Michael Eging's Blog: The Silver Horn Echoes and Assorted Other Tales - Posts Tagged "knights"

I was recently talking with my daughter who related to me some of my own stories created and written when she was a young child. She has since graduated from college and is now living and working far from home. The time she recalls occurred when my wife and I were still in college. During that time, I was excited by the worlds opened to me through my study of medieval history and English. As a writer, it was one of the most productive periods of my life, writing short stories and poetry that filled late 1980's era hard drives. We traveled from Utah to attend graduate school at the University of Maryland, College Park to study with a preeminent scholar of Byzantine and early Russian history. And all the while, I wrote.

In the evening, I would spin tales for her and her brother of worlds far from our own, populated by lost kings, intrepid elves and paladin knights. Many of those stories sprung from my imagination, others from the pages of Tolkien, Lewis and Alexander. Each character had unique voices and I tried to find those voices, often to their delight. Giants with craggly deep voices, brave heroes with stolid, confident voices, etc. Usually my feeble efforts dissolved into laughter, yet we discovered worlds beyond our own within those pages.

Last night, my son wrestled with an assignment focused on Quixote where the author of an article postulated that changing the author (Cervantes) altered the depth and perspective of the work, even if the words remained exactly the same. I asked him, if you didn't know the author had changed - does it even matter - for the story remains. I postulated that possibly the reader has greater power over the written page by bringing imagination to the effort. The power to speak in different voices, imagine faces and identify unique ticks and place characters in fully developed lands even more fantastical than what the page conveys.

My children still remember stories told to them with my very rudimentary acting abilities. But what I thought to be just a father's attempts had became magical memories to them. They remind me of them as I wrestle with rewrites of rewrites. To them, the hard work was already done. They have imagined the worlds already. It's now upon dad to share them with all of you. Lessons I've learned from my children.

I was reading some background on the Battle of Roncevaux today with my son, William, which occurred on August 15, 778. During that battle, the rearguard was ambushed and those events set in motion the retelling of the tale that would be sung by the army of William the Conqueror on the eve of the Battle of Hastings. Yet, La Chanson de Roland has some issues with time that we attempted in The Silver Horn Echoes to account for.

You see, in 778, Charles the Great (or Charlemagne) was a man in his early 30s. He had just fought the Lombards in Italy for control of the northern portions of the peninsula. He was yet to bring further Italian territory under control. Then on Christmas Day 800, while he knelt in prayer, Charles was crowned emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III.

Why is this important?

The Chanson de Roland sets up a fictional world where the Battle of Roncevaux takes place when Charles is already the emperor. In the poem, Charles is both emperor and king. The title was usually bestowed (though jealously) by the Eastern Empire in Constantinople. Further, Charles is old and wizened, with a long flowing white beard.

So when writing The Silver Horn Echoes, both in screenplay and novel forms, there were some creative choices to make. First, we could build a world that was more historically accurate and place Charles and his vassal Roland earlier in his career. Or we could go with the world spun by the poem and create a world in which the events of the Song of Roland are plausible. I chose the latter.

This creative choice allowed for two things. First, to remain truer to the telling in the epic poem. Second, there is a lurking danger in The Silver Horn Echoes represented by a very jealous and manipulative Byzantine Empire. You see, when the pope crowned Charles, the usual negotiations with and permissions from the Empire did not occur. After the crowning, Charles was thrown into negotiations with the Empire to legitimize the title. So we were able to use the world created by the poet and accomplish a retelling that focuses on an older Charles and his taking up the mantle after 800.

The Silver Horn Echoes: A Song of Roland is a work of fiction that is inspired by the mythical world of La Chanson de Roland. Thus, as storytellers, we pay homage to the battle of 778, but are not completely bound by the events. This allowed us to use characters and constructs from the poem, rather than be strictly bound by the historical record.

We hope you enjoy the creative choice. And we hope that it inspires you to learn more about the actual events surrounding the Battle of Roncevaux in 778.

http://myBook.to/SilverHornEchoes

With the release of The Silver Horn Echoes: A Song of Roland, we have once more begun to navigate the mass of distribution channels as a means to getting the book into the hands of readers in their own local bookstore. Working with Ingram and other distributors is no guarantee that wholesalers and chains will carry the book, even with a return policy in place. So, this book will be Steve and my test with marketing in a much broader sense than anything we've ever done before.

What avenues have we found to promote our book?

Of course, we have reached out to bloggers and book reviewers to navigate the processes that each of them have for accepting a book to review. Many of the bloggers and reviewers are very supportive of indie work, however, due to the broad nature of the indie world, many have waded through books that were not edited or executed with a high level of professionalism. So, some reviewers and bloggers have limited the indie work they currently review. Of course, this is an issue that should be addressed in books long before they reach the hands of the reviewer.

Over the past week, we've began sending introduction packages to small, independent booksellers. You know, the community mom-and-pop book stores that smell of worn pages and adventure. The Silver Horn Echoes has captured the imagination of stores thus far who have agreed to carry the book. My daughter, who is starting her freshman year at a local college, has become our chief marketer and publicist. She enjoys the challenge and loves bookstores--a match made in heaven.

Another route, again, with some success is to schedule book signings with independent bookstores. We supply the posters, the shoe leather in promotion (particularly earned media), and the door prizes. The bookstore, hopefully, will see a bump in foot traffic. Our best responses thus far have been comic shops. Yes, comic shops. Our cover was created by an artist who has experience with major comic publishers. Many shop owners gravitate immediately to the cover, and then we book an afternoon signing. Stay tuned, we will be announcing them here!

Well, we don't have a best seller yet. But we do have a plan and are in the middle of execution. We'll keep you updated on our progress. If you happen to see a signing or book fair appearance in your neck of the woods, please stop by and say "hello!"

Enclosed is a review of the Silver Horn Echoes: A Song of Roland that was released today. We wanted to share it with you!

The Silver Horn Echoes: A Song of Roland by Michael Eging and Steve Arnold is a book for those who are into well-crafted and tightly plotted historical novels. Set against a turbulent period in the Dark Ages, readers follow compelling and memorable characters in a world where intrigue and stabbings-in-the-back are frequent. Roland is heir to the Breton March, but while the Frankish kingdom is preparing for an impending war, he is given the most unlikely of tasks — to serve as a guard. When he learns about a new threat to the kingdom, he must do everything in his power to save his people. But this isn’t an easy task, as he is faced with ruthless enemies within the kingdom itself, and he must unveil the plots of a murderer who could be setting himself up for the most powerful position in the entire kingdom. Does Roland have what it takes to protect the kingdom, founded by Charlemagne, from being torn apart?

I have always been fascinated by the Dark Ages, by its rule of power, and by the intrigue that is witnessed in high places. This book explores this age in vivid detail and with forensic clarity, and the reader falls in love with the compelling characters without knowing why. The writing is beautiful and it features linguistic elements that reflect the setting. The Silver Horn Echoes: A Song of Roland is a work of great imagination, nourished by history, a story with a powerful conflict, laced with intense action and twists that are as surprising as they are delightful. Michael Eging and Steve Arnold bring readers great entertainment, taking them on a whirlwind journey back to the Dark Ages, and putting them alongside some of the most memorable historical characters.

Five Star Review
Reviewed by Arya Fomonyuy for Readers' Favorite