot.com/

28 Oct: Café of Dreams http://cafeofdreams.blogspot.com/

29 Oct: The Tome Traveller http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/

30 Oct: The Story Behind the Book http://thestorybehindthebook.wordpress.com/

###

A Land Beyond Ravens Released 30 Sept, 2009

2009-09-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

Today is the day! A Land Beyond Ravens is now available! Please see the link to the Macsen's Treasure Series blog for reviews, interviews and more!

http://macsenstreasure.blogspot.com/

Buy from Amazon.com

P.S.: Pay no attention if Amazon's saying "ships in 1 to 2 months"--they are only temporarily out of stock and will have more available very shortly, if not already!

Review by Reader Views

2009-08-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

I was utterly blown away by this new review. With glowing reverence, he touches on all the points I hold most dear in writing historical fiction. It's especially gratifying as well because the reviewer is an expert in Arthurian lore and history and an accomplished writer himself.

Click here to read:
http://macsenstreasure.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-by-reader-views.html

Review by US Review of Books

2009-08-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest review for A LAND BEYOND RAVENS:

http://www.theusreview.com/reviews/Land-Guler.html

Give that bishop a name!

2009-07-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when writing a minor character into a historical novel, it’s not necessary to name the character if he or she isn’t terribly significant or doesn’t recur. Their purpose can be achieved through action alone. However, once in a while, research will offer an unexpected treat.

While writing A LAND BEYOND RAVENS, I needed to know if the title and function of bishop in the Christian church had come into existence by the fifth century in Britain. Specifically, I wanted to know about the area in what is now called Rhôs in North Wales. I often use the Catholic Encyclopedia for facts on early church history, although to pinpoint something in such a particular location and in so early a time is difficult, if not impossible. Eventually I determined that bishops were indeed in office then but ruled with much less authority than in later times.

Then I came across an official website from the Diocese of Bangor, North Wales, which includes Rhôs. In an article by Dr. Enid Pierce Roberts, I learned that Bangor is the oldest of the Welsh dioceses. Its origins stem from the arrival of St. Deiniol and a group of monks, who built the first church there and enclosed it and its surroundings in a wattle fence—a “bangor.” The community that lived within the enclosure included the monks, married secular clergy and lay people.

Deiniol’s arrival in Bangor is dated as AD 525—much too early for the book’s setting in the 480’s. It is also known that Christianity, especially in remote places in the kingdoms of what is now Wales, was slow to take root. However, in the Bangor area, a number of inscribed stones remain to this day that date to the late fifth or early sixth century, attesting that Christians did live in Rhôs earlier than Deiniol’s arrival.

Dr. Roberts notes that on one stone at Eglwys Rhôs (Rhôs Church), the name Sanctinus is inscribed. And…he is commemorated as sacerdos—which translates from Latin as a priest or even a bishop! A second stone mentions Bivatigirnus, also called sacerdos, and is located at Trescawen (Llangwyllog) on the island of Anglesey. On further investigation, my search was rewarded with the information that Sanctinus also had a less stuffy sounding name: Seithin. Perhaps he took the Latinized name during his rise within the church’s hierarchy. We don’t have exact dates for the two men, but that their stones pre-date the official establishment of the first church in Rhôs is significant enough that they could fit into the 480’s or thereabouts. The dates given in my books are there mostly as guideposts for the passage of time. I’d never claim that they should be taken as absolute concrete. As historian Geoffrey Ashe says: “…it would usually be pretentious to give even a ‘circa’ date…” when dealing with Dark Age Britain.

I never expected to find a name, let alone two, plus locations attached to each. What a reward! And it was especially so because one of the antagonists in the story is Cadwallon, king of Gwynedd, who had his home at Bod-ys-gollen, Rhôs, and was going to build a new capital at Aberffraw on the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn), not so far from Trescawen! Perfect set up for conflict!

Perhaps it’s a bit pretentious on my part to have attached these two historical names to a pair of minor characters, but it’s hard to ignore that these folks existed around the right time and served in a function fitting to the story. Perhaps fictionalizing them gives them actions they never would have performed. But nailing down names and places gives the reader something more to latch on to than some generic fellow simply referred to as “the bishop.” As it’s been said, the devil is in the details. Maybe in this case the details are in the bishops.

So nice to be recognized!

2009-05-31T05:24:00.000-07:00

What a treat! In recent months—mostly by mere chance—I’ve discovered that one or more of my novels in the Macsen’s Treasure Series has been noted in bibliographies or encyclopedias. All are in sections that highlight Arthurian fiction written by modern authors. Recognition is such a satisfying thing!

I had been aware for years that supplements to The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, edited by Norris J. Lacy, were to include mentions of my books, but I had no idea how this would come about. I doubted this book’s publisher would reissue the entire book as it is large and expensive to produce and not exactly a bestseller. However, an email surfaced from the International Arthurian Society (I’m a member) announcing updated information about the University of Rochester’s Camelot Project. Lo and behold, included was information about the supplements. They are incorporated into a series of annual books entitled Arthurian Literature, published by D. S. Brewer. Into the Path of Gods and In the Shadow of Dragons were listed in the supplement printed in Volume XXII of this series! And…The Anvil Stone will be mentioned in an additional supplement to be included in Volume XXVI, reportedly forthcoming this year. To be associated with Norris Lacy’s New Arthurian Encyclopedia is like finding the Holy Grail for an Arthurian fiction writer!

Another notation can be found in Mike Ashley’s The Mammoth Book of King Arthur, published in 2005. This one mentions my first two books, Into the Path of Gods and In the Shadow of Dragons. The Anvil Stone was published a year after Ashley’s book came out. Into the Path of Gods was also noted in Cindy Mediavilla’s book, Arthurian Fiction: An Annotated Bibilography, released in 1999. Unfortunately, neither described the books accurately, one even misspelled a character’s name. While I am grateful for these two notations, I’m also rather mystified as to why they both say the books are for “young adults.” No, the books are definitely adult fiction. If they were movies, they would certainly receive an “R” rating for sex and violence. Nowhere have my books ever been categorized for a YA audience.

And yesterday, on a more uplifting line, while browsing through Amazon.com for something completely different, I ran across Books and Beyond: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of New American Reading, by Kenneth Womack. This is a reference book for librarians and costs $400 new! But using Amazon’s “search inside the book” function, I see this eight-pound tome has five, count ‘em, FIVE! references to the Macsen’s Treasure Series. In a section on Arthurian fiction the author compares the various treatments of characters in recent novels. He mentions all three of mine at different points, plus he gets the information correct! Thank you! They are also listed in two places in the back of the book. Hot diggity!

It will be interesting to see where the series is mentioned next, once the fourth book, A Land Beyond Ravens, is released in September. Huzzah, for search engines.

Me timbers are too stout to shiver!

2009-05-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

Since the decision came about to re-edit the first book of the Macsen’s Treasure series, INTO THE PATH OF GODS, I knew a number of historical points needed to be corrected as well as some other logistical issues. One scene that originally took place along a roadside needed to be moved to a more logical location and will now take place on a trading ship. While the updated scene provides the same storyline and character pathways, it will now make more sense and have more impact. As result I needed to check into a little seafaring history of fifth century Britain.

Unfortunately, maritime archaeological finds for that timeframe is scant. However, we do have the remains of two Romano-British ships discovered in the River Thames, one of which was located at Blackfriars beneath 20 feet of water at high tide. It was excavated in 1962-63. This ship is thought to have been built by native British shipwrights in the second century AD, putting it quite earlier than the period of Arthur, but it is also thought to be of the type already in use in Britain since before the Roman invasion. It is probably indicative of the type of ship still in use in the latter half of the fifth century.

Based on this conjecture, I have patterned the vessel in the book after the Blackfriars ship. The following list encompasses the basic facts that the archaeologists recorded.

· Built carvel style
· Hull entirely of oak
· Hull planking had massive floor timbers 12” wide, 8-1/2” thick
· Strakes were 2” thick and caulked with hazel twigs
· Strakes attached to floor timbers with special 29” nails
· Nails were driven through the strakes and floor timbers
· Ends of the nails’ shanks hammered over to embed the tip into the timbers
· No keel; two central planks instead, 2’2” wide, 3” thick
· Beam of about 22’
· Overall length about 55’
· Depth more than 7’ amidships
· Bottom nearly flat, enabling ship to rest evenly at low tide
· Chine angle 30-35°
· Oak planks covered cargo area in central part of ship
· Mast-step: a rectangular socket about one-third of ship’s length from bow
· Bronze Roman coin found in the mast-step as a votive offering
· Assumed only one square sail on one mast
· Must have been a deck, due to depth of ship
· May have been a cabin on deck in the stern
· Cargo had been building stone when ship sank

Some definitions:
Carvel-built: the planks are all flush from keel to gunwale. Planks are smooth-seamed.
Chine: the angle where the side and bottom of a hull join
Gunwale (pronounced GUN-nel): the upper edge of a ship’s side
Stem: a timber forming the front extremity of the ship
Strake: a row of planking on the side or bottom of a ship from stem to stern on the outside of the hull.

The information here comes from George F. Bass’s book A History of Seafaring, published back in 1972. The illustration shows how a reconstruction of the ship might look.

I am currently awaiting delivery of another book which will hopefully have more recent archaeological discoveries mentioned in it. If any of you maritime experts out there know of any good resources on fifth century (or thereabouts) seafaring, please feel free to send a comment with any leads. While the ship in the re-edited scene is not terribly significant, I’m always appreciative of good information. If it doesn’t suit this book, it could very well be useful for another one in the future. Knowledge is a good thing!

Renditions of Camelot: Discussion of In the Shadow of Dragons

2009-05-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

The following is excerpted from the Renditions of Camelot discussion group (on Yahoogroups.com) . My second book, IN THE SHADOW OF DRAGONS, was the April 2009 selection.

Karen: Hope you don't mind me asking about the book cover. Are there other editions? I mean, did you put in a request for a more life-like dragon to be on the front cover, or perhaps a picture of Macsen holding a sword? Do authors have any control over the choice of the cover art that ultimately ends up on the book cover?

Mark: I like the cover. The dragon reminds me of the dragon on the Welsh flag--stylized but more detailed than the Welsh dragon.

Jacqui: I like it too. It is a cheerful looking dragon:) I like the way in which the ring of Celtic knots takes the eye around the title. I like the title design, the whole cover is clean & crisp & to the point. I think I prefer 'designs' rather than realistic covers. Oh & one more thing I like the colours - the green,red & yellow look superb:)) It looks as if Kathleen's name has been missed off the cover but the pic I used has concentrated on the artwork rather than the book (if you see what I mean!)Did you have input Kathleen?

Kathleen: (who has a Welsh flag hanging on her office wall) The dragon actually was adapted from the one on the flag. I think they did a wonderful job of it. They started out with a green dragon on a kind of creamy colored background with scales, but I insisted it had to be red. Had to really put my foot down on that one. Along with the shadow, I think it reflects the title very well. And the title, as you will see, comes from something Myrddin says, like in all the other books. :-)

Laurel: Absolutely! And it was that so recognizably Welsh dragon that attracted me to read the book 8 years ago.Now, I've promised myself to reread the first book in the series first, so I'd better get going! It shouldn't be difficult. As I recall, I could hardly put the books down...

Joan: I was especially taken by that shadow, so I'm glad you mentioned it. The whole thing is quite meaningful. This will be your first book that I have read, so I'm looking forward to it. I've saved your website link in my favorites so I can go back to it as I think of questions, etc. Jacqui, you asked about how much input the author is allowed. We've all heard the horror stories that authors have no say at all, and that may be true of the huge publishers. However, I think it may depend on how good the suggestions are (as with Kathleen's current cover). I know my small publisher told me, "Don't count on it. Authors seldom understand how to capture the essence because they're too close to it." Then she contacted me to say the ideas I requested were actually "pretty good," and her cover designer followed the suggestions almost to the letter. My point is this: Kathleen, you DID capture the essence--colors, dragon, knots, and all.

Kathleen: It did take a bit of arm-twisting, but I'm glad I had the nerve to open my big mouth. The designer actually came up with the shadow.

Jacqui: I forgot to mention the shadow which is a very good twist from the designer!! Strange that in general they don’t have to read the book! Presumably they just work on inspiration that the title gives them!!

Kathleen: How much say depends on the publisher and probably a lot with the author's relationship with the editor, and how much clout the editor has within the hierarchy (or budget committee!). I've been very lucky this way. To say an author is too close to it is kind of insulting, isn't it? Who better to give suggestions? The designer doesn't read the book and when it comes to historical periods, often has no sense at all for what's appropriate or makes gross generalizations.

Jacqui: Good heavens - yes it is. If the designer isn’t expected to read the book then the author is the only person who can give an insight into how they see the cover & what the book is about!!

Kathleen: I don't know if you're familiar with Elizabeth Chadwick's books, but I have an old copy of her "Daughters of the Grail" in mass market paperback. It has the typical 'historical romance' kind of picture with the lovely young girl (in pink, no less!) on a horse. Looks like it belongs in an eight-year old's bedroom (think My Pretty Pony toys, or something like that?).

Jacqui: We’ve had some like that on the List haven’t we:)))

Kathleen: The re-release that came out in 2006 has a much more appropriate tone to it and coordinates with all her other current books. I know she has some say in what goes on her covers, especially now that she's become very popular in the UK. I remember her saying she rejected one cover (can't remember which book) because the figure in the picture wore the wrong style clothing for the period. They acquiesced and came up with the right thing. Karen asked about different editions. DRAGONS is in hardcover and trade paperback. Both have the same cover design. I did originally request the dragon but I told them they had to make it a little different from the one on the flag due to international copyright laws. I wanted to evoke the Welsh dragon but not get in trouble for a direct copy. I knew it had to be at least 10% different because my husband had a logo from a club in his home country (Switzerland) that he wanted to adapt for our family business. The rule was 10%--change colors, put a little different clothing on a figure, stuff like that.

KipseeSox: I do have a comment on the cover too. I also really like the artwork, the Welsh looking dragon, the shadow, the knotting. But something is off for me. I think that it is the font style I don't care for, but maybe moreover, the placement of the lettering. But it's not a deterrent. It doesn't look like a romance novel so I'd certainly pick it up off the shelf.

Jacqui: Here is the link to Kathleen's website & blog: http://kathleenguler.com/ As we have you with us Kathleen, can you tell us something of your background & how you came to write this series. I remember from our discussions of INTO THE PATH OF GODS you said that you dreamt about Marcus & saw him in dreams. What was your inspiration for DRAGONS?

Kathleen: Let me give you my blog link too, as it has more info on it than the website: http://kathleenguler.blogspot.com/ I've been have much more fun with the blog than the website lately because it's so easy to add, dress up and rearrange than a website. I'd bet one of these days simple websites will fade away in favor of the ready-made blogs and sites like Facebook. I just joined facebook a few days ago--pretty easy to figure out.

Here is my 'official' bio: (which needs updating in a few places...sigh)

Kathleen Cunningham Guler is the author of the four-part Macsen's Treasure series of historical spy thrillers set in fifth century Arthurian Britain. She has twice won a Colorado Independent Publishers Award for fiction in 2002 and 2006, was a bronze medalist in the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards, and was a finalist in the prestigious Eric Hoffer Book Award for fiction in 2007. She has also published numerous articles, essays, short stories, reviews and poems. A descendant of the Celtic nations of Wales and Scotland, the author is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the International Arthurian Society, and has studied Celtic history and Arthurian legend for nearly thirty years in both the United States and Great Britain. Her Macsen's Treasure series includes INTO THE PATH OF GODS, IN THE SHADOW OF DRAGONS, and THE ANVIL STONE. The fourth and final book, A LAND BEYOND RAVENS, will be published in September 2009.

Yes, this all started from a dream... That and my insatiable curiosity about certain periods and places in history, especially 5th century Britain. And like a bulldog, once I get hold of something, I won't let loose. Grr...

When I was getting close to publishing the first book, I was already kicking around the idea of extending into a trilogy, and the more I explored ideas, themes, characters, etc, I knew it needed four books to tell the complete story. At the time I was also intrigued (and still am) by the symbolism of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. If you read the Macsen's Treasure poem in the front matter, you'll see each piece of the treasure corresponds with one of the elements. The crown, the fifth piece, represents 'spirit' that ties the elements together.

The framework of DRAGONS follows the timeline of what happened after Ambrosius became high king, how Vortigern's son Pascentius (I've Romanized him) attempted to usurp the kingship, and goes on into the beginning of Uther's reign. Set against all that, Marcus, along with Claerwen, are thrust into the fray when Myrddin wants Marcus to thwart assassination attempts against Ambrosius. Whew!

