The A&M Group Facebook Page and Blog

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Good news everyone. To make your interaction with this book group a richer, more multi faceted experience,we have now set up a Blog and a a facebook Page.


The Blog, Ancient & Medieval Mayhem, is run by me (Terri) and while set up to help promote the group, is also there for our members to follow for weekly blog posts about history and book reviews. Over time I would also like to include the occasional author interview on this blog.
http://ancientandmedievalmayhem.blogs...


The Facebook Page, also called Ancient & Medeival Mayhem, is run by us (Terri and Dawn) and is now set up.
It will give highlights from both this group; such as group reads and our videos, as well as highlights from the blog; such as blog posts.
So jump onto your Facebook page and like us! :) Spread the word about this great group.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ancien...

Please NB* Don't worry. This group is not 'synced' with either site.
Nobody's post or anything else will show up on the blog or FB page.
Anything added to these sites is put there manually and it will only be such things as group read announcements and links to blog posts.

[Dawn]

Good news indeed! lol

[Betty]

It's wonderful, Terri. Well done!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks Betty. It was fun setting it all up. I feel very inspired.
Mind you. I was having a panic attack trying to work out how to add links to the Facebook page so I reached out to Dawn in a flap. She saved me. (as she is an old hand with FB). And now I am an expert. :)

Of course, now I deputised her and roped her into helping me with the FB on a regular basis.

[Dawn]

Yep, me and Tonto....always there when needed. :)

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Just what I need. A reason to spend more time on the internet... :p

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Dawn wrote: "Yep, me and Tonto....always there when needed. :)"

Lol. :-)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Margaret wrote: "Just what I need. A reason to spend more time on the internet... :p"

You may have to give up some of your non internet life. :-)

[happy]

Terri,

You are going to finally force me to join facebook :D

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

happy wrote: "Terri,

You are going to finally force me to join facebook :D"

Hehe. I used to be on FB and I deactivated my account a year or so ago. I never thought I would go back, but I figured it was about time I ventured into that world again. It was one of those 'just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in' . :-)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks to all those peeps who have already 'liked' the new Facebook page. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Yesterday I set the facebook page up to allow 'Followers'. I had not switched that feature on..whoops. :)

So if you don't know how to follow the blog, or you are mostly on FB, or for whatever reason, you can now Follow us on Facebook.
That way you will get a feed (or however it works) which will alert you to when there is a new blog post. (Because I add the link to the Blog Post to the facebook Page).

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Terri wrote: "Yesterday I set the facebook page up to allow 'Followers'. I had not switched that feature on..whoops. :)

So if you don't know how to follow the blog, or you are mostly on FB, or for whatever reas..."

Yup. New blog post turned up in my newsfeed earlier today.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Oh cool. Good to see it is working. :)

[Carol]

Have popped along and liked, am always on FB lol :)

[John]

Brilliant Site......well done !

[Justin]

I love the blog. Keep it coming!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Carol wrote: "Have popped along and liked, am always on FB lol :)"


I saw you liked the page! Thanks!
And John and Justin, thankyou too!

It is a real buzz to chat to you all on the 'outside' . :-)

[Justin]

It is an odd, but welcome, blurring of two worlds. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

True.
I see faces or names I know from here 'liking' or commenting on the facebook page or blog and it instantly makes me grin. :-]

Which reminds me. I saw your comment on the Sceatta blog post and I will reply later today when on my laptop. I have a thing or two to say about coins also.

[Joseph]

Terri - you've created a beautiful blog! I've subscribed to it on Google Reader and look forward to following it!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thankyou very much for the compliment, Joseph! :-) That is lovely.
And thanks for subscribing to the Blog.
I will be posting on it at least three times a week, so it makes it worth people's time to follow it.

Kind regards,
Terri

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

To all those who check the blog regularly or follow it, sorry it has ben quiet this week, with only one blog post this week so far.

This week has been super busy for me and I have only had time to get onto Goodreads first thing in the morning to catch up on groups.
Another busy day today. I will try to get back to my three blog posts a week routine in a couple days.

Cheers,
Terri

[Bryn]

That's a lot of blogging for any bloggist. Three a week? Don't mind us when you can't.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks Bryn. :)
A couple people have told me that that is what people expect when they follow blogs.
Not always easy to do three or more a week though. lol.

[Bryn]

Gee. It is?
A few of us have lower expectations -- never mind performance...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Okay, good, then I shall cater to those with lower expectations this week. :D

[Darcy]

That is why I use the sign up via email feature, that way, I'm notified about a blog when a new post is up and I don't to go checking and stuff. I agree with Bryn though, 3 is a lot for most people.

[Justin]

No worries, Terri. Quality over quantity, any time. I'm just glad you're blogging at all. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks guys. :D

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Posted an 'opinion piece' on the A&M group's Blog.
http://ancientandmedievalmayhem.blogs...

