Joyce DiPastena's Blog, page 49

Norman Conquest Day 2011 - let's eat cake!

Okay, here's my annual "purely representative of the actual event" cake reenactment of the Battle of Hastings. Some day I'm going to track down some actual Norman and Saxon toy soldiers, but in the mean time, just use your imagination.

Aside from the knights on horseback (Normans), this year's battle was so chaotic, even I couldn't tell who was on who's side!


Crash!
[image error]
Clang! Clang! Clang!

Smash! Wham!

Thud! (That's Harold, going down. You can't see him, he fell off the cake.)
Click here to see a nifty Norman Conquest Day video I posted earlier today.
Click here to read/see all my Norman Conquest day posts
Happy Norman Conquest Day 2011!!!

Norman Conquest Day 2011

Happy Norman Conquest Day 2011, everyone! I hope you enjoy this little animated reenactment of the Battle of Hastings through the Bayeux Tapestry. Now I'm off to buy my annual Norman Conquest Day cake. Pictures later. :-)


To read more about the Bayeux Tapestry, click here.

Meet Mathilde! : Part 1

I know many writers who like to find pictures of people who look like their characters to inspire them as they write. I have never done this, myself. I always have very distinctive pictures in my own head and never seem to be able to find photos of someone who looks just the way I imagine my characters to be.

This was the case when I wrote the first draft of my new medieval romance, Dangerous Favor . I already knew the hero, Etienne, from his original appearance in Loyalty's Web . He was a little bit older and wiser now, but I knew his personality and physical appearance by heart. When my new heroine, Mathilde de Riavelle, appeared on the scene, she was a sweet, flaxen-haired willow-maid, pretty but not beautiful, full of romantic dreams, overly sheltered from the world, but fiercely loving and loyal.
One day, while strolling through my house, I walked past a decorative pillow that I had bought in a museum shop years before Dangerous Favor ever existed in my mind. 


The pillow cover was a reproduction of a famous medieval tapestry called "Taste", from the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry series. I glanced at the pillow and did a double-take. There, before my eyes, Mathilde de Riavelle was gazing back at me.
Now, if you look at the original tapestry (which you can do if you click here), you'll find a lady with a high forehead, a longish nose, a little older, lovely but less whimsical than my Mathilde.
If there is a word to describe my Mathilde beyond "dreamy", that would be it: "whimsical." My pillow, as you can see, is not an exact reproduction of the original. It lacks some of the finer details of the tapestry. But this version is my Mathilde, her face filled with sweetness, the veil floating in the breeze representative of her long blonde hair imitating the veil's gesture.


Nothing would make Mathilde happier, by the way, than to be immortalized in a tapestry. Stop by again next week and I'll introduce you to Mathilde in action when I share with you Chapter 1 of Dangerous Favor here at JDP NEWS.

Tuesday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser is a weekly bookish meme (rhymes with "cream"), hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. (I've borrowed it from LDS Women's Book Review.) Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare at least two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
I'm adapting the rules slightly. I'll be quoting some random lines from the last chapter I read before I post a teaser. I'm a slow reader, so you may get multiple teasers per book. Here's my second teaser from  Free Men and Dreamers, Volume 1: Dark Sky   at Dawn , by L.C. Lewis:
A debutante now? I long for the person you were just weeks ago, when you were still my own dearest Hannah. Please remember that these rules about familiarity also apply to handsome riding instructors.
From  Dark Sky at Dawn , p 127
If you'd like to share a teaser from a book you're currently reading, I'd love you to do so in the comment section. And you don't even have to share it on a Tuesday! Be sure to include the title, author, and page number in case others would like to check out the book you're reading.

Illuminations of the Heart & Dangerous Favor in the News!

Two of my books are highlighted today on other blogs.


History Undressed  (a blog that posts historical research on all historical ages) has posted a guest blog I wrote on medieval bestiaries, which includes an excerpt from Illuminations of the Heart . You can read my guest post here.

And EnglishRose of Clean Romance Reviews has posted an advance review of my soon-to-be-released third medieval romance, Dangerous Favor . Here's an excerpt from her review:


"DiPastena has done it again!  I can't get enough of this series.  The rich world of medieval France continues in it's tangled web of loyalties of love." Click here to read more. :-)


I'd love you to drop by both posts and leave a comment.

Summary Sunday

Summary Sunday is where I share one new sentence from each day of my writing week with you. It's a way to give you a flavor of what I'm currently working on, and a way to hold myself accountable for actually writing something during the week so I'll have some sentences to share with you! :-)
These sentences are from my never-ending draft of Acelet's story. (Acelet was a character in  Illuminations of the Heart,  in case you haven't read it.)
Monday: 'Twas no easy task for the servant, but the poet Chrétien had a gift for sparkling(?) dialogue and Acelet had an undeniable flair for captivating interpretation.
Tuesday: Madame Viars sighed, and sighed again, before Joslin heard her three-legged stool scrape across the floor. 
Wednesday: The deed was done in a trice.
Thursday: She suspected a wooden box tucked next to the cloth might hold parchment, ink and pen.