William: I am starting the book tonight. The author's notes did a good job of setting the stage and I am hoping we will not have much trouble "catching up" where book one left off. Kathleen, did you create the poem "Macsen's Treasure" or derive it old texts? I thought it was very well done.

KipseeSox: I wanted to comment that I love it when authors add an introduction to their books, it really adds something to the story for me. I also appreciated the pronunciation guide and the map.

Jacqui: I do agree with you there:) Having an intro by the author or a preface or whatever somehow gives an insight into how they are thinking & how the book is written.

Kathleen: I'm so glad the notes are helpful. In this book and the third one we put them in front of the story instead of in the back so that readers would have a little guidance. It seemed that when they were in the back (with the first book),they were mostly ignored. The only problem with having the notes in the front is when Amazon does the "search inside the book" thing, the beginning line of the notes shows in the little preview blurb instead of the prologue or first chapter's first line. Arghhh! We're putting the notes in the back of the fourth book...

Laurel: Front or back, I always look, and read all the notes and any other material, before I start the book.

KipseeSox: Well, my first comment is WOW! Action packed! I don't often read such exciting novels - I love it! The story is really well thought out, all the twists and turns and exciting espionage. I am intrigued! I am also appreciative of the sneaky little insertions of the back story (found in Book One) that read naturally. It is easy to see so far that this is a book you can read alone. That being said, however, I've already ordered Book One and Book Three.

Joan: I'm just ready to read on to Chapter 7, and I'm thoroughly hooked. You show the actions and scenes clearly as well as all the nuances of the characters' actions and expressions. I knew from before that you would have Claerwen going along with Marcus, which I thought would be hard for you to justify, but you did it in a completely logical manner. I'm usually not crazy about omniscient viewpoint, but you carry off being in those two characters' heads with no confusion whatsoever.Wish I didn't have to quit reading to do other tasks.

Kathleen: Thank you! I am honored you're enjoying the book. Not just honored, thrilled! If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask away!

Bill: I just finished Chapter 1 and as a reader of action/adventure tales, Kathleen, I say that you do indeed know how to write action! I was immediately drawn right into the middle of it. You obviously know something about fights and about weaponry as well. It was logical for Marcus to throw aside the big sword, both because he wanted to question the attacker and also because in those close quarters it would have been more hindrance than help. I am certainly looking forward to the rest of the book. I've also ordered the first one, and I'm sure it will be equally intriguing. So many authors spend so much time getting the stage set that by the time the story begins, the audience has gone home. I'm glad to see that you are NOT one of those.

Jacqui: I agree with all Bill & the others have said about the action packed first scene. You certainly take your readers by the scruff of the neck & plunge them inot the Dark Age. I envied Marcus & Claerwen their bath, LOL Kathleen, when planning a chapter like that - how does it work? Do you plan it on paper, move by move or does the inspiration come as you write??Great start!

KipseeSox: The excitement just never lets up (not that I'm complaining)! I'm tearing my way through this novel and hate when it's time to put it away. I'll be done it soon, darn it!I, like Jac, was wondering your method of writing. Kathleen, do you come up with a plan, a summary as it were, and work off that or do you just dive right in telling the story, going back to elaborate after or what is it? I'm very interested to know the answer!

Kathleen: I've approached each one of my books differently, though now I've settled into a more defined pattern which comes with experience.With DRAGONS I just let my imagination run and wrote the first draft in about six months. Of course it needed a ton of revisions because the structure and characters suffered through the disorganized way it came about. I rewrote the last third of the book completely at least six times. (I lost count!)Now I start with a timeline of the historical setting, match a timeline of what I want the main characters to achieve against the historical part, then do a chapter by chapter outline. This guides me through the story more cleanly from the start and cuts down on some of the revisions. Of course in midst of writing, Marcus and Claerwen often lead me in other directions than originally planned and when I see they are right, I revise the outline and move on through the writing.

For me, the hardest scenes are fight scenes and love scenes. I always get stuck. For the fight scenes, I usually end up sketching in some ideas, read and re-read while trying to visualize the action, then rewrite over and over until it gets clear. It's probably similar to how a fight scene is choreographed for a movie. Can you imagine how many times they have to rehearse those complicated moves to make it look real? They probably film tons of action and have the editor patchit all together. Anyway, when I just can't make it work, I'll go watch one of those movies. (Hooray for DVD players!) "The Last Samurai" has some fabulous fight scenes. Very inspirational.

Mark: My wife learned how to set fights for the stage when she was studying theatre at the University of Missouri. The trick, apparently, is to tell a story through the fight, and have each character behave appropriately within the fight. It's handy having Adrianne around. Whenever I want to write a fight, I generally choreograph it with her, so I know the moves are plausible, writing notes as we go. Then I turn those notes into what I hope is compelling prose. You can't describe a long fight blow-by-blow, though. You have to break it up-spectator reactions, what's going on elsewhere, etc. For me, the most difficult part of writing is a battle scene. It's really difficult to get them right. The only author I know who can do it really well is Bernard Cornwell. Even Malory writes boring battle scenes!

Joan: Don't you just love when the characters assert themselves like that. I suspect that's what keeps us writing more than anything--characters who come alive and entertain their author!!!

Kathleen: Absolutely! It's probably one reason I still dream about them. They are sooooo real to me!

William: Just thought that I would add that I am enjoying the book and find your writing very articulate and descriptive. You do a great job of "painting the picture".

FYI- On fight scenes, I have found "Medieval Combat, A Fifteenth-Century Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat" by Hans Talhoffer ( translated and edited by Mark Rector), Barnes &Nobles 2006, very useful. True, was it written and illustrated several hundred years after Arthur, but it is manual for using a broadswords and daggers and I suspect the basic techniques were similar. It illustrates many nifty moves that have not been exploited by Hollywood yet.

Kathleen: Thank you for this tip. I'm always looking for good reference books, and you're right--a lot of things do cross period lines (which are fuzzy at best). I have a book by John Clements called Medieval Swordsmanship which is also very good. Sometimes the author gets a little egotistical, as if he is the only one who knows anything, but the material is very useful.

Mark: I'm a little over halfway through IN THE SHADOW OF DRAGONS. I wanted to add that I think combining the genres of historical fiction, romance, and espionage thriller is a very clever and compelling one. I can't remember having read anything quite like that before! Very original!

Todd: Fight scenes are generally difficult for me as well; fortunately, my protagonist isn't a warrior and is likely to be on the sidelines at any of the big battles that he's present at.

Bill: Anyway, I wanted to say I've finished the first seven chapters, and am very favorably impressed. This book has all the things I like: It's an outdoor adventure, with excellent grasp of character and plotting, and it keeps moving right along. Some adventure wannabes write from an ivory tower with no real grasp of motivation, weaponry, or how to do action scenes. You excel at all. I was interested to see Marcus use a variation of the "sleeper hold." It is quite possible to render someone unconscious by pinching the carotid arteries. We cops use a variation of it called the unilateral vascular neck restraint. I've used it a few times on suspects far bigger and stronger than I, and it is quite effective without any lasting effects.

Kathleen: I was thinking Mr. Spock when I came up with that one. Hee, hee! But I think it works in this situation.

Bill: It's a fine story and I'm eager to continue with it. Good job, Kathleen!

Kathleen: Thank you! I'm very flattered! Blush...

KipseeSox: Finished the book a few days ago, So sad.

Jacqui: You enjoyed it then!!:)

KipseeSox: I was going to head into the third book...but maybe we'll do that one next year?

Jacqui: Probably if someone suggests it. Was there any particualr chapter you liked best? Who is your favourite character?

KipseeSox: I really did enjoy it, it was so exciting and I never knew where it was going next. Can't say there was really one specific chapter except that the story grabbed me right off the start (which is always a good thing). I liked all the characters really, can't say one in particular. The disguises were the funnest part. Remember when Claerwen told Marcus to cover up because his body and head didn't match, lol!

Kathleen: The disguises are a real challenge to write given the limitations on materials that could be used to create them. Also, to keep finding new disguises. But then, it wouldn't phase Marcus in the least...

KipseeSox: Myrddin was a neat character. I liked that he was the illegitimate son of a king, I don't know why...but I do. And finally Sinnoch...perhaps not my favourite character, as we didn't get much acquainted, but rather I loved how he factored into the story .....SPOILERS ALERT....I kinda had a feeling maybe he might become the adopted son they wouldn't have but was I ever surprised when it turned out he was the actual son! And, I, for the sake of the story, really appreciated that he didn't survive. I don't usually like it when a book wraps it up all so neat and pretty and everyone is gloriously happy ever after. It made the story more real, y'know?

Kathleen: Originally I thought Sinnoch would live and be important down the line in the later books, but I think it turned out better this way. He probably would have been a distraction from Marcus and Claerwen's story.

KipseeSox: Oh, and Kathleen, thank you for going easy on the lovey stuff. I know they're Husband and Wife and I was a little worried about that part...but, phew...it was a natural extension of the story, so all good. My husband has agreed to read it after I reassured him of that!

Kathleen: Glad that worked for you. The first book is heavier on it and as I am now re-editing it for the e-book version (and I still hope for a paperback edition), I will tone it down a bit so it has the same tone as DRAGONS and the others.

KipseeSox: Thankfully the book was good as a stand alone but I shall read Book One once I get it and I would like to do the third book for next year, I'll be sure to suggest when the time comes.

Bill: I'm about halfway into Kathleen's book and lovin' it, as they say about McDonald's--but it's a lot more enjoyable than a Big Mac and fries.

Kathleen: And less fattening too! LOL!

Bill: I finally finished the book and still have naught but praise for it. The plot was fast-paced, the characters believable, and Kathleen avoided some of the pitfalls of writing in third person by keeping the point-of-view narrowed to mainly two characters, rather than trying to show everyone's thoughts and actions, thus giving us a sense of "being there" with Marcus and Claerwen. Kathleen obviously knows a lot about combat with edged weapons. At the risk of being called a chauvinist, I will say that many female authors don't do their research on these matters and their action scenes lack credibility. Not so with Kathleen.

Kathleen: All that studying movie swashbucklers paid off, eh? LOL! I have a 40+ inch sword at home that I bought just to get the feel, though it's not a well made weapon. Marcus was a much better craftsman. Not that I practice with it--that would scare the you-know-what out of my husband, let alone the neighbours. When I went to the Scots Festival in Estes Park a few years back I checked out the sword booth there and got a feel for some really nice swords. Yum! And all those enormous fellows in kilts running around with Braveheart-style baldrics. Ahhhh! I was in heaven.

Bill: At first I was surprised that Marcus was only 26, but then I realized that in those times, 26 would be middle-aged.

Kathleen: He's 42 at the end of the 4th book, and now that I'm re-editing the first book, I have to go back to when he's 18 - 22. Really hard to do that. I like him best in the later years. Probably because I'm older too and can't relate to an 18 year old as easily now.

Bill: Also I was very happy to see an Arthurian adventure without magic!

Kathleen: That's why I bristle when it gets plugged into the fantasy category.

Bill: I was saddened when it was revealed that Sinnoch was dead--I was hoping to find that he was Arthur--but it was realistic to think that his kidnappers would not have let him live, knowing who he was. I found it refreshing too that Marcus was not a stone killer but avoided it when he could--probably a rare quality indeed in the fifth century.

Kathleen: I'm trying to remember how much that was addressed in the first book. Since I've only just begun the re-edit, I'm not that far yet, but it's something that probably needs to be emphasized more, probably when it's revealed he is the Iron Hawk. One of those ironic moments...

Bill: All in all, the book has all the elements needed for an excellent adventure/romance/spy story. Congratulations, Kathleen! I am happy to be a member of this august company that includes you, and now I'll get right onto reading the first book in this series!

Kathleen: This must be a record that so many of you finished a book so quickly (those who were able to get a copy early on, that is). I guess that means there was no slogging? :-)

Jacqui: Just wondering how you chose your titles ? Do they arise from the text or do you fit the text to the title?

Kathleen: Each title has come from something Myrddin says in each respective book. I chose a phrase that sums up the premise. In the first book he tells Claerwen, 'when you place yourself into the path of the gods, only they will show you where to go,' or something like that. He is talking about her visions leading her and Marcus to their destiny. It took me several tries to come up with that title and I love it though sometimes it annoys me that people think the book is about religion. Hah!

In the second book Myrddin is talking with Marcus and makes the observation that Marcus is 'content to walk in the shadow of dragons rather than to become the dragon itself.' He means that Marcus would rather work behind the scenes as a spy than seek aristocratic power.

THE ANVIL STONE was a no-brainer. Obviously it's the stone where Excalibur is hidden and Myrddin says 'now you know the secret of the anvil stone.

And...A LAND BEYOND RAVENS has Myrddin talking about Arthur's life mission to bring freedom and peace to the land and he says, "These lands have fed ravens with our dead for centuries. Arthur, at least during his time now, will raise us at last out of that endless ring of killing, and this will become known as a land beyond ravens." Sometimes the phrase in the dialogue was already set and I chose the title from that. Sometimes I already had the title in mind and just had to make sure it was somewhere in Myrddin's speech. Other times I had to coordinate them, deciding the title along with the phrasing of the dialogue. And before I decided on any title, I would do a search of amazon and google to make sure no one else was using it.

Jacqui: Thanks for explaining, I'd noticed that both titles so far had come up one of Myrddin's speeches. I think they are all good, interesting enough to catch the eye but also relevant to the stories. I particularly like A LAND BEYOND RAVENS-- looking forward to that one!

Karen: Since you're re-writing the scene where Marcus fights with a bunch of Irish mercenaries --- stopping in between to sample a Guinness and some shots of Irish whiskey, just kidding ;) ---how about elaborating on his fighting technique or "martial arts" style? We've heard about the arm-hold where he cuts off the blood flow to the head, but have you ever considered turning Marcus into an acrobatic warrior like Cuchulain, who was said to have stood upright on a horse galloping at high speed and danced atop spears stuck in the ground?

Kathleen: Sorry I'm so long in answering. (must be the stops along the way for the whiskey. Or was the scrumpy? Maybe it was the schapps... hiccup)

Anyway, in direct combat with one or a few others, Marcus is usually going to hit very hard and very fast to do as much damage as possible before he tires. That's also a way to not wear out the reader :-)He actually is rather acrobatic and known for his agility. I've had him somersault, drop and roll, and the stock whirl around and kick business. I don't know about dancing on spears--might need a new pair of boots after that, LOL! (Maybe that's one for Dancing with the Stars??? Do you get that show in Singapore?)

I think the only place he's ever used a shield is on foot in a full battle. Never in hand-to-hand combat--would get in the way when using a two-handed sword. I've watched a lot of swordplay in movies to see how they're staged. I hate the ones that are over-choreographed--they look so clumsy. I pick the best stuff from each scene and adapt them to Marcus's situation. One I liked was in "First Knight"--Lancelot (Richard Gere) uses a technique where he holds the sword with both hands, tip up, and whips it back and forth really fast before he attacks. It's meant to confuse the opponent.The throat pinch thing is more for when he sneaks up on somebody and just grabs them and quickly knocks them out. That wouldn't work in combat--too slow. Great in stealth moves.

William: It is a good read and it is hard to add to all the wonderful comments. I am about halfway - where Marcus has embarrassed Banawr and has seemingly been accepted by Pascentius. I am enjoying it thoroughly and looking forward to catching up on your other novels.

Kathleen: Thank you!

William: I always enjoy stories that take modern themes and play them in past or future settings. Stories like these reinforce my belief that the human psyche has changed little since Neolithic times.

Kathleen: Yes! I like to say that human nature will always be human nature and nothing ever changes except the technology. Like water finding its own level, people always look for something better, more happiness, more fun, etc.

William: Your story makes me wonder when the first story featuring a professional spy was written? Certainly, The Three Musketeers must be one of the oldest.

Kathleen: That's a great question. I wonder that too. Love the Three Musketeers. And the Scarlet Pimpernel. I'll have to look into that.

William: Is there an old or modern spy story that influenced or inspired you to move in this direction?

Kathleen: When I started to develop the concept for the series there wasn't any single story or character that influenced it. It was probably a combination of many things, both in the beginning and along the way. I remember my mother watched endless reruns of MacGyver. (Dang, no paperclips in the fifth century!) That must have rubbed off somewhere. Zorro. Musketeers. The Count of Monte Cristo. Braveheart. Connery's James Bond. Highlander. Mary Stewart's books. Books by the French authors Sergeanne Golon. My own Welsh and Scottish heritage (the Scottish side supported William Wallace's battle at Stirling Bridge). Probably a lot of things like that.

