Laurel A. Rockefeller's Blog, page 17

Last lines: Biographies by Laurel A. Rockefeller

If you still use twitter, you may have noticed a recent discussion among the writing community regarding how best to end your latest book. After all, you have spent weeks or months, sometimes years writing your book, but how then do you best end it?

I like to end my books on a high note – which is odd when you realize that biographies necessarily end with the death of the biography subject. But death doesn’t have to be sad; every one of the people whose stories I am telling have a legacy, an...

The stranger at the fire. Excerpt from The Arban and the Saman

Good morning. I hope everyone had a great Chinese New Year this February and are happily enjoying the first days of spring. Last year I shared with you an excerpt from “The Arban and the Saman” from chapter 4 when Biya arrives in the nuzhen capital of Mukdan in Liaoning. Today I would like to bring you a little further into Biya’s quest, to a fire side encounter with a mysterious lady who seems to appear out of nowhere.

Stranger at the Fire. Excerpt from chapter 5 of “The Arban and th...

Gwenllian and Gruffydd Ready for Battle. Excerpt from Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd: A Play in Three Acts

Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd is famous in Wales as the national heroine – but barely known outside it. Her story of heroism against impossible odds inspires us all.

In this scene Gwenllian and husband Gruffydd ap Rhys prepare for battle following the New Year’s Day 1136 outbreak of fighting between the Normans and Welsh at Carn Goch.

ACT III, SCENE I

1136 1st January. COURTYARD to Dinefwr Castle.  It is early morning. At stage right are the royal stables with its horses off-sta...

Biya’s Journey: A Look at The Arban and the Saman

Good morning and happy Year of the Wood Dragon! 春节快乐! As we start the new year, I want to explore and discuss one of my most forgotten and under rated novels: The Arban and the Saman.

Set in 1211 at the start of the Mongol invasions of the nuzhen-ruled Jin dynasty, the Arban and the Saman is a wartime romance between a mongol officer (arban) and the shaman priestess of a small village not far from the Jin capital of Zhongdu (modern Beijing). Her name is Biya which yes, was my name in the ...

The Knighting of a Squire. Excerpt from The Great Succession Crisis

Prince Yubi from “Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince.”

Long before I devoted my life to history education I was a novelist. Yeah, that seems far fetched to me too! But from 2010 to 2012 I actually wrote a science fiction romance. It was intended to be fan fiction for “Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince,” that beloved part of my youth. Instead The Great Succession Crisis grew into a five (six if you count The First King flash fiction) book series.

In this scene Princess Anlei accompanie...

Malcolm Romances Margaret. Excerpt from “Margaret of Wessex: A Play in Four Acts”

The 11th century was a perilous time, especially for England’s last Saxon princess, Margaret of Wessex. After escaping England, Margaret and her family takes refuge at the court of King Máel Coluim mac Donnchadh in Dunfermline – better known in English as Malcolm III Canmore, king of the Scots. In this excerpt from the stage drama, Malcolm expresses his romantic interest in the beautiful Margaret for the very first time.

Dunfermline Palace todayAct III, Scene III

1068. Dunf...

Buyer Beware: Walmart’s Great Value food brand and food allergies

February 8th seemed like a normal morning. Get up, turn on the pc, feed and water my birds, then make breakfast. Normal. I started my coffee, then turned on my toaster oven to heat up a Great Value Seasoned Potato Hash Brown patty, and started cooking it once the oven was hot enough. Something I’ve done most days for at least six months.

But February 8th was not normal. When the hash brown patty was done, I smelled onions, which is odd because I’m so very careful about my onion allergy, one a...

What is England? Excerpt from “Margaret of Wessex: A Play in Four Acts”

The Norman Conquest of England did not stop with the coronation of William I the Conqueror in December 1066. As first William I, then his sons William Rufus and Henry followed him on the English throne, war expanded outward from southeast England, eventually soaking all of England, Wales, and Alba (Scotland) in blood. In this prologue scene (second of two) set in 1125, King Henry’s only surviving legitimate daughter Matilda returns to the palace at the White Tower after the death of her husband,...

Poem: the Raven

A simple poem that came to me as I looked upon the recent snow.

The Raven came to see me today

Her feathers gleaming in the winter sun.

She cawed a message clear and deep

As her sisters frolicked in the snow, having fun.

Remember me, her song said

As she tapped her beak into the newly fallen snow.

I saw Her clear as day

The Goddess Celtic hearts all know.

The Morrigan, Modron, Cathubodva, the names She’s called

The ancient ways revealed at once.

E...

Where to Find Audiobooks by Laurel A. Rockefeller

Audiobooks are my passion. Since 2014 I have invested heavily in audiobook productions across all four available audiobook languages: English, Spanish, French, and German. From 2014 to mid 2022 these audiobooks were produced for exclusive publication on Amazon, Audible, and Apple retail sites. Since September 2022 audiobook productions have expanded to include Spotify, LibroFM, Chirp, Everand, Barnes/Noble, Audiobooks.com, Hoopla, Overdrive, and many more.

Though many of my blog posts ...