A Taste of what's come... My new novel The Emerald Queen will be available in two weeks. With that in mind I decided to divert from my usual fantasy/myth subjects, and share a snippet from the new book. And, there's more coming... The next book in the series, The Legends of the Longsword, will be available on January 10th––so I'll be sharing a scene from that one in a few weeks. Book 2 in the new Mercenary Trilogy stars Corin [...]
And Celtic Dreams I used to drive a milk tanker at night, and through early mornings, leave the depot on Bodmin Moor in a veil of mist and murk, drive for two hours until I reached the rugged lands surrounding Lands End, and St Michael's Mount (Pictured below.) A different life, a distant time. Driving through that land was like dipping your toes in another realm. The dairies were remote, tucked away in deep forgotten corners. Old granite farmhouses that have [...]
Another Time, Another Place... Those words come from an art piece featuring The Rolling Stones by Rodney Matthews whose stunning work can be viewed from his new website here For me the words also convey a deeper mood, a memory of a time, quite recent –– yet so very long ago. I'm talking about the 1970's. No cellphones, no wi-fi, and no emails or blogs like this one. Truly... 'Another Time, Another Place.' As a teenager back then, and an avid [...]
It's Coming! The words in the title and heading above are from the creepy 1950's movie –– The Night of the Demon, a Dana Andrews classic and one of my favorite early supernatural/horror movies. Those words were also used by the fabulous Kate Bush of 'Wuthering Heights' fame, introducing her track –– Hounds of Love. Kate is huge in England –– a legend. But I don't think she's that well known in the States. She's great –– check her out! [...]
A Glance At England's Chalk Carvings I lived in East Sussex for many years. A land of rolling hills covered in trees that formed part of The Weald, a vast forest that once spread from Southampton to Ashford in Kent and whose trees had seen Julius Ceasar, and later the first Saxon invaders sweep in from wintry seas beyond. Many of those trees were mercilessly cut down during the Armada and Napoleonic Wars, but The Weald still exists in clumps and coppices throughout [...]
Glimpses Of The Otherworld Have you ever stood in woods during summer, a light breeze lifting your hair and the warm sunshine making you smile as the soft drone of bees accompanies birds chirping nearby? You turn on a whim hearing the chime of distant water you hadn't noticed before? Or maybe look up glimpsing a hint of movement, some creature –- perhaps a fox or deer –– watching you silent and hidden, but closer than you think. When surrounded by nature and alone it's [...]
Legends Of Robin Hood I was born in a small town near Doncaster in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In those days this was a mining area with collieries scattered all around and chimneys belching filth. RAF Finningley was close by with its Vulcan Bombers, great camouflaged darts streaking the skies above. I remember the Vulcans as a kid; they were formidable, in shape, flight and the awesome racket they made. But back in the Middle Ages, this region formed the northern [...]
Atlantis–– Did It Exist? There was a man named Solon. Greek Archon and knowledgeable chap. He found a map, supposedly of this lost continent somewhere beyond the Pillars of Heracles ( aka Gibralter Straits -- where Scylla and Charybdis hung out back in the day.) We don't know much about Solon, but Plato took things further with his allegorical theories about this mystery island continent which challenged Athenian power 9000 years before Solon's time, (approx 600 BC.) These Atlanteans were warlike conquerors and took slaves [...]
A Trojan Legacy Dark Age Britain fills our minds with images of chariots racing, ancient battles, Roman legions and Celtic warriors, Saxon raiders and later the Vikings. Then there is Arthur and the vivid world surrounding him. But what happened before Arthur took the stage? How did Britain come to be? Here are some myths surrounding those earliest times. Brutus of Troy was a descendant of Aeneas who alone of that city's princes escaped the carnage alive. Aeneas's people settled in Rome [...]
Viking Time! AD 793 Portents and dire warnings spoke of a new terror unleashed. A devastation worse than anything seen before; it would descend on England, and all would be lost. Monks in the remote isle of Lindisfarne were the first to come face to face with this new calamity. That scourge took the form of long sleek ships and the savage raiders they brought to shore. The Vikings had arrived, and all Europe would soon know about it. Right [...]