Joan: So-o-o glad to hear your forebears were on Mel Gibson's --er-uh-- Wallace's side!! I have always been told I have Scottish, Welch, and Irish blood--but I have no idea who they were or what they did. If must be wonderful to know. (Frankly, I know more about my Cherokee Indian ancestor.)Love your book--plan to go back and read the first.

William: I must confess that as I was enjoying your book, I was thinking that professional spies probably did not really exist in Arthur's time. Then I came across this fleeting passage in "King Arthur, Dark Age Warrior and Mythic Hero", John Matthews, Page 15, Gramercy Books/Random House 2004, concerning Vorimer, a son of Vortigern."Vortimer briefly took over his father's role and, being a far more sympathetic figure, suceeeded in raising an army to fight back against the Saxons. Indeed, he was so successful that he won several major victories against his father's former allies. Then Vortimer died suddenly - supposedly poisoned by a Saxon spy. "Perhaps spies were very active in those days of yore.

Todd: In Geoffrey of Monmouth, Vortimer is poisoned by Rowena, Hengist's daughter and Vortigern's wife - who thus takes on the classic role of "wicked stepmother". Rowena's motivation for poisoning Vortimer, though, is one of Geoffrey's clumsier moments. The obvious reason she would have for doing so is that Vortimer is defeating her father and her countrymen, and assassinating him would either turn the tide in their favor (by depriving the Britons of one of their best military leaders) or at least avenge them. Instead, however, Geoffrey has her possessed by a demon who is incensed at all the church-building that Vortimer has carried out following his victory over Hengist. Why Geoffrey came up with such a roundabout way of motivating Rowena when he had a much simpler and clearer reason at hand will probably remain an eternal mystery.

Kathleen: My guess is Geoffrey's 'reasoning' may be some of the 'ecclesiastical posturing' that's been said about him. In other words he was probably trying to impress the church (since he was a cleric) as well as the patron who was supporting his writing project. Your reasoning makes a whole lot more sense. :-)

Todd: I hadn't considered that, but it does sound plausible.

Bill: I'm not historian enough to state anything as factual, but didn't Aesop die under mysterious circumstances, and wasn't he an envoy to various other governments? Could have been there to ferret out information? I think I read that Chaucer went to other countries as a king's envoy or something like that too. Nothing says he was a spy, but it would seem to me that anyone doing those duties would certainly be expected to bring back information. Euripides was unpopular in some circles, wasn't he, especially after "The Trojan Women?" And wasn't he supposedly killed by the king's dogs in another country? Though no documentation seems to be present, or at least not much of it, it would seem possible that the gathering of intelligence would have been as important inancient times as it is now, and much harder to do since nobody had electronic devices or magic briefcases like Mr. Bond--James Bond.

Kathleen: I would venture that spies have been around as long as there have been people in powerful positions. They needed to know what their enemies were up to. And the enemies had their spies in return. The nature of a spy being secretive would also speak to the question as to why we don't know much or anything at all about historical spies. They probably didn't live long either, with all that sneaking around. (Or carousing if they were like James Bond???)It's the ones that try to set things right (Marcus!) who are a rarity.:-)))

Todd: Though he's clearly far away from history, Malory includes a touch of espionage in his "Le Morte d'Arthur". In the early part of the book, after King Pellinore has rescued Nimue from her abductor and they are returning to Camelot, they overhear a couple of knights who are spies for some of the kings who had rejected Arthur's authority; one of the knights had apparently been posted at Camelot and is making his report. He is uneasy about his discovery that Arthur has just set up the Round Table and has assembled so many fine knights as to make it almost impossible to defeat him in battle. The other knight, now on his way to court to take over spy's duties there, is less concerned, saying that he's bringing poison with him, and knows someone at Camelot close to Arthur who has been bribed by the hostile kings to administer it. The first knight warns him to beware of Merlin, lest he find out, but the second knight shrugs off the warning. Sadly, we never find out how this turned out (though obviously the poisoning must have failed) or who the traitor was.Malory also hints, when Morgause visits Arthur's court (leading to the incest that produced Mordred), that she had gone there in order to spy on him for her husband Lot.

Jacqui: I couldn’t think of a better way to describe the way you set your scenes than as 'spirit of the place'!! The descriptions of the physical landscape are excellent, especially considering you don’t know the area of N Wales well. I know you visited once, I remember you mentioning with regards to your first book but how do you get it 'so right' - you have a feel for the 'place':)) You even get the weather right!! How do you do it???

Kathleen: Must be in the blood?? It was so strange that before I knew where my ancestry really came from, I had always gravitated towards places that resemble North Wales. My favorite spot to go running (back in the old days when my joints could still take it) looked very much like one of those mountain valleys with a tarn cradled in the bottom. And where I live now in Colorado's mountains, it stays green most of the summer, compared to much of the American west that's mostly dry, dull, dusty desert. Another reminder of 'home.' You can imagine my surprise when I started realizing the similarities in the landscapes. One of those 'a-ha!' moments!I spend a lot of time looking for photos, studying topo maps, reading descriptions and watching weather webcams of the area. This helps a lot. So in a way I am fairly familiar with certain parts of the area. I wish I could have spent more time there, but could only drive through the pass (Llanberis). The mist was down about midway anyway that day. Couldn't see Snowdon even if I'd hiked up there. :-)Recently I read a discussion among other historical novelists about visiting the places they write about and I was astonished at how many have never been able to travel to the locations. They rely on other sources like I have to complement my trips. I thought more did go. I guess I was lucky to have been able when I did--the one year I had both money and time at the same moment and when Geoffrey Ashe was doing one of his tours! Hasn't happened since!

Kathleen: Since we're about at the end of the month and things have gotten quiet, I thought I would pull out the group question list, posted below. If you have any other questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to throw them out there!

1 Are the characters likable and well drawn?
2 Do you feel like you know them or do they leave you feeling like they are mere acquaintances?
3 Did you want to "be" the main character(s)?
4 Were they lively or dull?
5 How did you feel about the antagonist(s)?
6 Is the plot clear or confusing?
7 Is it interwoven with subplots that enhance or confuse the main plot?
8 Does the plot convey a theme?
9 Is the story plot-driven or character driven?
10 Did the author's setting "take you there"?
11 Was the description of time and place clear?
12 Did you find the author's writing style easy to read?
13 Is it full and descriptive? Lively? Dense? Or was it stilted? Light and quick without much depth?
14 Did you find yourself not wanting the book to end? Or did you struggle to get to the end?
15 Was the conclusion satisfying? Or were you left hanging, still waiting for a resolution?
16 Was it expected or a surprise?
17 In regards to the Arthurian theme, is the book more fantasy or historical in nature?
18 Does the author bring the legend to life?
19 Does the book feel authentic?
20 Is it a good romp?
21 Has it made you laugh or cry?
22 Does it sweep you away so you forget all else?
23 Is it a book you will want to read again?

Don't be shy. :-)

Bill: First rate to all.

Karen: Would you define the relationship between Marcus and Claerwen as being purely "platonic", or has Marcus ever thought of her as being the "ideal woman", like a medieval troubadour would think of his lady?

Kathleen: Oh heavens, they could never be thought of as platonic!

Joan: I definitely felt the romantic love between Marcus and Claerwen. No doubt at all in my mind about what erotic/romantic things went on between them in certain scenes. Why, I was attracted to Marcus myself!!! Thanks for an entertaining read.

Jacqui: No, I agree - leastways my understanding of 'platonic', which is a non-sexual but loving relationship between & man & a women. They are married after all!

Kathleen: The whole chivalry thing never plays into their characters either because that's not part of the fifth century mindset.

Jacqui: Agree again - there isn’t time to 'play' at love when daily life was so hard & in their case they were battling for survival most of the time!

Kathleen: Marcus does have a romantic side that sometimes astonishes Claerwen because she doesn't expect it in the midst of his tough guy-ness (is that a word?) I would describe them as two people who, while fulfilling their destinies, fall deeply in love and fulfill that destiny as well. They are the kind who feel their souls are connected for all time, through many lifetimes and are destined to always return to each other. Sigh...now I'm going to cry...

Jacqui: Aaah, bless - you old romantic you:)))

Karen: in answer to question #1: Absolutely! :)

I think your writing-style is unique because it's "bardic", very easy on the tongue, and you can narrate the tale aloud like you would read Shakespeare or Tolkien. To me, that's the ultimate test of a really good book.

Kathleen: What a lovely compliment! Thank you.

Jacqui: This leads me to a comment I’ve been meaning to make for ages. Kathleen's style for me is smooth & easy to read. Now how you do this I don’t know but you’ve managed to write a rip roaring adventure story which I think is quite difficult for a women but... I this is where feminine influence is felt IMO, although there is action a plenty & you don’t pull any punches neither do you dwell on the gory side of things which spoils many a good tale e.g. Bernard Cornwell for me. I think Steven Lawhead deals with action well too slight more blood & guts but no so as to be gratuitous. So well done Kathleen - another smashing book - looking forward to the other two:)

Joan: Well said, and I agree completely. I hated to see the book end and I look forward to Kathleen's next one.

Karen: in answer to question #3: Er... for some reason, no. But only because I'm not that brave, and I can't imagine myself sporting a dark moustache. LOL. :)))

Kathleen: No? Gee whiz. LOL!! I wish I had Claerwen's nerve. I think writing heroic characters is to some degree a manifestation of who we want to be, or how we would like to act/perform/etc.

Jacqui: Thank you Kathleen for letting us read & discuss your book - I hope you enjoyed the month - I certainly enjoyed your book!

Kathleen: Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments. I'm honoured to have had my book chosen and very much enjoyed our discussion.

What is "fire in the head" ??

2009-04-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

During the course of researching the Macsen’s Treasure series, I needed to acquire a sense of the spirituality early Celtic people might have practiced before the advent of Christianity. My stories are set in Britain in the second half of the fifth century CE (aka AD for us older folks). In the more remote areas, Christianity took much longer to attain a foothold and my characters would have practiced some sort of Celtic-based paganism.

One intriguing aspect of the old belief system is the notion of shape-shifting, which I have come to interpret as some form of a shamanic altered state of mind, like a trance or hypnosis. The shamans in question would have been druids, among them bards, and one of the many functions of bards was the performance of a ‘boasting’ poem. These poems were meant to commemorate victories as well as proclaim the bard’s shamanic prowess.

“The Song of Amergin,” chief bard of the Irish, goes as follows:

I am the wind that blows across the sea
I am a wave of the deep
I am the roar of the ocean
I am the stag of seven battles
I am a hawk on the cliff
I am a ray of sunlight
I am the greenest of plants
I am the wild boar
I am a salmon in the river
I am a lake on the plain
I am the word of knowledge
I am the point of a spear
I am the lure beyond the ends of the earth
I can shift my shape like a god[1]

The last line sums up the rest of the poem—that the bard has been all of these things because he is able to shift his shape like a god, to place himself in the state of mind of those incarnations. Translations of the poem vary widely; however, one version of the last line in particular caught my attention. It runs: “I am the god who fashions fire in the head.”

So what, in all the world, is “fire in the head”? As early Celts believed the soul is housed in the head and the eyes are windows into the soul, author Tom Cowan interprets the line to mean, “I am the fire of imagination” or “I burn with visions of another world.” I feel “fire in the head” should be taken as more than mere imagination. It could also encompass visions of the future, past life memories, intuition, Akashic records, and many other forms of psychic phenomena.

Hmm. Shape-shifing. Imagination. Altered states of mind. Visions. This got me to thinking. In the series, when I began to develop the main female character of Claerwen, I knew she would be gifted with visions of the future, what we nowadays sometimes call “second sight.” Other authors have used the same device, not only in Arthurian stories, but books set in other times as well. Mary Stewart, in The Crystal Cave and The Hollow Hills, from her trilogy about Merlin, called it simply “the sight.” Both Merlin and his mother had the gift. Elizabeth Chadwick, in Daughters of the Grail, also calls it “the sight.”

As I sketched out Claerwen’s character, I pondered using the same name for her gift. It’s a familiar term that readers easily understand. But I felt it was almost too familiar and therefore trite. What about “fire in the head?” Claerwen is not a bard or druid, but she has a deep abiding sense for the spiritual. As she learns about her gift, she comes to understand, with the guidance of Myrddin (Merlin) that she must “place herself into the path of the gods,” a kind of “stepping into her destiny,” so to speak. Her gift becomes much more than just seeing the future. So, in this regard, when I discovered the term “fire in the head,” and learned of its broad possibilities, I felt its appropriateness for Claerwen’s visions was perfect. The name stuck.

[1] Tom Cowan, Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit, 1993, HarperCollins, pp. 28-29

Renditions of Camelot Book Discussion

2009-03-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

Come join the fun and find out what that crazy spy Marcus ap Iorwerth is up to! My book In the Shadow of Dragons will be read and discussed on the Yahoogroups Renditions of Camelot reading group all during April 2009. Join for free if you're not already a member. Copies of the book are available from Amazon.com Marketplace (look for the seller, Bardsong Press--they're having a great deal on brand new copies right now!)

Avalon: Gateway to Annwn

2009-03-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

What exactly was the Isle of Avalon?

Most scholars agree that it was some sort of spiritual center dating from very ancient times. Its tight association with the historical side of the Arthurian legends draws us to Celtic Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries, where clues of Avalon’s existence begin to emerge from the mists of antiquity.

Literature provides the first references. Probably the most popular version was written by the twelfth-century Welshman, Geoffrey of Monmouth. In his History of the Kings of Britain, King Arthur is carried to the Isle of Avalon to rest and heal after his last battle. The magical sword Excalibur was forged there. Geoffrey further describes Avalon in The Life of Merlin as the home of the enchantress Morgaine le Fey, the island named in Welsh as Ynys Avallach, or "Island of Apples." This is apt, as apples symbolize plenty and magic in Celtic tradition.

In the Black Book of Carmarthen, one of the ancient Welsh books on which Geoffrey of Monmouth very likely based much of his History, it is said that Arthur’s tomb was secretly located in Avalon. Pagan Celts did not believe in death, but that the soul lives forever. Therefore, Arthur would not be thought of as dead, but merely sleeping, waiting for the call to his next coming. Presumably, because of its significance to the society of Arthur’s day, Avalon had very likely existed for quite some time and was considered the only place special enough to take the mortally wounded king. Why else would a leader of his great stature be taken there? No other leader before or since is associated with the Isle.

It is nearly impossible to define Avalon’s purpose without seeking its physical location as part of the same task. While no location can be absolutely proven, just as Arthur’s very existence has never been conclusive, the legends are very probably rooted in reality. Most indications infer, albeit circumstantially, that Glastonbury in Somerset, England was the location of Avalon. Glastonbury’s name is the Anglicized descendant of the Celtic (primitive Welsh) name Ynys Witrin, or Glass Isle. In the fifth century, the marshy area around Glastonbury flooded cyclically, cutting off higher ground and creating an island. In calm weather, the water would lie smooth as glass. Glastonbury Tor, a large, oblong-shaped hill rising above the town, is flanked by apple orchards, and has been for time out of mind, giving the name Ynys Avallach credence as well. And in Arthur’s day, the area was occupied by people of the same stock the modern Welsh descend from, their names, traditions, stories, and legends following.

Many theories as to Avalon’s purpose have crossed the scholarly world. Using the assumption that Glastonbury is the likely location, one of the most intriguing ideas arises from the strong sense of ancient paganism tied to the area. In the Book of Taliesin, the poem The Spoils of Annwn tells how Arthur and his knights descend into Annwn, the Celtic Otherworld, to steal a mystic cauldron of inspiration and plenty. Annwn is the realm of Gwyn ap Nudd, king of the Faeries and lord of Annwn, and the Tor is his sacred mountain. Avalon is portrayed as a gathering place for departed spirits preparing to go to Annwn, and Gwyn guards the portals. The cauldron magically provides unending nourishment and rebirth. This is the original grail which Arthur’s knights quested after so desperately, before Christian believers shifted its importance to their own purpose. Supportive evidence shows that Glastonbury Tor is artificially terraced in a pattern reminiscent of pre-Christian ritual paths, similar to others across Europe associated with Goddess worship. Archaeology has determined that the pattern is more ancient and complex than originally thought, a seven-circuited labyrinth rather than a simple spiral. There are also persistent rumors of a secret chamber within the Tor, into which people wander and return to the world mad, a trait identified with faery encounters.

