Rachel Rossano's Blog, page 15

Medieval Word Wednesday - Archery

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Archery terms are the theme of the day thanks to The Scriptorium (http://thescriptorium.co.uk/glossary.php).


arrowsmith - maker of arrowheads

broadhead - wide arrowhead with a sharpened edge used mainly for harassing horses at a distance
bodkin - long, sharply pointed arrowhead designed to concentrate all the power of the arrow into a single point to open mail or puncture plate armour

fletcher - maker of the arrow shaft including applying the feathers to the shaft
fletchings - the feathers on an arrow, usually, in medieval times, glued and bound on

quarrel - short square headed bolt or arrow used in a crossbow

longbow - traditional, especially Welsh and English, bow. Usually made from a single bough of yew and usually the height of the archer plus a fistmeile

pavise - large free-standing shield used primarily by crossbowmen

For clarification, a fistmeile is "a measurement derived from making a fist with the thumb raised. The distance between the lower part of the little finger and the tip of the thumb."

Now, I challenge you to use at least three of those terms in a sentence.

Romany Epistle News!

Dear faithful Romany Epistle readers, I have an exciting announcement to make.
The Romany Epistles are finally coming to paperback!

We only have two slated for release this year. Taerith and Wren will hopefully be the forerunners of most of the other books. To celebrate this momentous news, I am happy to share the official series trailer.

Please share it with your friends and spread the news.

Now is the perfect time to reconnect with the authors of the books and see what we have been doing. Some of us have quite a few books in print to entertain you as you wait for the releases.

The Official Wayside Writer's Page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wayside-Inn-Writers-Society/198271316879763

Charissa Taylor (Lees)
Blog - http://dreammountain.blogspot.com/
Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/DreamMountainPress

Rachel Starr Thompson
Website - http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/
Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/RachelStarrThomsonWriter

Rachel Rossano
Website - http://rachelrossano.weebly.com/
Blog - http://rachel-rossano.blogspot.com/
Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/RachelRossanoRambles

The other authors are about too, but they don't have many official places to catch them. If you want to connect up with them, comment here or on the Official Wayside Writer's Facebook page and I will try to connect you. Words of encouragement can mean a lot.

#SweetSat - Excerpt from Duty

Welcome! Here is a bit from Duty: a novel of Rhynan for your Sweet Saturday Sample. Brielle (the POV character) and her husband are preparing her for battle.

~~~~~

We were arguing over the necessity of armoring me from the waist down when Rathenridge arrived with his wife’s padded jerkin.
“I see you two have made up.” He glanced between us a few times. Tomas glared at him, but my cheeks warmed beneath his teasing grin.
“Thank you for the jerkin.” I began pulling it on over the mail. I felt as though I carried double my weight in gear already. Thankfully the jerkin weighed less than I expected. I was struggling with the tapes when Tomas approached with a helmet. I eyed the thing warily. “Must I?”
“If you want to keep your head, you will.”
“Are you going to lop it off for her if she doesn’t wear it?” Rathenridge asked as I put the metal can over my head. “That monstrosity is too large for her. She won’t be able to see a thing and we will spend half our time stopping her from running into walls. Here–” He tossed a smaller and lighter helmet to me. “This one is functional and fashionable. I hear it is all the rage to wear helmets like these in the capital this winter.”
“Leave off, Aiden. That thing won’t stop anything. It is too light.”
I ignored him and exchanged the helmets. As I hoped, Rathenridge’s choice didn’t obscure my vision nearly as much.
“I prefer this one.”
I expected Tomas to protest. Instead he demanded, “Why?”
“Visibility, and the weight doesn’t hurt my neck. Besides, it fits the shape of my head better.”He frowned, but took his choice from where I had set it. “If a head blow kills her, Aiden, I am hunting you down.”
“If a head blow kills her, I suspect you will do more than that,” Aiden replied with surprising severity.

~~~~~
Which helmet would you prefer?
For more Sweet Saturday Samples, go to http://sweetsatsample.wordpress.com/
Today's excerpt is from Duty: a novel of Rhynan.Available where books and ebooks are sold.
Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Kobo
Come back on Wednesday for another Medieval Word Wednesday!Have a lovely Saturday!

Medieval Word Wednesday - Bastion

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...

Bastion - part of the defences of a castle standing proud from the wall and giving a good field of coverage for defenders. (http://thescriptorium.co.uk/glossary.php)

From the World English Dictionary (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bastion?s=t):

1. a projecting work in a fortification designed to permit fire to the flanks along the face of the wall
2. any fortified place
3. a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etc: the last bastion of opposition

Though this word's meaning has survived over the years, it has taken of a new role as being handy for creating metaphors. "He was a bastion of honesty, when he managed to keep his tongue still."

What are you a bastion of?

#SweetSat - Another Sample from The Sword of Korma Monroe

I wrote the final lines of The Sword of Korma Monroe late Thursday night. At 6,850 words, it is one of my shortest short stories. Now I shall have to let it sit for a few days before I start the editing process. Now I can return to writing Honor and continuing Lord Dentin's story.