Sweet Saturday Samples

This week's Sweet Saturday Sample is a continuation of last week's excerpt from my sweet medieval romance, Loyalty's Web (rating PG). If you'd like, you can (re)read that excerpt here. The attacker in this scene, Etienne, is the hero of my upcoming medieval romance, Dangerous Favor (rating PG), which will be released in January 2012, so I thought you might like to see how his story began. :-) I'll be introducing the heroine of Dangerous Favor in a blog post this coming Wednesday, if you'd like to drop by and meet her.
The Earl of Gunthar threw up his left arm at the blur of movement and felt the sting of a blade cut its way into his flesh. He shot his right hand out to grasp his attacker's wrist. The man cursed as Gunthar forced the steel clear of his arm. Gunthar swept both their arms into an upward arc, then abruptly snapped them down again, at the same time giving his attacker's wrist a sharp twist. A loud crack sounded and the dagger clattered to the floor. The man fell to his knees and Gunthar finally saw his attacker's whitened face.
Nay, scarcely a man at all, a boy no more than nineteen, at most, twenty.
Gunthar's men belatedly swarmed to their master's defense. His marshal, Sir Roger Tollerton, hauled the youth to his feet, while the others closed in around him, blocking him from Gunthar's view.
Gunthar heard shouted oaths of anger. At least a half-dozen fists raised, a few of which fell with resounding thuds before Gunthar shouted, "Enough. Let him be.  Stand back, I say!"
His knights dispersed at his command, all save Sir Roger who continued to hold onto the struggling youth.
"Who are you and why did you attack me?" Gunthar demanded.
The youth glared at Gunthar from his one good eye. An ugly purpling bruise had already swollen the other shut. The youth looked angry and defiant and a little scared. But he pressed his lips obstinately together and refused to answer.
"My lord," Laurant said, rather nervously, "he is Etienne de Brielle, the younger son of Sir Damian."
"Ah." Gunthar eyed the youth with comprehension. "Then your father sent you here."
"Nay," Etienne spat, "English dog!  My father is too weak and my brother has not the courage. But I have sworn to avenge our wrongs, and next time--"
Laurant stepped forward and slapped him. "Insolent whelp.  There will be no next time. Take him away."
"Wait. My lord, perhaps you should see this."
Lord Challons, one of the Earl's vassals, spoke. His eyes were as bright as the jewels adorning his scarlet tunic. He scooped up the fallen dagger and held it out for Gunthar to see.
Gunthar examined it from where he stood, the blade stained with his own blood. On the pommel was carved a most wondrous creature. From the waist up a beautiful woman with flowing hair, the nether part twisted sinuously into the subtle, undulating coils of a serpent. A tiny, forked tongue darted from between the creature's lips and a pair of winking rubies for eyes completed an unsettling portrait of demonic evil. One knight who stood near enough to share the vision muttered an oath and crossed himself. But Gunthar recognized it for what it was.
"Where had you this dagger?" he demanded, irritation lending an edge to his voice. The youth, who had been staring slack jawed at the weapon, snapped his mouth shut. "Nay, don't play mute with me, boy. Prince Richard makes gifts of these to those who pledge his cause. Are you one of his, then?" The youth glared at Gunthar. "Or perhaps you merely stole it--"
Thanks for visiting! Now click here to read some more Sweet Saturday Samples!
Loyalty's Web is available on Amazon.com.

Tuesday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser is a weekly bookish meme (rhymes with "cream"), hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. (I've borrowed it from LDS Women's Book Review.) Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare at least two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
I'm adapting the rules slightly. I'll be quoting some random lines from the last chapter I read before I post a teaser. I'm a slow reader, so you may get multiple teasers per book. Here's a teaser from Free Men and Dreamers, Volume 1: Dark Sky at Dawn , by L.C. Lewis:
Juan had paid too high a price to be tricked by this cocky exotic. "To satisfy my debt I must deliver my cargo. Will delivering this letter likewise set me free?"
"Free...?" the man mused. "No man is free, Spaniard. We are each proof of that. Whether to God, the devil, or man we are all in debt to someone."
From Dark Sky at Dawn , p 33
If you'd like to share a teaser from a book you're currently reading, I'd love you to do so in the comment section. And you don't even have to share it on a Tuesday! Be sure to include the title, author, and page number in case others would like to check out the book you're reading.

What Am I Reading Now?

Well, that was a very satisfying last read. But then, Georgette Heyer always is. :-) I loved revisiting The Reluctant Widow and need to reread some more GH titles, soon. But for now I'm moving onto a series that I've heard much about and have been wanting to read for a long while, but am only now making a start: The Free Men & Dreamers series, by L.C. Lewis. This is a series of historical novels that cover the years following the American Revolution through the War of 1812. I've never read a novel about the War of 1812 before, so I'm excited to explore this era of American history!


The first title in this series is Dark Sky at Dawn . Here's the back cover blurb:


It is a dangerous time for America. The years following the signing of the Constitution have been riddled with British aggressions aimed at breaking the will of the young government. Trade restrictions tear at its economy while British ships attack and kidnap Americans at sea, refusing to acknowledge thier American citizenship. Washington, Franklin, and Hamilton have died. Their inspired dream is now entrusted to their aged and war-weary peers and to the succeeding generations-men and women, born in liberty, who are prepared to sacrifice their lives in its defense. But the divisive evils of greed, slavery, and class distinction cast a dark cloud over the promise WE THE PEOPLE, even as war talk rattles the governing halls. American declars a war to reconfirm her independence. . .war to protect her more perfect union: The War of 1812.


Stop by on Tuesday to read a Tuesday Teaser from Dark Sky at Dawn.

Summary Sunday

Here are some new lines from my never-ending draft of Acelet's story. (Acelet was a character in my medieval romance, Illuminations of the Heart . For someone who insists he wants his own story, he sure isn't making it easy!)
Monday: The antelope dormant carved into the cherry wood appeared to blink sleepily in the flickering light from the fire. 
Tuesday: Even when singing of swords that hacked through shields and mail links—for Joslin realized that Acelet had slipped from a rhythmical narration into a martial melody—his voice rang truer and sweeter than any other of the duke's troubadours.
Wednesday: 'Twas as if such a query ripped him with a physical pain from the world of his imagination.
Thursday: Yvain might fight with the precision of a hawk, but Acelet would not survive his first day in battle, no matter how dexterously he whirred his staff on the practice field.