In a more recent line of reasoning, author Marion Zimmer Bradley takes this interpretation a bold step further. Combining it with Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History in her book The Mists of Avalon, she beautifully portrays Avalon as Morgaine le Fey’s domain. Morgaine is the last high priestess of the ancient goddess religion before Christianity takes over. She is the Lady of Lake, and Avalon is the most sacred site in Britain, the obvious location for Excalibur to have been forged, the grail to be kept, and Arthur to be taken as he lay dying from his battle wounds. It is the mystical place where one crosses from Cylch y Abred, the middle world we live in , to Annwn, the Otherworld. While Bradley’s interpretation has been presented as fiction, there is logical research behind her theory. Ancient Celtic tradition across Britain and Europe includes the belief that we are connected to the earth by an umbilical, known by the Greek term, omphalos, the "navel of the world." A cosmic axis, sometimes symbolized by an upright stone, connects the upper world of Gwynvyd (heaven) and lower world of Annwn, running through the middle world (Abred). The omphalos is considered a place of spiritual power, a center where this world and the others cross most powerfully. Consistently, Glastonbury Tor is a prime candidate as an omphalos. Its very shape is womb-like, and its persistent tradition of spirituality has always been and still is like a magnet to people of all faiths.

History is purely an interpretation of the evidence we have gathered about life in the past. Many times the "facts" are circumstantial, a combination of archaeology, literature, and human supposition; for each historian you have, each will give a different viewpoint. Into the fifth and sixth centuries, the Celtic oral-based customs prohibited writing down stories, genealogies, scientific knowledge. There is little left to forge our theories from, and we may never truly understand Avalon. Sadly, and literally, nothing was written in stone.

This article first appeared in Faces of the Goddess magazine, Spring 1998
© Kathleen Cunningham Guler

Photo © Lynne Newton

Cover art for A Land Beyond Ravens

2009-03-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

The cover art has been decided for my forthcoming book, A Land Beyond Ravens!

Three concepts were presented and after a little tweaking and several rounds of discussions with my editor, the one posted here became the winner. It was my first choice--when I first saw it, I was totally blown away. Many authors are never consulted about the cover art on their books and end up with unsuitable illustrations. I am one of the lucky ones, to be able to give input.

Winter Solstice

2008-12-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

The poem that follows reflects an old Celtic tale about the change of seasons at Midwinter, or the Winter Solstice. The Holly King represents the "dark" half of the year. He defeats the Oak King at Midsummer by stealing the light and driving the world towards winter. Likewise the Oak King represents life and the "light" half of the year. When he defeats the Holly King at Midwinter, he brings the rebirth of the world and the plenty of the coming summer.

In the Spirit of the Winter Solstice

2008-12-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

The Winter Kings

The land sleeps
wrapped in indigo cold
and sightless solitude
in the barren nighttime of the year,
crackling ice the only sound,
plumes of breath unseen,
the smell of cold on Midwinter Eve…

At sunset, the measure of the day’s end
and the beginning of the next,
the Holly King’s bitter cold laugh
haunts and howls—a lonely sound indeed.
His waxy green leaves and brilliant red berries
Rattle with his defiance.
He holds up his lantern, shows off his catch—
he has stolen the last of the light of the world.
With the roar of his laughter still in our ears,
he rides off on his stallion of darkness.

We’ve dressed in evergreen and scarlet,
Decorated the houses with sprigs of yew and pine,
to honour the gods, the spirits of the ancient ones.
Since Nos Galan Gaeaf —
the new year of the ancestors —
we’ve drawn deep within
the nourishment of home and hearth
just as the sun has withdrawn into its winter burrow —
In observance we snuff out the hearths,
the rushlights, the lanterns, one by one,
until the last is gone.
And in the hours of the absence of time,
We wait, huddled in the uncertainty of the dark.

Outside,
the snow drifts in whispers:
he is coming,
he is coming…
Children whimper, their mothers hush them,
Fathers watch,
Waiting, waiting…
Will he? Will the Oak King come?
Will he defeat the Holly King and break the grip of winter?
He always has, since time out of mind.
But what if he cannot this one time?
Will we live in darkness forever more?

Across the frozen ground,
blown like ice on the colorless wind,
shadows stir like feathery gauze.
Through air knife-edge sharp with cold
the silence cannot be more complete.

Then,
as the midnight call echoes from rampart to watchtower,
a single sparkle begins across the night sky.
The Dragonstar—whispers haunt from the houses—
It streams golden fire-ice
a shimmering messenger
of Light
of Magic
of Miracle
and in a crystalline shower,
the Oak King bursts forth from the woods on his white stallion.
Into the center of the houses he races, to a pile of wood set high.
“Here is the light of the world!” he shouts,
and he sets his torch to light the wood.

Cheers rise;
in every home, hearth after hearth is rekindled.
The music begins.
We dance in rows and circles, sing, give gifts of sweets.
In a flurry of leaves,
the Oak King spreads acorns across the frozen land.
The Wheel of Time has turned—
the bounty of summer is on its way again.

----------------------------

Copyright 2005 Kathleen Cunningham Guler

The Sunset of the Year

2008-10-31T05:20:00.001-07:00

While researching the Macsen’s Treasure series, I’ve spent a lot of time looking for forms of rituals or ceremonies that Celtic British people of the 5th century might have used to celebrate their holidays. Unfortunately, though we have some notion of the existence a few holidays and their meanings, we have no clues to the actual rituals, if any, that might have been performed.

In the Welsh language, the name for one of these old holidays is Nos Galan Gaeaf . It literally means the eve of the first day of winter. The early pagan Irish called it by the more familiar name, Samhain (pronounced SAW-en). In ancient times, the festival was celebrated over a three day period beginning at sunset on the 31st of October. According to the old Celtic calendar, the holiday not only marked the end of the harvest season when people completed their preparations for winter, but it also denoted the end of the old year and the beginning of the next.

Like other ancient Celtic festivals, Nos Galan Gaeaf has continued into modern times under a newer name. In the 8th century the Christian church moved the feast day of All Hallows’ Day to the 1st of November and incorporated it into the older festival, which became known as All Hallows’ Eve, or what we now call Hallowe’en. Later, All Hallows’ Day was renamed All Saints’ Day. All that is left to us of the older festival are the remnants that evolved into modern trick-or-treating, jack-o’-lanterns, and costume parties, as well as the made-up rituals of modern neo-paganism.

As I developed the story line of the book A Land Beyond Ravens, I found that I needed to create a scene that takes place on Nos Galan Gaeaf. From earlier research I already knew that Celtic people believed that this was the time when the boundary between the conscious world and the Otherworld, called Annwn, dissolved and that some souls who had passed to Annwn through death might return and be seen to walk among the living. Superstitious folk feared these spirits and attempted to keep them at bay with bonfires. Over time, the use of costumes and masks began to be worn as well, to either imitate or placate the spirits.

Great. But this still didn’t give me a ritual. Once more I scoured reference books and the internet for more information, but I was left with the old adage, when in doubt, punt. So I got out the steel-capped boots (or should that be the steel-capped pen?) and had at it.

Most of my characters certainly believed in Annwn. In the scene in question I decided to have members of the clan of Dinas Beris gather around a standing stone with their druid. The druid speaks in a soothing tone about the time of year and its meaning. In this gathering, I’ve visualized that the people have brought personal mementos from either someone they’ve lost or an ancestor they admired, and use the memento to try to draw that person’s spirit to them. Claerwen, the Lady of Dinas Beris, has brought a lock of her dead step-son’s hair as well as a lock of hair from her husband, Marcus, because she believes the boy’s soul has been trying to warn her of something bad that will happen. She has placed both locks in an amulet she wears around her neck.

Claerwen never gets the chance to “see” the boy. She runs into Marcus while he’s on his way to a nearby stronghold. Her father was taken hostage and Marcus wants to try to get him released. Guess how? He’s painted his face in a spooky way that scares her until she realizes who it is she’s run into. His intention is to go scare the guards—as a Nos Galan Gaeaf ghost or spirit on the loose—into letting his father-in-law go. Of course Marcus gets sidetracked before the task is accomplished.

One thing that I absolutely did not want to do was give in to the gory horrors that became attached to the holiday in later times through superstitions, wild imaginations and modern special effects. I’ve read a number of books by modern Arthurian novelists that have a lot of weird, grotesque forms of paganistic rituals that are written simply for the shock value. When a story line and writing flow well, I don’t think authors should feel the need to succumb to such unnecessary, gratuitous tactics. So the result in my book is that I’ve portrayed the ritual itself in a rather mild manner. It’s the emotional value of the characters that carries the scene.

Interestingly, like the ancient Celtic calendar, even into the ninth century in the Christian era, days were still measured from sunset to sunset. In thinking about how the year was measured in early times, compare it to how we measure the time of day now. If the year ends at Nos Galan Gaeaf, the beginning of winter, this is the sunset of the year. In relation, Midwinter, the winter solstice, would mark the midnight of the year. The spring festival Beltaine, or May Day is the sunrise, and Midsummer, the summer solstice, is the noon of the year.

To me this makes more sense than the way calendars look now, with the so-called first day of winter on the 21st or 22nd of December. By then, hasn’t it already been cold for quite a while? And in many places snow has been on the ground for some time? Perhaps, if the popes and church of long ago had not messed with the calendar (and please tell me why they had the authority do this?), we might have retained a different sense of how our world courses from day to day and year to year.

Hang on Tight to that Point of View

2008-10-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

Many questions that pop up in discussions about writing revolve around point of view (POV). Most novels are told in either first person (“I am the narrator”) or third person (“S/he is the narrator.”) A third less popular option is the omniscient third person—in effect like an all-seeing camera panning across the whole scene and taking in everything.

By nature, first person POV should put the reader closest to the storyteller. The narrator tells his/her own story straight to the reader. Third person moves the perspective back a step. The reader hears the same story, but a third party narrates through a character’s eyes. It can be told as if one character sees the action, or can move back and forth among several characters’ observations.

Recently, in the midst of a discussion among historical novelists, I became aware of a term I had not heard before involving third person POV: called “closely held third person.” It’s not a new idea, I’m sure, but it was the first time I’d come across the term. I believe another name is “subjection third person.”

After mentioning the term in another discussion, this one in a reading group, the following question came up: “What does ‘closely held third person’ look like?” I responded that the reader is taken to a deeper level within the POV character’(s) thoughts and feelings. The group’s moderator asked, “Wouldn’t that be the same as a very good psychological characterization?” Then she requested a brief example.Using the manuscript of my fourth book, I came up with the following:

Simple third person:

Marcus drank another swig of uisge, enjoying the languid feel of being drunk. He sat on the floor, propped against the fire pit's stones, wondering when he had moved there. The house was quiet, and Claerwen's words about the magical grail came back to him. Slowly he straightened up as an idea came to him. He reached across and shook Myrddin awake.

Then closely-held third person—this is what is really in the manuscript:

Marcus tossed back another swig of uisge. Damn, it felt fine to be drunk. The mellowness made his whole body languid. He had dropped off the uncomfortable stool onto the floor and sat propped against the fire pit stones. He didn't remember when he'd moved there.

Except for the hiss of the fire, quiet descended on the house. Claerwen's words about chasing after a magical grail repeated in Marcus's head, an echo in the uisge. Slowly he straightened up.

"Myrddin," he said. Still sitting, the Enchanter dozed, his head drooping. Marcus reached out and shook his wrist. "Myrddin."

"Huh?"

"What if we start a rumor?"

Through dialogue and interior monologue, Marcus's thoughts show much more clearly in the second version. The use of active verbs instead of passive, or active verbs with more punch encourages a better sense of the character as well.

To take the notion a step further in the same discussion, I quoted the opening lines from two different novels the group had recently read. This demonstrates the same issue, but in the first person POV.

These are the first few lines in Grail by Stephen Lawhead. Gwalchavad is the narrator:

I, Gwalchavad, Lord of Orcady, write this. And no gentle labor it is. Nor less rough the reading, I fear. Unlike Myrddin, or the brown-cloaked clerics, I am no master of the scribbler's craft.

Then look at the first few lines from Firelord by Parke Godwin. King Arthur is the narrator:

Damn it. I haven't time to lie here. Whatever comes, there's more for a king to do than squat like a mushroom and maunder on eternity.

Dignity be damned, it's a tedious bore.

Even when he was wounded, Ambrosius told me he hated being carried in a litter like a silly bride. Slow, uncomfortable, and wounds open up anyway. Mine are rather bad. The surgeons tell me to prepare for their ministrations—Jesus spare me professional gravity—and that priest looks so solemn, I think God must have caught him laughing and made him promise never again.

In the second example Arthur is lively, even though he’s on his deathbed, and what's going on in his head is very clear, very strong. The first example is bland and the narrator is putting himself down as a lousy storyteller. Why should someone want to continue reading if they're being told this right in the first few lines? To me it sounds like a take-off on writings by Geoffrey of Monmouth or Nennius, two medieval writers, both of whom started their narratives like that. Quite a number of modern Arthurian-based novels start this way—seems to be a trend to imitate the old sources of Arthur’s story—but gee whiz, why sabotage the reader from the start?

I think “closely held” is a great term. Maybe it’s been out there all along. Not having gone through an MFA or anything like that, I’ve relied on observation to learn the craft. And after all, isn’t observation the key to writing good characters?

Book #4 finally has a title

2008-09-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

After two years of working on the fourth book in the Macsen's Treasure series, I've finally settled on a title: A Land Beyond Ravens.

All of the book titles in the series come from dialogue spoken by Myrddin Emrys (Merlin). I knew long ago it would mention something about ravens, but that was all.

The book is expected to be released sometime in 2009. No specific date has been set yet. Will know more soon.

What was that fellow’s name?

2008-09-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

A fictional character’s name is as important as the story to which the character belongs. The name not only needs to be appropriate to its owner’s personality and actions, but appropriate to the time as well. Little credence would be given to a story about one of King Arthur’s knights if he were called something like Joe Smith.

In the final book of the Macsen’s Treasure series, A Land Beyond Ravens, I needed a name for a man who turns out to be the son of another character who died a long time prior to the story’s setting. This character also, in time, becomes one of Arthur’s warriors.

So where to look for a name?

From the vast body of medieval Arthurian literature, many lists have been compiled that name Arthur’s knights. They range from short groups of twelve to twenty-four men, presumably the original Knights of the Round Table (think of Gawain, Lancelot, Dagonet, Bors, Gaheris, et al.), to far longer lists of 150 people. The lists are compiled from various sources: the tales of Culhwch, The Dream of Rhonabwy, the Welsh Triads (Trioedd Ynys Prydein) and Welsh genealogical tracts. Some of the listed are actual historical personages, some are fictional, others may be historical but their existence not proven.

Not to give away one of the book’s plot twists, but the dead character was called Taran, his name based on Taranis, the Celtic god of thunder. (He was a noisy pain in the …) When he appeared back in the first book, I had no idea that he would ever have a son. Now, years later, in search of that son, I spent an untold amount of time perusing the name lists, looking for one that was appropriate as well as reasonably simple to spell and pronounce. Many of the names, in early Welsh, are incredible tongue twisters and not necessarily good for an English-speaking readership. After not finding anything I was really happy with and barely able to get my eyes to focus any longer, I pulled out another book, The Arthurian Name Dictionary. This book, invested in a long time ago and nearly forgotten on a back shelf, contains practically all the names known to have been associated with Arthurian legend. Gads, five hundred pages to search!

Where to start? On a whim, I looked for the name Taran. Can you imagine the amazement and delight when I came across that very name in this book? And underneath, the entry says, “Father of Arthur’s warrior, Glinyeu.” It came from the Welsh story of Culhwch. Hot dog! I then raced to the entry of Glinyeu and found he fought in the army of a warrior named Gwythyr, one of Arthur’s men and father of Gwenhwyfar. The stories noted in these entries are mythological and probably existed before Arthur’s alleged historical period of the late fifth and early sixth centuries. Arthur and his companions were likely absorbed into them over time as the stories were told and re-told orally. When they were written down in much later times, the absorption became permanent.

While the mythological aspect of Glinyeu ap (son of) Taran is not pertinent to my story, the name is perfect and that he became one of Arthur’s warriors fits better than I had hoped when I started the search. Who knows, perhaps he is one of those legendary figures who may have actually been historical but can’t be proven to have lived.

Arthur's Final Battle--Camlann

2008-04-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a view to the north across Snowdonia from near Dinas Emrys (in the lower right corner). The yellow markers show where significant events happen, or are prophesied to happen, in the fourth book. The story includes the notion that the battle of Camlann--Arthur's final battle--occured in Cwm y Llan in North Wales. This legend has never been substantiated historically, however, no other location has been proven either.

A wish granted!

2008-04-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

As an addendum to the last post about Google Earth--my wish for updated photos was granted! At least they were updated in the region of Snowdonia I've been working with lately. The ground is in the first green of Spring instead of the dull brown of Autumn. And they are very clear. Thanks, Google Earth!