It was inspired by a conversation that Jane, Dawn and I had recently on one of the threads here.

[happy]

Good write up Terri

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks. I don't write many opinion pieces on the blog, but sometimes it is nice to get all ones thoughts together in one coherent piece. :)

[Paula]

Have left a comment there Terri, some really good thoughts on what can be a potential disaster for a book

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks Paula. It certainly is something an author should not take with a grain of salt. Getting those childhoods right in a book can be the difference between make or break.

[J.S.]

Just saw this, and joined FB page --thank you.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks for 'liking' the page. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jaq wrote: "A good piece and I totally agree with your opinion on this. It put me in mind of the film Attila with Rollo Weeks playing the child Attila. I figure he grew up after 10-12 minutes of the film."

Hi Jaq,
Thanks for liking the piece. Child characters dominating series' is something I am seeing more and more of in this genre.
So many authors plan on dragging stories out into a long series and therefore dedicate the whole, or nearly the whole, first book to the child characters.
That can work against them, in my opinion. Can lose them potential readers.

[Michal]

Terri wrote: "Posted an 'opinion piece' on the A&M group's Blog.
http://ancientandmedievalmayhem.blogs...

It was inspired by a conversation that Jane, D..."

I like how you write, even though I do not find this particular thing very annoying. Quite the opposite, sometimes it's just hard for me to tolerate the "cut" between something that occurred in the childhood, and the adult person that is supposedly motivated by what happened. How come it is so motivating that it drives the story now, while basically the whole younger life it was not causing any problems for the character. It then feels to me like including only details for the sake of the plot, i.e. a bit artificial. In any case, this is just my personal preference. :)

One a bit funny point - while I was reading your blog post, it occurred to me that I could change the word "child" for "female" and it would make a lot of sense to me, too :). It looks like there is a trend to include strong female characters in HF, probably to broaden the number of potential readers. The problem is that the authors usually cannot make the characters believable, interesting, and important for the plot at the same time. And making the characters warrior-like so they can struggle with the prescribed female role just does not cut it for me...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

mixal wrote: "I like how you write, even though I do not find this particular thing very annoying..."

Thanks for the compliment. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jaq wrote: ".I've abandoned books quickly once I've worked out that the child character isn't going to grow up soon..."

Me too! I have abandoned so many for this same reason.

I have noticed that many women (and to a lesser extent men) who have young children or young teens associate more with child characters than women without children or women who's children are grown up.
They seem to be in the same head space as their young children and can cope with annoying child characters more. Perhaps they even enjoy child characters and juveniles because they remind them of their own kids.

Of course I know not all parents are this way, but I do see it quite often in the Gr reading community.

[Simona]

Terri wrote: "I have noticed that many women (and to a lesser extent men) who have young children or young teens associate more with child characters than women without children or women who's children are grown up. ..."

I'm not among that number, even when my sons, now 18 and 16, were younger. Years ago I sometimes read a YA book, because one of my kids took it at the library and I was curious, but I usually don't like this genre. Some do, and mostly women, and I noticed that they often also like romance books: go figure.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I've noticed that too, Simona. That a lot of the women who like YA also like romance.
Not that I say that in a derogatory tone, I mean only that it is curious...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jaq wrote: ".In a way Stonehenge had a similar brother dynamic, but they grew up and that made all the difference. ."

Exactly. They grew up.
I find Bernard Cornwell to be one of those authors who can have his characters starting out young and yet they are not written in a juvenile way.
There's none of that..
"You take that back!" she pouted, shoving her hands on her hips. Tears pricked her eyes. He was always picking on her and this time she would give him a bloody nose for it.

It is a way of writing that makes scenes with children different in feel to scenes with adults.
Cornwell doesn't change his writing for child scenes. He tells them like an adult.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

You guys know I rarely post links to the A&M blog. Even though the blog's purpose is to be out there to help promote the group in the blogosphere..
Sometimes when I write an opinion piece I do include a link here.
This is one of those times.

Thought maybe I would share today's blogpost..because I am on a mission to help authors understand why we readers want to include the negative feedback in a review alongside the positive.

The Honest Review
http://ancientandmedievalmayhem.blogs...

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

I read the blog post, Terri. And I agree 100%.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I think we all need to review for each other. I know that when we get free books it makes things tougher (if you didn't like the book), but I hate feeling bought off and can't help but bring up the positives and the negatives.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

It's hard. I've only just started to be offered free books to review, so I'm on the edge of new territory trying to navigate without a map.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

All we can do, as reviewers who want to review for fellow readers, is make sure we are comfortable that our negative feedback is expressed in a respectful but honest way.

[Linda]

There is no need to review if you cannot address the negative and positive aspects of the book. Easy to say but hard to follow. What I have learned from all of you is to first read the author's profile; read other reviewers' reviews; start with a positive statement out the shute, especially if the book is lacking; and be as honest as I can be.

Read the blog and liked it!