For this week's sample, I shall continue where I left off last week. The POV is Korma's. I hope you enjoy it. :)

~~~~~

My protest that we had not settled on a price died in my throat as the tent flap was thrust aside. Lon strode through with Kort on his heels.
“I told you, Kort. They were hiding her.”
“Where is the sword, wench.” Kort stalked toward me, balling his fists as he came.
I backed up, instinctively reaching for my hip, but my fingers met nothing but air.
Lord Dentin stepped into Kort’s path and placed a hand on in the center of the man’s chest. “You have no business here.” Despite their similar height, Kort easily weighed twenty pounds more.
Kort swatted Dentin’s hand away and tried to shove him aside. “She is mine.”
Dentin widened his stance. Catching the larger man’s arm, Dentin used Kort’s forward momentum to throw him onto one of the cots. The wood groaned and gave way in a shower of splinters and wood. Kort bellowed in pain.
Lon launched himself at Dentin. At the last possible moment, Dentin stepped aside. Lon ran straight into the center support pole. The tent shook around us, but Lon rebounded, stumbling backwards out the tent door. He reappeared a moment later, practically dangling from Major Dyrease’s grip.
“Lost something?”
~~~~~
Did you enjoy it?
For more sweet samples, visit http://sweetsatsample.wordpress.com/
Don't forget to return on Wednesday for the next installment of Medieval Word Wednesday.

Medieval Word Wednesday - Bailey

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil... - An enclosed courtyard. (http://thescriptorium.co.uk/glossary.php)

I used this term frequently when describing the vargar (castle) at Kyrenton in Duty: a novel of Rhynan . That vargar (castle) had an inner and outer bailey.

The word's meaning hasn't changed much over the years. However, it has become a surname and decently popular first name for both genders (
What do you think of the word as a name? Does it sound like a girl name or a boy name?

#Giveaways

There are two opportunities for you to pick up your own copy of Duty: a novel of Rhynan.

If you head over to Clean Romance Reviews for an opportunity to win an e-book copy of my most recent release. While there, feel free to check out her review of my novel. :)

The Goodreads giveaway to the left is for a physical paperback copy of the novel for those of you who are partial to them (me included in that group).

Whether you enter one, both, or neither, I wish you the best. :)

Please spread the news. ;)

- Rachel

#SweetSat Sample - The Sword of Korma Monroe

Welcome back for this week's Sweet Saturday Sample. I am working on short story addendum to Duty: a novel of Rhynan and its sequel, Honor. I found many readers were curious about a specific incident in Dentin's earlier life. The Sword of Korma Monroe is a short bit of prose depicting the origin of a certain sword and why it is significant to both Dentin and Irvaine.
The excerpt is a conversation between Korma and Dentin from Korma's POV.
~~~~~
“Why do you do this?” 
His eyebrows rose. “I am offering you money, yet you question my motives?”
“I am curious.”
“Evidently.” He examined the sword. “Consider me a champion of love.”
I laughed.
He glanced my way in mock surprise. “You don’t believe me?”
Wiping my smile from my face I admitted, “I don’t, my lord.”
“Shows what little you know. Do you want the price in gold or silver flans? I imagine gold might be a bit hard to justify considering your family’s circumstances.”
~~~~~
Intrigued?
For more samples visit: http://sweetsatsample.wordpress.com/

Medieval Word Wednesday - Acre

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Acre - "The amount of land which one team can plough in a day. 120 [acres] was the average to maintain one family but this varied depending on the land." (From: http://thescriptorium.co.uk/glossary.php)

Today we measure an acre as "a common variable unit of land measure, now equal in the U.S. and Great Britain to 43,560 square feet or 1  / 640  square mile (4047 square meters)." (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/acre)

I wonder how many acres would sustain a single family today. What do you think?

#SweetSat Sample - Honor

I am almost 8K into the sequel to Duty: a novel of Rhynan. Lord Dentin is proving to be an interesting male lead and I am enjoying getting to know the female protagonist, Elsa. They promise to be an interesting pair.

This section from the second chapter. Dentin is mulling over his task of claiming Lander (5 years-old) from Tomas and Brielle's care to be fostered.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...
Lander looked younger than five-years-old as he leaned against Brielle’s hip. I tried to convince myself that he was of the age, but I couldn’t get my own memories of leaving my mother for my own fostering out of my head. Her tear streaked face had been my last sight of her. By the end of my first month under my new master, she was dead. A part of me rebelled at parting this child from the only woman who had ever truly loved him.
“Don’t linger in the shadows.” Tomas prodded my side with an elbow. “The ladies might think you are spying on them.”
“I am simply watching the children.” I tore my gaze from Lander and Brielle to look for Darnay. He was gone from sight.
“Longing for a few tag-a-longs of your own? I noticed you taking an interest in Moriah’s sister earlier. What is her name? Emma?”
“Elsa.”
Tomas’ knowing grin irritated me.
I threw him a glare. “Not an option for me, Tomas, and you know it.”
“Dent, your past does not have to rule your future.”
“My past does. I am not you, Tomas. You didn’t have a choice in who fathered you. My faults are less innocent. They can never be remedied by simply making wise choices. Some mistakes are not so easily cleared away and you know it.”
“Only because you refuse to let it be so.” The note of impatience that always infected Tomas’ voice when we discussed my past vexed me more than normal.
“Life isn’t that simple.”

~~~~~
How do you think Tomas and Brielle are going to react to Dentin taking Lander?

~~~~~


The excerpt above is from my current WIP, Honor.

The previous book in the series, Duty: a novel of Rhynan,
is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
and other online retailers.

Brielle is a woman backed into a corner, until the arrival of a band of strange soldiers. Their leader claims to be her husband, but she never married anyone to her knowledge. He offers help, but at what cost? Brielle quickly realizes she might not get a choice of accepting or turning down his offer.




Also, come back on Wednesday for my new weekly feature 
MEDIEVAL WORD WEDNESDAY.