Google Earth: A fabulous research tool

2008-03-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally made the leap to high-speed internet and in the process discovered Google Earth. What a tremendous research tool it turns out to be!

While working on the novel which will be the fourth and final installment of the Macsen's Treasure series, I needed to see what my character Marcus ap Iorwerth would be seeing when he goes scouting in the mountains of what we now call Snowdonia in North Wales. He comes to the top of Yr Lliwedd or thereabout (Snowdon horseshoe) and sees a war band approaching. He is doomed, he knows, because he just burned down a stronghold belonging to the leader of those warriors. Yikes! Will he survive?

The way the location can be tilted to show the landscape's three-dimensionality is fascinating to watch--like flying over in an airplane or chopper. My only wish is that the photographs would be current. Most seem to have been taken in late autumn when the ground is dull brownish-grey instead of the beautiful green that Wales can be in summer. Seems to be that way for many other parts of the world I've checked out in Google Earth. When I look at the place I live now--the photograph shows the car I drove two years ago, not the one I own now!

Part 1: Renditions of Camelot Online Discussion of Into the Path of Gods

2007-11-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

The following exchange is excerpted from the Yahoogroups’ “Renditions of Camelot” reading and discussion group, which chose my first novel, “Into the Path of Gods” for its October 2007 selection. Because it covers a wide range of topics surrounding the book’s characters and creation, I thought it might of interest to blog readers.
====================
Jacqui (moderator): Hi Everyone, today we start our new book for October - Into the Path of Gods by our own List member Kathleen Cunningham Guler. We are very lucky to have Kathleen with us for what should be an interesting month, as she has agreed to lead us through the reading & discussion of the first book in her Macsen's Treasure series. Kathleen is currently working on the last book - Book 4. Link to her website: http://kathleenguler.com/Over to you Kathleen:)))

Kathleen: Thank you, thank you, (wave to the cheering crowd...) Hope those of you who are reading enjoy it!

Karen: Hi, Kathleen, I don't know if this is a personal question or not, but may I ask: "Who was your inspiration for the character in your book Marcus ap Iorwerth?"

Kathleen: Ah, thank you for asking that question! Marcus, and indeed the whole idea for the series, originated from a dream. In fact the sequence from that dream is in the middle of this book. Characterisation (at least for me) comes from both instinct and conscious decision. Marcus is not based on any individual that I know or have known (in this lifetime). ;-) He grew out of instinct after asking: what kind of man in that time would risk everything to set things right and how would he go about it? He would have to be both physically and mentally tough, have a streak of daring that borders on suicide (and with a dark reason why behind that), and have a loyalty to an ideal that drives him. From there I knew he had to have cleverness, "street smarts", a fairly decent education for the time, stubbornness, political astuteness, a strong will to live and the ability to love very deeply. Some aspects of the character do come from observances of human nature in people I know or other characters, but the aspects are not directly based on any person. Some of his cleverness I attribute to watching endless MacGyver episodes--of course without the modern technology! There's a bit of James Bond, a bit of Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson's Lethal Weapon character) and just little nuances I've picked up here and there from all over. Sometimes I'll see something somebody does and it just fits, like--yeah, Marcus would do that, or say that, and I'll experiment with it to see if it really works.

Here's a thought: A long time ago, I posted a question on another email discussion group's list--one geared to historical fiction. I asked if anyone else ever sensed that why they wrote about a specific past era was because they had the feeling they had lived in a past life during that era. The response was amazing and sparked quite a long discussion. Many felt this could be the case. I've asked the same question in other places and received absolute silence. If it is true that we pass from one lifetime to the next, I've wondered if that's where the dream came from—that it's actually a memory that emerged. I still dream about Marcus a lot, seeing him in many different situations. They do seem to be like memories. Sometimes I'll be doing something completely unrelated and a sudden flash like a memory will come. I can usually see his face very clearly. So in this regard, it could be said that Marcus is based on Marcus! Perhaps he is not fictional at all???

I'm going to see if I can post a scan of the original artwork of Marcus in the photo section. It was on the original dust jacket from the book. An adaptation of the face was taken and used for the newer dust jacket as seen on RofC's homepage. A lot of people think he looks like my husband, but those people haven't looked very closely. They are very different, both in looks and personality.

Jacqui: What a fascinating idea! I agree about the passing from one lifetime to another but I’d never thought about seeing my past in dreams. Perhaps this glimpse of the past is vouchsafed to those who are of a creative mind:) I have found what I am sure are past life memories, are attached to places. Sometimes if I happen to be travelling in an area of the country where I have no known associations I experience strong, often quite violent emotions, sometimes euphoric, sometimes fearful, sometimes angry. Perhaps I’m wrong in my ideas but I can see no other reason why I have these experiences.

Kathleen: Yes! Yes! Yes! When I visited Dinas Emrys, we had a picnic along Afon Glaslyn, just across the road. It gave me the most peaceful sense of homeland, like I've never felt anywhere in the world (not that I'm such a big traveller...) It's only a few miles from where I've envisioned that Marcus comes from. I've got an affinity for various times and places that is totally unexplainable. The past life theory just makes too much sense to ignore.

Karen: Well, I'd say the "past life theory" is quite possible.

Jacqui: The only other explanation that I can think of is that sensitive people can pick up the 'vibes' of the place.

Karen: The funny thing is, I would never have read any Celtic/Arthurian history or literature if I hadn't had the most amazing recurrent dreams as a 5-year-old kid. On many nights, I dreamed I was walking around this really massive circular wooden structure, about two storeys high, with a thatched roof & a central hearth. In another dream, I was walking around the stone ruins of an old building; only one wall was left standing. The memory of these 2 dreams remained with me & I began searching through encyclopedias & lots of books, trying to find out what these places were. It was only much later, when I was 15, that I realised the circular building was a Celtic structure, and the ruins from my other dream were those of Battle Abbey, Hastings. Remarkably, I'd never been to Britain as a 5-year-old girl.

Jacqui: Ahhhhhh Karen spooky:)))) I shall have to pay more attention to my dreams after hearing about yours & Kathleen's amazing ones!

Harry: I too feel a past life, since I was 7, not because of a dream though. I was in the second grade, and they took us to the school library, which quickly became my favorite haunt. (I was already reading before kindergarten) Of course the big coffee table books with all the pictures were fun too. One day I picked up a picture book about Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, and *immediately* knew that I had been there. As I slowly looked through it, and read the text, it was like coming home.

Kathleen: Here's something even more weird: I've had a few very frightening dreams, the type where you wake up sweating and your heart is pounding. They all had Marcus in them, they all had an extremely dangerous situation that he was trying to resolve, he was dressed in his Dark Age medieval garb, sometimes in full battle gear, but the settings, all different, were modern. Bizarre!

Jacqui: Oooeeerr Kathleen!!! Poor Marcus he has got a bit out of his time hasn’t he! - no wonder you wake up in a fright - he must be very anxious :((((

Harry: Sounds kind of Freudian, Kathleen.

Kathleen: Hee, hee!! I wonder if he's trying to tell me something?? LOL, I probably need my head washed out with soap soon... :-0

Harry: Nah, I'd never suggest that. Old Dr. Freud haunts us all. :)

Jacqui: Kathleen, were any of the sequences/characters in the book or any other of your books inspired by dreams??

Kathleen: Since that initial dream, it seems that most of the inspiration or insights are more like memories that come flashing into my head while awake. Sometimes it's visual, like seeing Marcus walk down a hill somewhere, leading a horse. That one came to me while I watched a man with long hair walking across a parking lot across the street where I live. It was like it jarred a memory out of me and I remembered having seen Marcus leading a horse down a hillside. Sometimes it's just words, like something he or Claerwen or somebody else would say. Uh-oh, voices in my head... Yikes!

Jacqui: It is an amazing feeling, that one of peace & homecoming isn’t it? Had you already placed him before you visited Dinas Emrys?

Kathleen: I think at that time I knew he would come from somewhere in Snowdonia, but not specifically where yet. It's been so long I'm not quite sure, but if I had already designated his home, I probably would have paid more attention while going over the pass. Of course it was in the clouds that day... Couldn't have seen it anyway.

Jacqui: One question I will ask Kathleen - why did you call him Marcus & not give him a British name? Or does that become clear later in the book?

Kathleen: It does become clear later. I won't throw out any spoilers here, but I can say he was given a Roman name because of an insistent half-Roman grandmother--part of that leftover, lingering Roman influence. :-)

Jacqui: Ah right:)) Thanks.

Kathleen: BTW, I was able to upload the picture of Marcus into an album in the photo section. Isn't he gorgeous? Sigh...

Jacqui: Each to her own mi'dear:))) Wouldn’t like to meet him on a dark night (as we say) LOL – I’m only teasing:)

Kathleen: Ooo, I would! LOL--when my mother first saw that painting she said he looked mean. My husband thought he belonged on a Harley Davidson...

Jacqui: Actually, 'the man of your dreams' takes on a whole new meaning after reading your posts:))

Kathleen: Absolutely!

Karen: Uhmm...why, yes, he kind of resembles Tom Selleck striking a classic "Timothy Dalton as James Bond the Debonair Spy" pose...Just teasing. :)

Jacqui: My copy of the book has that artwork on the cover - it comes up clearer & better in your pic than on the jacket I think. Do we ever get to see Claerwen?

Kathleen: They printed the original cover on cream-colored paper, which gives it a duller look. Wasn't a good choice. Haven't got a pic of Claerwen and I haven't been able to draw her though I've tried. I've got one sketch that's really bad. Can't seem to capture her except in my head. I do have some other sketches of Marcus including a couple of his disguises from the second book.

Jacqui: Do you find that your characters 'live with you' or can you set them aside to continue your daily life? Do you identify with them or are you detached from them as you write?

Kathleen: "Live with me" is dead on. A writer friend who visits my critique group a couple of times a year has said more than once that when she listens to me read from my work in progress that I "just about breathe the characters." I think about them all the time and often think about what they would say or do in reaction to something I do in the daily drudge. Example: I bought a package of sea salt lately and was thinking, don't let Marcus see this because he hates the sea. (an issue from the third book) Or once in a while we get people dropping of religious flyers in our office. I try to think in what dignified way Claerwen might brush them off. (I wish I had her guts.)

Jacqui: Will you miss them at the end of the series?

Kathleen: Immensely!

Jacqui: How long did it take you to write Gods?

Kathleen: It took 16 years from start to publication. I started thinking about writing a novel around 1982 and experimented with different periods and characters for quite a while before settling on the Arthurian period. Marcus and Claerwen had several name and venue changes before finding the right niche. Then the whole project sat in the drawer literally for about twelve years. Finally in the mid-90's I took it out and decided: now I'm ready to get on with it and finish. Which I did. And then once Gods was on the road to publication, the project went from one book to a planned series of four. The other three haven't taken nearly so long because I'm much more focused than I was before.

Jacqui: How did you develop the storyline? Do you have a rough idea of where/what/when happens or do you write & see where the characters take you?

Kathleen: I've approached the development of each of my books differently, mostly because of the learning curve. That's another reason it took me so long to write Gods was because I started out with no outline or other sense of how to structure a novel. That book started with the sequence from the dream and then I just kept writing and writing in both directions, forward and backward from there. It was "learn as you go" but was like groping in the dark at first. Eventually, after studying the craft for so long, the structure finally came. The good thing was that I've never been afraid to cut stuff that was bad and I learned to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. I was still learning to do research properly at that time as well, so I'd write something, then research and find out it was off, then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite! Experience has changed much of that.

Anyway, to really answer your question, it's the characters who find the story. Their actions have to be embedded in the timeline of the history, but they drive the story. There are times when I'm going along and either Marcus or Claerwen or both keep dragging me off in a different direction. Usually they're right!In each of the first, second and third books, I did have some scenes in my head that I knew had to go in. It was like I "knew" this happened, I just had to figure out what came before and after. For the second and third ones, I did an outline, but only after the first drafts were done to see if the storyline worked. The fourth book is the exception (the one I'm working on now) I had the concept for it, knew who was going to be in it and that was about all. With this one, I started with an outline for about half the book, got stuck, then started writing until I got stuck with that, then went back to the outline until I had the whole storyline. This one has come to me more organically, just flowing along where the characters take me, as long as they hit the benchmarks they need to. The scary thing is that this one keeps having the pieces fall into place so nicely, one after the next. Gods was a constant rewrite, Dragons (book 2) had its ending rewritten at least six times, and Anvil Stone (book 3) was started over after a third was drafted. Maybe I'll have to rewrite book #4 completely... Yikes!

Jacqui: When you are describing a scene did you draw on memories from your trip to North Wales or did you 'make it up'?

Kathleen: I try to draw on memories of North Wales and other locales as much as I can. I'll look at the photos I have (except I'm the world's worst photographer) and if I don't have a view of the right place, I'll track down other photos in books or on the internet. Admittedly, sometimes it's necessary to make things up when places have been built over or we don't know how much has changed in the natural landscape. Natural histories are very helpful for knowing what kinds of animals or plants existed in the right time.

Jacqui: Thanks Kathleen for sharing that with us - fascinating insights into how an author works. There must be an incredible amount of research to back up your stories. How long does it take you to prepare a book? I suppose it’s easier with the later books as you have all the relevant historical detail in place.

Kathleen: Yes, the research never ends, but it does get easier with a series and I've gotten much more proficient at it over time. You should see the collection of research books I have. I've never counted how many there are--too scary. Living in a small town, the library is rather limited and university libraries are way too far distant for me to use, so I built my own collection. Many of the books cover longer periods of time so that I can use them if I eventually migrate to a different period in my writing.

If I didn't have to work to make living, I could probably write a book in a year, provided the basic research was already done. That may entail travel or tracking down experts to interview or tracking down translations of old documents. Very time consuming. There's always more research to do as you go along, because you never know what the characters are going come up with. Also, research usually breeds more research--find out one interesting thing and without fail more questions will arise. That's the fun of it.

Karen: A question about "the writing experience". Do you actually "become" the characters - that is, do you "turn into Claerwen", or "Marcus" when you write? Just curious, because that's the way I normally write, by trying to see through the eyes of different characters.

Kathleen: Yes, I do "become" the characters. I think most of us who write do that. I've been known to have a "conversation" with one or the other of them while folding laundry. [uh-oh, she's talking to herself again...:-))] It's the best way to get inside a character's head, I believe. Some of my best thinking is in the laundry--it's one of the few places I don't get interrupted so much.

Karen: And thirdly, did you base your "villain" on a person that you've actually met in real life? Sorry, I just had to ask about the villain - LOL! :)

Kathleen: Hmm, well, let's see, I don't know how far you are in the book, so I'm assuming you mean Drakar? Drakar wasn't based on anyone in particular. He's probably a combination of baddies from the news and tv. I find it more difficult to write a bad guy--it's so easy to make them over the top, like creating a caricature rather than a character. I've had to tone down more than one. I think I mentioned that about a bad guy in one of the other books we've read here, but I can't remember which right now.

Karen: Yes, it is frustratingly difficult, isn't it? I'd like my "villains" to have a good side, possibly make them "antagonistic" to the leading protagonists, and give them several valid reasons to oppose "the good guys". On the other hand, most YA bestsellers have a central theme of"good vs. evil", which usually means "good guys vs. bad guys". I suppose we have to find some sort of "balance".

Kathleen: Yes, I'm working in that direction with the fourth book now--more of a situation of circumstances than straight-up good guys vs. bad guys.

Karen: Malory & the Vulgate were giving me such a headache because they painted Carados & Turquine as a couple of evil cads – typical "cardboardy" villains - while Arthur & Lancelot came off as being more human, and Galahad way too holy... :)

Kathleen: Hmm, I would like to see more YA books move away from the stark "Good vs. Evil" plot and portray the dynamics of a situation more realistically--the shades of grey that we all live in. Just my opinion, as I'm not a YA expert at all, but I think young folks are astute enough to understand something more than an overly simplistic storyline.

Jacqui: Could you tell us how you developed the character of Claerwen? I think she is quite unusual for an Arthurian heroine as she is neither overly submissive/dumb nor is she aggressive. Although she is a women of action as witness her searching for Marcus she is also thought of as shy by the members of the Clan, quite a combination!!

Kathleen: I wanted to make Claerwen a woman of quiet determination who would make a good match to Marcus. So many times I've seen a loud-mouth woman paired with a hero, but to me a really good hero would blow off a noisy type because she'd drive him nuts. Claerwen doesn't always do what Marcus wants, but she is smart enough to not be reckless. In old Celtic law, women were considered pretty equal to men in their rights, so she doesn't need to feel submissive and Marcus treats her as an equal most of the time. Her shyness comes from the way her family was decimated when she was twelve, then the way her mother tried to pass her off in marriage to Drakar. It is only when she bonds with Marcus that she starts to feel safe again.

