Chapters 37 and 38 of Heather Domin's serialized novel The Soldier of Raetia are now available. Bear in mind, these chapter contain adult situations.

The Word-Hoard: Clashamaclabber

Clashamaclabber: A loquacious person; a gossip (Michael Traynor's English Dialect of Donegal, 1953)

Chapters 35 and 36 of The Soldier of Raetia are now posted. Bear in mind, chapter 36 is definitely not intended for minors. Adult situations ahoy! Really fantastic writing there, folks. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

The Word-Hoard: Wrawling

Wrawling: Quarreling, or contending with a loud voice. Raising a wrow is exciting a quarrel and confusion in the streets. [From] wrawe, angry. (Rober Willan's List of Ancient Words of the West Riding of Yorkshire, 1814)

In praise of the Internet Archive

I've been trying (not very successfully) to find books in my local public and university libraries on life in Norway in 1905 for my WIP historical. I've found plenty of information on the split between Norway and Sweden, which is useful, but doesn't really tell me whether people used telegraph offices or what they typically ate in restaurants.

I don't even know how this line of logic started, but I finally landed on the Baedeker guides. Of course!! I felt a little like Lucy Honeychurch. :) And luckily, there's a 1903 edition for Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. While the information isn't exhaustive, it does answer a lot of questions about Norway and specifically Bergen at the time, and I am so grateful that I was able to find it and download the PDF from the Internet Archive. What a useful, amazing resource.

The Word-Hoard: Murmled

Murmled: A man or beast is said to be murmuled about the feet when going lame; sometimes murbled (John Jamieson's Etymological Scottish Dictionary, 1808)

Not one, not two, but three of my friends have short stories included in the new Drollerie Press anthology, Needles & Bones. How exciting!

Chapter 34 of The Soldier of Raetia? Oohhhhh yeahhhhhhhh.

Mark Teppo's Lightbreaker (first book of the Codex of Souls) is out now - I just got my very own copy from Amazon and I'm keen to get going on it. I was flipping through and found that he included his soundtrack and a link to the podcast we did back in July 2008. How cool is that?

The Word-Hoard: circudrie

Circudrie: Arrogance, conceit; Anglo-Norman (James Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, 1855)

Chapter 33 of Heather Domin's The Soldier of Raetia is now posted! What happened after the treaty signing with the Ingvirii? Check it out, and find out!

Historical Novel Society Conference

Well, this weekend is the Historical Novel Society North American conference, and I am very sad to say I'm not in Chicago with that fine group of folks. My good friend Heather Domin and I had a great time at the event in 2007, and I really recommend it to historical novel authors and history buffs alike.

Is anyone tweeting or liveblogging the conference? I'd love to keep up on the sessions, if only from afar.

Word-Hoard: Belomancy

Belomancy: Divination by means of arrows (Sir James Murray's New English Dictionary, 1888)

Chapter 31 of The Soldier of Raetia is now posted. Check it out!

Chapter 30 of The Soldier of Raetia is up! Go, check it out!

Attn Bay Area peeps

The awesome Mark Teppo will be reading from his book Lightbreaker at Borderlands Books on June 16. If you can make it, do - Mark's a talented writer and a nice guy.

The Word-Hoard: Blutherbung

Blutherbung: To break down in speech; to lose the thread of conversation (Jabez Good's Glossary of East Lincolnshire, 1900)

The Word-Hoard: Unkard

Unkard: A person in a strange place with which he is unacquainted is said to be unkard. The word, when applied to a place, means lonely. (F.T. Dinsdale's Glossary of Provincial Words Used in Teesdale in the County of Durham, 1849)

Chapter 29 of The Soldier of Raetia? Awesome.

Rogation Days

Myths, folklore, & symbolism
Rogation Days: These are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day, on which, before the Reformation, priests led processions round the fields, blessing crops and praying for good harvests. A secondary purpose was to bless the main boundary markers of each parish, in towns as well as rural areas. A cross, relics, hand-bells, and banners were carried; those taking part were sometimes given a communal meal supplied from church funds, or received food at the houses they passed. The event was also known as Cross Days or, in northern districts, Gang Days (from gang = walk). (Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore)

Seriously? If you're not reading The Soldier of Raetia, you're missing out. Check out the latest!

The Word-Hoard: Graveolent

Graveolent: Having a strong or unpleasant smell. (Rev. John Boag's Imperial Lexicon, c. 1850)