Jacqui: I find the way in which you have given her 'the sight' i.e.: 'fire in the head' interesting as it develops her character in a spiritual way, however she keeps her feet well & truly on the ground with her understanding & use of herbal remedies.

Kathleen: Fire in the head was another of those fun research things. I wanted to call "the sight" or "second sight" something different and when I came across "fire in the head" in a line in the ancient poem, Song of Amergin, it just seemed to fit. Fire in the head can mean a lot of things, from inspiration (awen) to shape-shifting to "seeing" into the past or future. I took it as part of the "old religion" that Myrddin and Claerwen still belonged to and that Marcus believed in.

Jacqui: Do you personally have any interest in the use of herbs or was it an expedient for the story?

Kathleen: Herbalism is a vast, fascinating field. I do have an interest in it, but I've only had time to study enough with regards to the books. Someday, maybe I'll have time to learn more.

Jacqui: All together I think you have done a great job of making Claerwen a well rounded, likeable & more to the point - believable character. Does she develop more as the series proceed?

Kathleen: Thank you! She does develop more in the later books because she becomes more involved in Marcus's work, sometimes to her own amazement. :-) Marcus had two great passions he is loyal to--her and his ideal of a free Britain. If he had to choose, he would have a very difficult time deciding, although he would probably ultimately choose Claerwen. And while Claerwen comes to believe in his ideals as well, she would never hesitate to choose Marcus first.

Karen: Wow...I don't know how you can manage it, juggling your day-job with your household chores, and writing a book...How much time do you set aside everyday for working on your novel? Do you write a chapter a day?

Kathleen: Oh, gosh, a chapter a day? That would be such luxury! So would setting aside time. :-) We have a family business that deals with the public--so interruptions are constant. I write when I can, in between everything else. All those "experts" who preach that a writer has to find a quiet place with no interruptions never had to run a business. LOL! The good thing is that it's taught me iron discipline.

Karen: Aaaah...that would be pure luxury for me as well. :) Don't you wish we could hang out in the garden, sipping tea, all dressed up in a nice pink dress & a floppy hat, dictating our novel toa personal assistant, just like Barbara Cartland used to do? :)))

Kathleen: Ahhhhhhh!!! Put some scrumpy in my tea, please?? Scenes run in my head all the time, which is actually an advantage because it's easier to write a scene once it's first been visually developed in my head. I've heard other writers say that, too. Do you do this, Karen?

Karen: Why, yes, I'm always "day-dreaming". :) The trouble with me is that I'm hopelessly fickle. I'd write a scene one day and be unhappy with it the next - because by then, I would have either come up with a new direction for the storyline, or completely changed my perception of certain characters. I've done countless re-writes - which is probably why I'm still stuck at Chapter 5 after 6 months of my 3rd. full rewrite!!!

Kathleen: It took me three weeks to write one paragraph this summer. Just couldn't make it work. Finally it came out good enough to read to my critique group but I have the feeling I'm going to rewrite it again...

Karen: What was your inspiration for "Macsen's Treasure", the holy regalia of the High Kings of Britain? Did you base them on the mythical 13 Treasures that Merlin took with him to Ynys Enlii, or the Treasures of the Tuatha de Danaan?

Kathleen: It was more just plain logic, although the mythical treasures probably had some influence. I knew Excalibur and the grail had to be two of the pieces. I thought a torque was appropriate because it's a well known item worn by Celtic nobility, and spears were important to warriors. And of course the crown that binds them all together. Hmm, if I'd gone with the 13 Treasures, I'd have to do 13 books in the series? Yikes!

---Continued in Part 2---

Part 2: Renditions of Camelot Online Discussion of Into the Path of Gods

2007-11-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

---Continuted from Part 1---

Harry: Kathleen, you and Jacqui are having such a fascinating conversation about how you wrote your series, that I can't stay out of it any longer. I suppose that's where I am [with my book]. I intended to outline it first, then write it, but it keeps changing and at this moment I couldn't tell you for sure how it's going to end up, which isn't conducive to an outline.

Kathleen: Hi Harry, So glad you can join us! You're very welcome to jump in anytime.
Experience will tell you that the outline will constantly change. It's just a guideline and not to be considered written in stone. The outline I started with on my fourth book originally covered only about half the story. There were only vague notes after that. With every chapter I wrote, I went back and adjusted the outline as needed. Then, about two-thirds through the first draft, I got stuck. Decisions had to be made! So I took a couple of days (this was only two weeks ago) and went back to the outline to figure out where the book needs to go from there. The notes are now a plausible storyline to the end. However, I know I'm going to keep adjusting as I continue. The outline helps determine if there are any loose ends that need to be tied up or if some element doesn't work. It's just a guide. Some authors will do them in detail, some in generalities (like mine) and some don't use them at all. It's all personal preference--what works for you.

Harry: Thanks, Kathleen, I need to keep that in mind. I may be handicapped here by my background in engineering where everything is done to a thousandth of an inch and lines are absolutely straight and structures are fluidly rigid. :) I'm making my outline too rigid and it needs some of that fluidity.

Kathleen: Well, :-) I have two writer friends who were engineers. One writes very intricately woven sci-fi/political thriller novels. I can see the absolutism in his stories, yet the storylines flow very well. (And he doesn't work with an outline at all!) The other writes some of the most beautiful poetry, essays and journals. She calls herself a "recovering engineer" since leaving the profession. I used to be an accountant in good old corporate America. There's something to be said about breaking loose! LOL...

Harry: Can you define "proper research?"

Kathleen: Research, IMO, has to be approached like good old-fashioned journalism. With any item, I try to find at least two sources independent of each other that corroborate each other. This can work for items in your setting--things like houses, food, clothing, flora and fauna, etc. Sources for historical events in Arthurian works are a prickly thing. Primary historical sources, as in "straight from the horse's mouth" are the best, but in Arthurian works impossible to find. Secondary sources, like Nennius, the Welsh Annals, some of the old Welsh poetry, etc, are the next best but very limited, then come the third sources, like Geoffrey of Monmouth's history. The farther you get from the primary source, the more likely the inaccuracy. By the third level down, and even still on the second level, you're already dealing with legend and mythology as much or more as history. So as an author, it's up to you to decide how much you want to cross the line away from history and delve into legend and mythology. Honestly, in Arthuriana, it's impossible to find the line.

Harry: (IMHO) My setting of Roman Britain is to minimize the use of mythology, and rely heavily on imagination. The Prologue to the book will be about Boudica, about whom the only sources were her enemies, the Romans. Specifically, Tacitus and Dio Cassius and indirectly Dio's father-in-law Agrippa. So you very much have to 'read between the lines' to reach credibility. I find that much is known about Roman Britain, but the information dies out with the fall of the Empire. Of course, that's likely Arthur's time period, just after the collapse of Rome. A fertile field for the imagination.

In an historical fiction novel, the timeline is rather fixed, isn't it? I'll be writing a lot about Roman Britain, and I can't just play with dates willy-nilly, so in a way, we are given a rough outline from the history of Roman Britain.

Kathleen: Yes, the timeline is a great tool. If you were dealing with an era with more information, that timeline would be far more rigid. I just finished reading a wonderful book about William Marshal, set in the late 12th/early 13th century. It was clear how the author (Elizabeth Chadwick) had hung her story on the framework of the timeline. Having said that, the dates in Arthur's time are impossible to nail down due to a number of issues, mostly because of the lack of information available, and also because of the many shifts in how calendars were calculated over the years. The dates I use in my books' chapter headings are merely guidelines and should not be taken as accurate. To quote Geoffrey Ashe: "...it would usually be pretentious to give even a 'circa' date..." :-)

Harry: Personally, I feel that the dates for Arthur and Gwen, if they existed at all, have been pretty well narrowed down to 480-530 CE, rather than in medieval times. I hope that doesn't seem arrogant of me, but having had to choose a time frame, that's what I chose.

Kathleen: Not arrogant at all, Harry. Like I've said before, I think your placement of Arthur's lifetime in those years is excellent. I place Arthur's birth in ca. 471 and he takes control around 487 or so, by the end of my series. While he will still be young at that time, it fits the timeframe of legend and implies that he will grow into full power by the year 500. That leaves him the remaining 20-40 years of rule before the Saxon conquest begins and coincides with Gildas's mention of a peaceful period in Britain.

Harry: This is a problem for me: I'm a yank writing about Britain, and I've never been there. So how do I write credibly about it? I'm depending a lot on Salway's "Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain." But memorizing locales and geography doesn't give me a "feel" for the land, and I'm not affluent enough to visit.

Kathleen: When my own photos don't cover the places I need (which is most of the time), I bring out some of the books I've collected that have great pictures in them or scour the internet for them. Occasionally I'll impose on a friend who has been in the right place and see if they've got pictures.

Harry: Yes, well that's what I'm doing, and I must say that the pictures posted of Tintagel are very helpful.

Kathleen: I'm lucky that a lot of the landscape I write about is similar to the area where I live in the Rocky Mountains. Makes it easier to get a "feel" for the weather. It's drier air here, but we've got the cold and snow and ice down really well. :-)) It's also lush green in the summer.

Harry: Now I've thought of that. I live in the NW United States, and as far as I can tell, the weather is somewhat similar to central England. It may be somewhat wetter and milder here.

Kathleen: It's frustrating isn't it? when you can't quite "see" what you're writing about? I have an idea for another book I'd like to do set in the early 1400's in Wales, but I'd have to go back there to do the right research in depth. Who knows when that will happen???

Harry: But Kathleen (whispering,) is it OK to admit that it's FUN?!! :)

Kathleen: Yes! As Marcus would say: Absolutely!!

Kathleen: Over the last few days I've been wrangling with trying to get a book video up on my blog and finally succeeded. It's for my third book, The Anvil Stone, but I thought you might find it entertaining since it's related to Into the Path of Gods.

Karen: Speaking of "videos", are there any plans to turn "Macsen's Treasure" into a TV series?

Kathleen: Ooo, I wish, I wish! I've been asked that many times, if the rights for a movie or tv have been sold. Alas, no. :-( I've thought about doing a script myself but haven't had the chance. If fact, there's a woman who lives here who teaches screenwriting and used to be a big-time producer in Hollywood, but I never have the time to take the class. Having said that, I've also heard how difficult it is to keep a script intact. (I have another writer friend whose daughter is a casting agent for CSI and other tv programs.) Even if you have the luck of selling the piece, or even the greater luck of being hired as the screenwriter on the set, once the producers and directors get hold of it, it's usually completely different by the time it makes it into production (if it gets that far at all.) Couldn't bear seeing Marcus turn into Conan the Barbarian, or worse, some wimpy guy who can't even grow a moustache...

Jacqui: Breaks the heart - LOL!!! :))) But I have a fondness for wimpy beardless guys without moustaches. :) No, really, I can't see Marcus as Conan the Barbarian…

Kathleen: Thank goodness...

Jacqui: …but while reading your book, I "saw" him in my mind's eye as a Celt from the movie "Braveheart", all dressed up in a kilt with a scruffy mass of flaming red hair. :) Okay, he doesn't have red hair, but that was more or less the mental image I got.

Kathleen: Hmmm, sounds like Hamish. Maybe he looked like that in another lifetime? :-)

Karen: How does Claerwen look like? I know Jacqui's asked you this before, but have you thought about her since then?

Kathleen: In my head I think she looks a bit like Lesley Ann Down in the face, but her hair would be a tawny-brown color. I've had two friends over the years who had eyes like Claerwen's--that's where I got the idea for her "green-blue" eyes, kind of an aquamarine color, very pretty.

Jacqui: I thought that you handled the battle scenes or strictly speaking 'fights' very well. They were exciting but not overdone or gory - thank you:)))) I thought the use of 'cannon balls' was an intriguing idea! What made you think of using 'gunpowder'?

Kathleen: I'm glad the battles and fights work for you. The "gunpowder" came out of my pet theory that the druids knew way more than they are ever given credit for and that Marcus stole that "secret" of theirs. Of course it's believed gunpowder was invented by the Chinese and the West only learned of it from them much later than the fifth century. But if the druids had lots of knowledge of science and astronomy and other things like that, why couldn't they have figured out some basic chemistry as well? The materials were available.

Jacqui: Why not indeed!! How much 'battle lore' do you think the Druids had? Would their knowledge be called on – s’pose it would.

Kathleen: I've seen opinions on druid warrior status that are all over the charts. My feeling is that on the continent in pre-Christian times they could have belonged to the warrior class. However, by the fifth century in Britain, that would have changed. Since the Romans destroyed their "schools" when Britain was conquered, four hundred years passed. Druids were supposed to have operated "underground" during that occupation--a long time--so who knows how much they retained in their practices? Writing things down was taboo for them and when the Romans annihilated their enclaves, a great amount of knowledge was lost. Foolish Romans! Think of what they might have used if they'd taken the time to learn and observe. On the other hand, perhaps civilisation was spared more savagery.

Jacqui: Absolutely:))) the Romans did well (or badly) enough without the knowledge of gunpowder LOL. Did you test it out at all

Kathleen: No, I didn't test it. My husband probably wouldn't appreciate the lawn being blown up. The raccoons dig it up enough at night already.

Jacqui: Now that’s not in the true spirit of research Kathleen. It’s the sort of thing that husbands of writers are supposed to be at ease with LOL

Kathleen: Yup, funny how some husbands just don't understand... LOL!! (uh-oh, the gods will get me for that...)

Harry: Here's a question for you. When did the Druids stop doing human sacrifice?

Kathleen: Ah, the question is, did the druids actually do human sacrifice?Remember, what little we know of the druids is through the Roman point of view, and the Romans were awfully good at propaganda. They wanted the druids to lose their influence over people, so the Romans sought to make them look bad in any light. Having said that, it's currently thought among historians that any human sacrifice that did occur was more in the line of capital punishment--usually a person who committed heinous crimes or a captured enemy that was executed. Unfortunately, we don't really know for sure.

---Continued in Part 3---

Part 3: Renditions of Camelot Online Discussion of Into the Path of Gods

2007-11-20T07:10:00.000-08:00

---Continued from Part 2

Jacqui: One of the questions we used to have for members to answer at the end of a book reading was - was the plot about good versus evil or was it more complicated??It seems to me that the basic plot is about good versus evil ie: Marcus's battle against the darkness that threatens Britain/Wales but there are also sub plots - Marcus versus Drakar, Marcus versus Taran & perhaps Claerwen's mistaken vendetta with the Iron Hawk!!BTW where did you get the idea of him from? When I first read about him I thought he sounded as if he was straight out of 'Boy's Own' (adventure comic) but as I read on I realised that in fact it worked well - especially the twist in the tail. I didn’t suspect till quite a way through:))

Kathleen: I think I'd seen too many Zorro reruns when the idea came to me. :-)) LOL!! The Iron Hawk is sort of a combination of Zorro and Robin Hood but with a much darker side.

Jacqui: LOL Id forgotten Zorro!!!!

Kathleen: You're right, the basis of the plot is good vs evil, which reflects the overall theme of Arthuriana. The greater quest of keeping Britain free of Saxon encroachment is also reflected in the personal quest of Marcus keeping his own freedom and that of his clan and family. There is also the underlying good vs evil/light vs dark side within Marcus himself and the Iron Hawk.

Jacqui: You know, i have never really realised that - duh!!! but yes, it is. Perhaps that explains our enduring fascination with the Arthurian legends:)

Kathleen: Teaser: the deep, dark reasons for Marcus creating the Iron Hawk are explored in the third book.

Jacqui: Can’t wait to read it then!

Kathleen: Glad it wasn't obvious right off who he was. I left a couple of really vague hints, but I don't think anyone's really guessed until later.

Jacqui: Must be quite difficult trying to disguise or hide information. I always admire the way mystery writers hide the villain whilst giving the reader 'clues' LOL, there is more to this 'writing lark' than meets the eye!!!

More questions:)) I was intrigued by your Merlin:) Although he has 'fire in the head' he seems quite an ordinary chap:)) Do you develop his character more in the subsequent novels? Does he become more 'magical'?? Interesting that you had him as Ambrosius's son - any particular reason why or was it just how you saw him?

Kathleen: Ah, Merlin! He plays quite a large part in the second book and kind of weaves in and out in the third and fourth books. He doesn't become magical in the sense of hocus-pocus. In fact, in the second book Marcus refers to Merlin's "wisdom" as being his "magic" because his knowledge of mysterious science-type things that only a druid would know tends to spook the unknowing, uneducated person. Of course Marcus, being the sneaky, smart spy type, has figured this out. Throughout the series, Merlin continues his close friendship with Claerwen. He and Marcus are never really friends even though they are always on the same side. Merlin's always a little jealous of the love between Marcus and Claerwen, and that annoys Marcus, though he's secure in knowing Claerwen only thinks of Merlin like a substitute brother. Marcus also is annoyed with the way Merlin sometimes talks in riddles.

The books are loosely based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. It's never really said in that book that Merlin is Ambrosius's son, but it's noted that Emrys, Merlin's second name, is the Welsh translation of Ambrosius. Mary Stewart made the assumption that Merlin could be Ambrosius's illegitimate son, and I followed suit there. It made sense and the elationship keeps him in the "royal loop."

Karen: That was what I wrote at another group earlier this year, but I got "pooh-poohed" for mentioning an Ambrosius the Elder & an Ambrosius the Younger. I got the idea from Gildas & Nennius' "Historia Brittonum".

Kathleen: I wouldn't have any problem with your approach and I don't think anyone else should either. Years ago, I used to try to shoe-horn everything to fit Mary Stewart's vision of Arthuriana because it was the first thing I'd ever read on it and thought it was the perfect and definitive version. Of course thirty years later, while I still love her books, I know better that they are only one version, LOL!!

Karen: Will you be writing about the relationship between Merlin & Nimue, or do you find it a tired old cliche?

Kathleen: I'm only barely touching on it in the fourth book, the one I'm writing now. I would probably leave it out except for two reasons. The main one is that Merlin's relationship with Nimue changes him in a way that is noticeable and makes him and Marcus more at ease with each other, which puzzles Claerwen. So it is necessary to the storyline. The other reason is that Arthur enthusiasts probably expect it to be in there, but that alone wouldn't be enough to justify putting it in and would simply make it a cliche.

Jacqui: This thought struck me reading your comments above. Have you found that although the series started off more in the physical realm as an adventure story, as the books progressed & the characters have developed themselves that you are slanting your interpretations in a more psychological way - ie the interplay of personalities????

Kathleen: Yes, I think that's true to a point. As time went on I think I understood how to write the characters better. They become more fleshed out and absorbing as they grow older in the other books. (Or is it me that's growing older...?) OTOH, thinking about this, perhaps it's somewhat appropriate that they are shallower as younger people and grow in smarts, wisdom, etc as they grow older. Of course that's not a good excuse for having thinly drawn characters of any age. Ah, another reason I still would like to eventually re-edit Gods.

Harry: One thing I might mention, and it is my opinion only, but it's pretty damned hard to critique a book with the Author looking over your shoulder. My mother taught me to be polite. :)

Jacqui: LOL, Kathleen has 'broad shoulders', but yes, I know what you mean - its is difficult to 'I think its a load of rubbish':)))) but I s’pose if the IMO bit is stressed then everyone's opinion is valid & good feedback!? Kathleen do you agree???

Kathleen: Yes, I do. My critique group will tell an author it's a load of crap if it is. Politely, of course, but they will say so. It's definitely a good thing to have feedback--good, bad or indifferent.

Harry: Thanks, Kathleen, I'll try to remember that.

Jacqui: I would agree but it must be hard at first to have 'your baby' criticised:( Although, I suppose a good writer is always striving for better prose so any help is welcomed. And.... better from a group you are comfortable with than 'the public'!!?

Kathleen: Yes, it's hard, but if a writer is really dedicated (or obsessed as most of us hardcore types really are...) s/he will get used to it and learn from it. I think even the writers who are at the "top of their game" so to speak still work at perfecting the art of it. Unfortunately for some of those, they get clobbered with deadlines from their pubs' bottom line syndrome,(i.e.: hurry up so we can make money off you!). When that happens, you can really see how their work suffers. It's nice to be making money from writing, but when the work becomes hack, that's not good either.

With Gods in particular, in regards to public comment, I had a couple of really snarky types rake the book over the coals for those two historical bungles (the potato and the turkey leg mentioned a while back). One wrote a letter to my publisher, the other posted comments on Amazon.com. Neither said who they were with regards to theirs qualifications as know-it-alls, but they were so condescending and arrogant that I didn't dignify their snarkiness with an answer. (What really surprised me was that they said nothing about the "gunpowder" issue!) The good thing was that these two prompted me to work very hard at the research end and that's paid off well with the other books. Otherwise, Gods got quite a few good reviews.

The difference between Gods and the other books in the series is clearly noticeable because Gods was written before I joined a critique group. They have taught me a world of difference in editing, pacing, etc. I learned that sometimes it's not what they say, but what they don't say or the odd questions that are asked that pinpoint a problem.

Jacqui: That is amazing! I read the extract of Dragons on your webpage & thought how much easier it read!! My only problem (very minor) with Gods is that is it didn’t 'flow' easily IMO:) although I think it got easier as I read on.

Kathleen: It's actually been discussed whether I should re-edit Gods at some point in the future, should the decision be made to print it in softcover. I probably will regardless after the fourth book is done --if they don't do it, the book could get picked up by another pub at some time who does want to. (I hope...) The chance to re-edit would make it match the others in tone and flow. Knowing me, I'll probably have a hard time to just do an edit instead of full-on re-write. I was happy when they re-did the dust jacket because I got to re-write the description.

Jacqui: Is it easy to edit a book that has been written several years earlier especially as it is part of a series? You have the benefit? of a sort of 'hindsight' as you have written more books in the series & are further 'down the line' as far as the characters go. I would think it is very difficult not to interfere in their lives LOL

Kathleen: Kind of like a time traveler--dont' mess up history, eh? :-) For a re-edit I wouldn't change anything in the storyline at all, just see that the writing itself is better, correcting historical mistakes, getting the tone to match the other books and see that the flow works better. That should be pretty straightforward. (I think...I haven't actually tried it yet...) OTOH, if I went for a total rewrite, then I'd have to be more careful not to disturb things that affect stuff farther down the line. A rewrite could entail tightening the point of view in addition to the edit, which would take a lot of work. I'll see when I get so far that I have time to do it. (Time? what's that?)Also, considering Gods was pubbed nearly ten years ago, I've since had time to learn much more about the history, how to research (noted before in our discussion) and the whole craft and art of writing itself.

Jacqui: Gosh yes, ten years is a while - a writer's style etc must really mature over that time.

Kathleen: I have a writer friend who does American Western stories--stuff like ranchers and horses, as well as a series on Lewis and Clark's expedition. Her style definitely improved over the years. I've seen it with some others as well.

I know some authors will get upset at critiquing, but personally, I couldn't live without it anymore. It is tremendously valuable. And after working with the public for nearly two decades, and working in both corporate America and the government before that, I've not only got broad shoulders, but a skin so thick it would make an elephant jealous! LOL!!!!

Jacqui: ROTFL Kathleen - in your pic you look quite normal!!

Kathleen: Yeah, I clean up ok... LOL!!

Jacqui: Are there any more points you would like to make about Gods? Have you told us how you planned the series? Did it start out as a 'four parter' or did it grow? Did you have the whole idea planned out even if only vaguely or did one book lead you on to the next?

Kathleen: I think I talked about how each of the four books in the series was tied to one piece of Macsen's Treasure (torque, spear, sword and grail, bound together by the fifth--the crown), and how each piece of the Treasure matched the elements (earth, air, fire and water, bound together by spirit). This is reflected in the poem that is reprinted in each of the books. When I started out with Gods, I wasn't expecting it to be part of a series. However, the idea must have been clinging somewhere in the back of my mind--series were becoming very popular at the time. I'm not sure of the exact time when it really started to nag at me that maybe there should be a sequel. I couldn't let go of the characters, or maybe it was that Marcus and Claerwen wouldn't let go of me?? :-)))

It was probably when I was working with an agent for a while who kept asking for revisions. (She never did sell the manuscript) Somewhere along the line, I realized the story wasn't finished with just one book so I decided, what the heck, let's see what happens if I start another book. The more I played with the rewrites of Gods alongside the new ms, the more the concept of Macsen's Treasure evolved into something solid, and I knew the story was going to need four books to tell.There were several scenes that played in my head literally for years during the writing of both the second and third books. These were pre-conceived benchmarks in the characters' lives. It felt really great to finally get them out of the ether of my brain and into writing! So I guess it could be said that both of these books had a basic structure planned by the time Gods was finally sold.

Now, the fourth has been very different. I only had the vague--really vague--concept that it would involve Macsen's grail and that some of the storyline threads from the earlier books, though wrapped up in those books, would come back to haunt. Nothing more than that. But oddly, it's been easier to write. Maybe because I knew where it had to start and where it will end and I could let myself feel my way through it without being locked into anything in particular. Or I'm letting Marcus and Claerwen take me along for the ride??

Jacqui: Oh, please don't stop at four... is there a way you can "expand" the storyline into a five-part series, ending with the "crown"?

Karen: Ill second that:))) You will just have to start Book 4 again bearing in mind that you have to extend the storyline - you said Book 4 was coming together quite easily - no, that’s not right - I understood authors suffer for their craft - so you’d best start again LOL. (only kidding )

Kathleen: Aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!! That was me running around the yard screaming... Was that enough suffering?? LOL!!!Of course, it looks like after Mary Stewart finished her Merlin trilogy she wrote "The Wicked Day" about Mordred. That book was kind of a sequel to the series... Hmmm, oh now don't get me started...!

Kathleen: For those of you who read Gods, here's a quiz: Can you guess which scene came from the original dream I had that started this story?

Jacqui: What a question:))))!!! Ill have a go - the battle scene in Ch 13 where Marcus & co draw Drakar into the trap. Perhaps when Marcus stands on the boulder in the pass & waits for Drakar to appear before taunting him into fighting????Well, it was a thought! Which scene was it??

Kathleen: Well, you where fairly close. It's in Chapter 12, where Marcus finds Claerwen in the tunnel under Dinas Beris. Good try!

Jacqui: LOL Kathleen - I was only one chapter out!!! That must have been a scary dream! Amazing how the creative mind works to be able to build a series of novels upon one dream!!!!

Kathleen: It is amazing! I read that passage today just for fun and I'm asking myself: how did I do that? BTW, I had another of those scary dreams the other night, again with Marcus in it, but a different one.

Jacqui: See LOL Karen & I said you’d have to write another book!!!:)))))) BTW did you name her from the Claerwen reservoir in Ceridigion? Bought a new map today & was studying it when a familiar name jumped up at me LOL there she was!!!

Kathleen: Yes! I thought it was such a pretty name and it means "bright, clear water" which describes the color of her eyes.

Jacqui: Talking of names - what was the inspiration for your other characters' names??

Kathleen: Well, let's see... Marcus got his name because of the lingering Roman influence (as noted before). Actually, I couldn't find a Welsh name I thought really suited him. They were too complicated and hard to pronounce or spell, or just didn't sound "macho" enough. :-)) So I went for a simple Roman name. "Marcus" is derived from the Roman god Mars, god of war, and being a warrior/swordmaster, it seemed like an appropriate choice.

Jacqui: Thanks Kathleen - interesting answer as ever:))) I think you were right - it is masculine sounding name!?

Kathleen: Taran comes from Taranis, a Celtic god of thunder.

Jacqui: Similar to Thor!

Kathleen: Yup, Taranis is an equivalent to Thor.

Kathleen: Drakar is a made-up name. I was watching an ad on tv for Drakkar Noir, some kind of men's aftershave or something like that and thought the first word sounded like it would fit a bad guy. Took out one of the k's and there you go. LOL!

Jacqui: Well, they made a mistake with their advertising didn’t they? ...mmmm perhaps not LOL

Kathleen: Well, there's a lot of really stinky aftershave out there, and Drakar was a real stinker.... Sorry, couldn't resist. :-)))

Jacqui: Chuckle!!! A totally OT comment but why is it that so many aftershaves are soooooo overpoweringly pongy!!???? Strength of the smell equals..... no we won’t go there:)))))

Kathleen: The names Claerwen and Grania used while hiding out in Caernarfon--Olivia and Julia--are Roman. The Arthurian legend characters are obvious, of course: Ambrosius, Uther, Myrddin, Arthur, Vortigern, etc. The rest of the names are just picked off a list of Welsh names. I have a book that lists all kinds of names, their origins and meanings, but I've found it's not always accurate or complete.

Jacqui: Do you find when you are reading a novel with lots of Welsh names that you pronounce them correctly or skim over them like me mumbling wuywuoo LOL Sometimes it can really be offputting:(

Kathleen: Wuywuoo -- oh, yes, I know that one! LOL.

Jacqui: Its a very popular name LOL

Kathleen: I usually try to figure it out and if I wear out my brain, it'll become whatshisname or soandso and I'll skim after that.

Jacqui: That’s it. I became very insular in my historical reading at a young age (20's!) because I couldn’t cope with constantly stumbling over foreign names!!!

Kathleen: Of course, to hear a word and see it written, especially with Welsh letters like dd and ll can really throw Americans for a loop.

Jacqui: Not so easy for us Brits either:)))

Katheen: I noticed that even after I've read a whole manuscript aloud to my critique group, when they buy the published book later they'll still come up to me and ask, 'how do you pronounce so and so's name?' I usually include the hardest words in a glossary/pronunciation guide. (Have those guys really been listening?? hmmm...)

Jacqui: You do what!!!! The whole book???? What an utter nightmare!

Kathleen: Yes, the whooooole thing! We usually have quite a few novels going at the same time in this critique group, so we have a lot of camaraderie. We meet once a week for a couple of hours and each person gets enough time to read about 2-3 pages of single-spaced printing, then discuss comments, suggestions, etc. Since my books are long, it takes about two years to get through one. Then come the revisions, then... well, you get the idea.:-) We did have one lady for a short time who was from somewhere in the UK and she said 'oh, it's so nice to hear Welsh again..' I must have been somewhere in the ballpark with my pronunciation!

Jacqui: You certainly did well:) I think most English people wouldn’t recognise Welsh if they heard it:(Jacqui: - do you think that an author writing historical fiction has any obligation to his/her readership to be as accurate as possible in the use of names? I realise that the Dark Ages has very few facts to latch on to but many people learn their history from novels... Personally, I don’t have a problem, providing that the author says somewhere that some of his character's names are of his own choosing. Perhaps I’m being too pedantic – don’t suppose that Mallory was too bothered about authenticity LOL

Kathleen: Accuracy is something that comes up all the time in historical fiction discussions.

Jacqui: Ah, so it *is* considered to be important then…

Kathleen: You're totally right about Dark Age facts being hard to nail down. There are no source documents to draw on and those secondary and tertiary level sources are really 'iffy' at best.

Jacqui: Yes, with all the difficulties involved with Dark Age material & as no-one knows what really happened, it is more acceptable to be more imaginative than say more recent well documented history.

Kathleen: The problem with names is that they've been butchered over the years. Not only did translators and copyists make mistakes, but originally these names came from an oral society and were not written down. Hundreds of years later when they were written down, no one knew how to spell them and coming from a language that was evolved from Brittonic into Proto-Welsh, then Old Welsh, the attempt to write down a really strange sounding name or word from the past had to be lacking in accuracy. There was no standard of spelling anyway until even much later than that. This is why you have many names that are similar, like the sons of Mordred, but you can't draw a clear line between who is who or if they are really the same person. Same thing with Morgan, Morgana, Morgaine, Morgause, etc. When you look at Welsh today, you will see that a lot of words which are borrowed from English are spelled phonetically, so when you pronounce them, they aren't so different from English. The older words are totally different.

Jacqui: Gosh yes, imagine trying to spell names that didn’t make sense:(I’ve often idly wondered how names came to be so mangled over the years - now I know LOL

Kathleen: Personally, I prefer the older Welsh-based versions of names (and place names as well) rather than Anglicised names. I'd rather see Medraut, as it's found in the Welsh Annals instead of Mordred or Modred. For my own work I've tried to track down the oldest versions of place names or make a logical deduction in naming a fictional place. Dinas Beris comes from the modern Llanberis--Dinas meaning a small fort and Beris would have been a local personal name. Probably it was a founder of the parish at Llanberis and later than the fifth century, but I willingly fudged the unknown origin as being one of Marcus's ancestors. :-)

Jacqui: You are right - St Peris - wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanberis

Kathleen: Winchester is my one big exception. The place was Venta Belgarum to the Romans, Caer Gwynt (or something like that) to the Celtic Britons and Uintancaestir to the Anglo-Saxons. I started out using just plain Winchester simply for the familiarity factor, but if I had to start over, I'd probably use the Celtic/Welsh version and put a note in the glossary, map and author notes. As it is, I did mention the modern use in the notes.

Jacqui: I wish more authors did this. It is such a help when reading about unfamiliar names/place names or events. Sometimes the Author's Notes can be more interesting than the novel!!!

Kathleen: In my third book I used Caer Luguvalos for the Roman fort of Luguvalium at Carlisle. It's called Caer Lugualia by Nennius, Lliwelydd by Taliesin and Carleol in Old English. In my logic [such as it is :-)], after the fort was abandoned by the Romans 60 or so years before, it, like many other locations, reverted to its British/Celtic name that the locals would have used. So I kept looking and found that Lugualia is derived from the Celtic god Luguvalos, so I used the god's name. To me that just seemed the more authentic choice.

Jacqui: Thank you for such an informative post as usual Kathleen:)

Kathleen: I just want to say that it's been an absolute pleasure to discuss Gods here. I hope for those who did read the book that you enjoyed it or learned something from it. If anyone has any additional questions or comments, please feel free to post them.

Jacqui: Thank you so much for your comprehensive answers to our questions – I’ve enjoyed these few weeks so much, so I’m glad you have too:)) I found the insights into how an author's mind works fascinating I’m glad for us that Marcus & Claerwen kept nagging at you to tell their story - I hope you don’t miss them too much when Book 4 is finished!

Karen: Yes, it has been a real pleasure reading your posts – honestly.

Kathleen: Thank you very much!

Arthur's Battle List-Part 2

2007-10-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

The sixth of Arthur's famed twelve battles, according to Nennius in the Historia Brittonum, took place on the River Bassas. As with most of the battles, the location has never been identified. It's not even sure that there were twelve battles—the possibility looms that perhaps the number may have been expanded to twelve in order to neatly coincide with other commonly known twelves: twelve apostles, twelve months in the year and so on.

But in needing to name a logical location for the battle in the setting of a novel, what to do? Currently no rivers in the UK are called Bassas or any similar name. Historians have gone over numerous possibilities and come to no conclusion. To name a location but give no hint of where it is will unfairly confuse readers. Even if the location is ultimately proven to be elsewhere or never discovered at all, a novelist should at least attempt to give the reader some sense of where the place lies.

So, in search of Bassas, I turned to my guidebook of place names (Place Names of England Wales, by James Johnson, 1994, Bracken Books) and found a number of places that begin with bas- or bass-. In considering possibilities, I weighed them against the following points:

1. The frontier of Saxon encroachment at the time of the battles likely would have been drawn generally along a north-south line between what is now Wales and the west midlands (See Arthur’s Battle List—Part 1).

2. The time would likely have been within the last ten to fifteen years of the 5th century CE.

3. The meanings of the place names, if known, must fit within the timeframe of point #2.

The first possibility I found is Baschurch, located near Shrewsbury. The location is definitely appropriate. The name means ‘church of Bassa.’ Bassa or Bassus was a valiant soldier of King Edwin of Northumbria and is mentioned in Bede’s 8th century writings. Unfortunately, the soldier’s lifetime falls in a later period than the late fifth century. Scratch that one.

A second selection is Bassenthwaite, near Keswick. Keswick is in the lake district of Cumbria, much too far north to be in the midst of the Saxon encroachment. Doesn’t look good already. The name means ‘place of Bassa.’ Is this the same Bassa/Bassus of Baschurch? If so, again the period is too late.A third choice is Bassaleg, near Newport in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. The guidebook’s entry reads:

“Thought to be c. 800 Nennius . . . and so = the modern Welsh name Maesaleg, ‘plain of Ælloc or Aloc’. . . Close by is maes Arthur, ‘plain of Arthur’.”

The reference to ‘Nennius, c. 800’ is the citation of the entry’s source—the Historia Brittonum, attributed to Nennius, around 800 CE. This is also the source of the battle-list. Right off, the source makes this choice striking enough to start ringing bells. The reference to Arthur is more than intriguing as well. And on top of that, the location is in southeast Wales—a very plausible site for one of Arthur’s battles.

Coincidence? Maybe. Many places have Arthur’s name attached to them simply for the sake of fame or sentimentality. But gosh, a plain close by with Arthur’s name on it? That could certainly have been a battlefield. And in the Welsh language, certain consonants mutate between b’s and m’s—Bassalag, Maesaleg. And several rivers flow through the area.

Hard to ignore, isn’t it?

Who knows? My simplistic reasoning may be a shaky stretch at best in proposing that Bassaleg and its environs could be the location of the battle on the River Bassas—as with anything from the Dark Age era. Perhaps it could be suggested to professional scholars to explore this notion. Even if it were soundly dismissed in the end, it’s still a place to start. And for a piece of fiction, there’s nothing wrong with using it as a location—as long as the author’s notes explain the theory behind the placement. Best, the reader will have a spot on a map to look at.

One more note on this particular bit of research: originally I believed the battle on the River Bassas would be included in A Land Beyond Ravens—that’s why I pursued the evidence. Plus it’s just plain fun to exercise research skills and see if the Arthurian scholars can be outwitted. Alas, as it turns out, I didn’t use this tidbit for the book, but perhaps in the future it may end up in another story. Never throw away any research! Someday it may prove useful. And someday, perhaps the historians might even agree with the theory…?

Knights by any other name

2007-10-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

King Arthur, if he existed, would have lived in the latter part of the 5th century and the early part of the 6th century, with his height of power around the year AD 500. The word 'knight' is a Norman invention, brought to England with the invasion of William the Conquerer in 1066, more than 500 years after Arthur's time. That means Arthur's Knights of the Round Table would not have been called 'knights.' Then what were they?

Novelists who have set Arthur in the high middle ages of the 12th century use the term 'knight' to comply with the later setting. Others use the term regardless of historical inaccuracy. I've seen combrogi used--an adaptation of an old Welsh name akin to brotherhood--or equites, playing on the lingering Latin/Roman influence. And then there is the ever popular 'warrior' as well!

In my research I came across another possibility. Since the stories of Arthur emerged from old Welsh tales, what were they called in Welsh? Knights were supposedly mounted--they were horsemen as opposed to foot soldiers. So, looking in my Welsh dictionary I find the word marchog for horseman, the plural marchogion for horsemen. And when you look in the Welsh to English section, marchog means horseman and...a meaning that become attached the word...knight! For a warlord or king who rose to power in the time when Britain was mostly populated by a Celtic-based culture, marchogion seems to make a lot of sense. Celtic people revered horses (and still do!) very highly and associated them with royalty and kingship, an aspect of their culture descended from their nomadic continental ancestors.

Arthur's Battle List-Part 1

2007-09-30T13:23:00.001-07:00

So many aspects concerning King Arthur's life continue to be debated over and over within the community of Arthurian historians. Among those points is a list of twelve battles that Arthur was alleged to have fought and won in his quest to consolidate power. The list comes from the document called Historia Brittonum, attributed to a monk called Nennius. Historians conjecture and argue constantly over where these battles took place, if they happened at all. There is no consensus.

While researching A Land Beyond Ravens (the 4th and final part of the Macsen's Treasure series) the first of the battles come into play, so I've found it necessary to decide if I agree with any of the theories historians have put out there.

The first battle Nennius names is "at the mouth of the river Glein." I've seen this spelled a number of ways in various translations: Glein, Glen, or Gleni. Most historians look for any rivers in Britain that still have the name Glen. Of course names have changed dramatically over the last 1500 years) Two with that name appear on current maps, one in Lincolnshire and the other in Northumberland. According to Christopher Gidlow, in his book The Reign of Arthur, both are in plausible locations for war against the Saxons. However, he also points out that, at the time the battle may have taken place, the frontier between British territory and the encroachment of Saxon territory may actually have been closer to the eastern side of the kingdom that was called Powys. Pinning down historical boundaries in those days is fuzzy at best, but the area can roughly be thought of as where Wales now meets the English counties of Shropshire and Cheshire. There is a county of Powys in Wales now, however its modern boundaries are quite shifted from those of the fifth century.

In going beyond looking simply for river names, I snooped for relevant place names in general, and the point arose that in the Welsh language (its pre-runner being spoken at that time) the word for the mouth of a river could also mean the confluence of rivers. Another point I considered was that in those days there was little, if any, written language outside of Latin, so when names where written down later, they were spelled phonetically. So what also sounds like Glein, glen or gleni? A brief trip to the Welsh dictionary and up pops: glyn—the word for glen, as in river valley...Ah-hah! Back to the maps!

In examining them, I found two village names. One is Glyndyfrdwy that lies along the well known River Dee, or Afon Dyfrdwy, famous for the homeland of the Welsh hero Owein Glyn Dŵr. The other village is called Glyn Ceiriog that lies along the Afon Ceiriog. Both rivers flow down from the Berwyn Mountains of Wales, through river valleys that run roughly parallel to each other. They come together in a confluence near Chirk, about halfway between Wrexham and Oswestry. This area lies within what was probably the eastern side of the fifth century kingdom of Powys.

Of course this theory is as much conjecture as anyone else’s, but in my mind this is a possible and very plausible site for Arthur's first battle: at the confluence of the river glens. Within the context of the novel, this is where Arthur takes his first command and begins to earn his title, Battle Lord of Britain.

More later on additional battle sites.

Homesick for Wales

2006-05-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure to chat a bit with a gentleman who originally came from Wales, near Aberystwyth. We talked about the different Merlin traditions, how there is a south Welsh tradition as well as a northern one that emerged out of the border area of lowland Scotland. This tradition perceives of Merlin as a madman lost in the wilderness. I’ve drawn on that tradition for how I portrayed him in “The Anvil Stone.” I didn’t quite make him into a “madman”—he is anything but that. Rather he intentionally wears a mantle of black feathers (think of Alan Lee’s drawing of Merlin) to make himself appear as a “wise man of the woods” while he secretly mentors the young Arthur. It was such a pleasure to speak with someone with knowledge of the Merlin traditions.

Then the talk turned to locations in Wales, among them Dinas Emrys. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to go back to this lovely country. Dinas Emrys sits along the Afon Glaslyn, a stream that runs down from the mountains around Snowdon. The last time I was there, I had a picnic on the banks of the stream. This is one of the most peaceful places I have ever been and gave me a strong sense of feeling at home there more than anywhere else. The homeland of my characters is not far away, just up in the pass to the northeast. The Welsh have a word, hiraeth, which doesn’t translate into English, but my understanding of it is that it encompasses a melancholy longing for one’s homeland, for an unfulfilled dream of the way things should have been, a need to return to the ancient culture and people of one’s heritage. Whatever it truly means, since our talk, I’ve been struck with what feels like homesickness. The hiraeth has been sleeping inside me for a long time while I’ve been caught up in everything else going on in my life. The conversation woke it up yesterday. The man I spoke with also wishes to live once more near his birthplace. I sense he is drawn back in the same way.

If I ever find the chance, I will go back for an extended stay. For now, my photographs, my memories, and my writing about the place will have to do. Sigh.

Interview on Reader Views

2006-04-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Reader Views has posted a very nice interview I had with them on their website about my work, my new book and the Macsen's Treasure series. Please check it out: http://www.readerviews.com/InterviewGuler.html

A few words about the Macsen's Treasure Series and The Anvil Stone

2006-04-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

One of the questions I am asked most often is, “How did you get into writing about Arthurian Britain?” Usually I mumble something about how it comes out of my Welsh and Scottish heritage and that’s probably true. People of Celtic descent seem to always have an eerie connection to the past as well as a need to express it through writing, music, dance, art, or some other form of creativity.

Or maybe it’s just one of those fascinating benchmark eras where one sector of society clashed so painfully against the encroachment of other sectors that the quest for freedom became paramount. It is also a time so hidden from history that any writer seeking to portray it is faced with a monumental challenge to intuit the era’s mindset. That it involved the people from whom I descend makes it personal.

The goal of a historical fiction writer is to meld fact and imaginative storytelling into a seamless tale, at once fresh and exciting as well as timeless and realistic. My intention in writing this series was not to merely retell a portion of the Arthurian legend. That has been done many times. Rather, I wished to bring alive a period of history through the eyes of Celtic people who could have lived then and blend the events that led to Arthur’s rise to power as an influence upon their lives. Though based on a broad array of fact drawn from archaeology and other resources, the series is also based on legend and should be regarded solely as fiction. Each book can be read alone; the prominent characters, chronology, themes, and background tie them together.

In working with eras such as the fifth century Britain to which King Arthur likely belonged, historical accuracy can be notoriously difficult, given that very little documentation survives. The Macsen’s Treasure series is loosely based on the combined history and legend of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain (Historia Regum Britanniae). Geoffrey was a cleric who attempted to write a history encompassing nineteen hundred years of British kings, from the first, Brutus, to the last before the Saxon conquest. However, while some of Geoffrey’s figures and events probably were historical, his work includes many blatant inaccuracies as well as outright patriotic and ecclesiastical posturing. His narrative ultimately served to popularize the legend more than provide an accurate account.

Historically, we simply don’t know how much of the legend is true. What we do know is that as the Roman empire began to falter in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, the legions gradually evacuated from Britain, the last of them leaving around AD 410. This left Britain open to invasions, first from Picts from north of Hadrian’s Wall, Irish from the west, then Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, among others) from the continent.

Much debate has gone on about whether the Germanic people were invaders or settlers. They were probably a combination. Either way, their settlements continued to encroach, which caused a great deal of tension. Then around AD 500, it appears that they were pushed back, and a period of peace and prosperity ensued. This stability is attributed to an improvement in British leadership that may have been the legendary King Arthur. In the mid-sixth century, however, British strength fell apart and the Anglo-Saxons methodically conquered the land that is now called England.

The Macsen's Treasure series is the saga of spy Marcus ap Iorwerth and his beloved wife Claerwen These principal characters are fictional. The named kings and other nobility (e.g., Uther, Ambrosius, Vortigern, Ceredig, Budic) are possibly historical. The Saxon leaders, Hengist, Octa and Eosa, may also be historical. Myrddin is of course the legendary Merlin the Magician. In the legend he is probably fictional, though it is believed he may be a composite figure of several historical bards. For the purpose of the series, I have fictionalized him as the last “high druid.”

Welsh names for places and people in Britain have been used in the book as much as possible in the attempt to evoke the sense of language for the era, although the tongue actually was a precursor of Old Welsh. Of course the Roman influence is there as well. For example, Marcus ap Iorwerth’s name is as paradoxical as he is himself; while his given name is Roman, the structure of his full name is purely Welsh. The word “ap” means “son of,” hence, Marcus, son of Iorwerth. In contrast, Winchester is an Anglicized place-name, and was probably not used until after the Saxon conquest that led to the creation of England after Arthur’s demise in the sixth century. It is used in this form because of its familiarity to the reader.

To give a sense of Celtic beliefs before Christianity’s conversion was completed in Britain, I have chosen to instill a bit of spirituality through a Celtic visionary mysticism called “fire in the head,” as well as Druidry. To some, the visions may represent an element of fantasy; however, I believe it belongs within the historical belief system that was still in practice among more remotely located native Celtic people of the time.

The dates used in the chapter headings are meant to simply be guideposts for the passage of time and are pure conjecture on my part. According to historian Geoffrey Ashe, “it would usually be pretentious to give even a ‘circa’ date.” Dates found in source materials, when they are found at all, vary astonishingly from one source to the next.

In the third book, THE ANVIL STONE, Claerwen’s vague vision of a battle in the mountains of Gwynedd is a reflection of a Welsh tradition that Arthur’s final battle at Camlann occurred near a place called Cwm y Llan. Another tradition says Arthurian treasure is concealed in Marchlyn Mawr, a mountain lake that is now a reservoir. For those who recognize the story of Arthur’s knight Bedwyr throwing Excalibur into a body of water, these two traditions put together give the notion that Excalibur might lie at the bottom of one of Gwynedd’s mountain tarns.

Marcus’s swords are likely quite a bit larger than what was normal for his time. However, as a clever, inventive man and a blacksmith to boot, he very well could have created his own swords that were more suited to his needs and nature.

And lastly, within the context of the series, Macsen’s Treasure is a five-piece set of ceremonial symbols sacred to the high kings of Britain. Consisting of a crown, torque, spearhead, sword and grail, it is purely fictional and does not exist in the Arthurian legend or in history. However, trappings of kingship such as special crowns, scepters, and swords have been held dear by monarchies throughout the centuries. Couldn’t it be possible that this notion speaks to the question of where the famed sword Excalibur and the Holy Grail came from?

Sometimes it’s those little questions of “what if?” that prompt a story to be told. For some, to find the answer can become an obsession. In my case, that may be true, and perhaps it is also that the spirits of my ancestors have chosen me to tell their tale as much as I have chosen to write about them.