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Author Roberta Trahan

~ Murder, Mayhem, and Mystical Mystery

Author Roberta Trahan

Tag Archives: Arthurian Legend

Looking for a little Escape? Check Out This Awesome Summer Fantasy & Sci-Fi Reads Deal

15 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by robertatrahan in Book News

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47North, Amazon, Arthurian Legend, Celtic mythology, Fantasy, Kindle, Roberta Trahan, Science Fiction, SciFi, Summer Reading Deals, Summer Reads, The Dream Stewards, The Keys to the Realms, The Well of Tears

Summer days are here again – even in the Pacific Northwest! I’ll be writing whenever I can, from a patio lounge chair when the weather allows. But what have you got planned? A couple of weeks at some tropical resort? A mountain lake retreat? A back woods camping adventure? Bumming on the beach? Lounging around the house? Visiting family? Whatever your plans, be sure to load up your e-reader and pack it along!

Amazon has an amazing SciFi & Fantasy Summer Reads Deal going on right now – all kinds of interesting books for $1.99 until August 9th, including mine!! If you haven’t already read the Dream Stewards books, now is the time to give them a try! Both THE WELL OF TEARS and THE KEYS TO THE REALMS are on sale.

Already read and loved them? Maybe tell a friend, or leave an honest review on the book’s page at Amazon.com. It really helps us authors out – we really do want to know what you think! Just click the image above to buy or comment.

And, if you’re looking for something else, even something that isn’t Sci-Fi and Fantasy, there are lots of other great deals. Just click the image below to check them all out. I found a few new titles for my own TBR list. Now all I need is the margarita pitcher and a 48 hour day!

In Memory of Mary Stewart (1916 – 2014)

16 Friday May 2014

Posted by robertatrahan in The Power of Prose

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Arthurian Fantasy, Arthurian Legend, Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave, The Dream Stewards, The Hollow Hills, The Keys to the Realms, The Last Enchantment, The Well of Tears

Mary Stewart was my first and most profound writing inspiration – before Tolkein, before Zimmer-Bradley. Hers were the first Arthurian novels I read, and she the writer I most admired and aspired to emulate. I had hoped to one day meet her and tell her what she meant to me. Sadly that day will never come. She will live forever in my library, and in the place her stories carved into my heart.

Of all her books, The Crystal Cave is the most enduring, and has lost none of its freshness. It is a masterful imagining of Merlin’s upbringing that vividly evokes fifth-century Britain. The Hollow Hills (1973) and The Last Enchantment (1979) completed the trilogy, earning Stewart favourable comparisons with another leading Arthurian, TH White. They were the books of which she was most proud.

Exclusive Cover Reveal: THE KEYS TO THE REALMS (via The Qwillery)

20 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by robertatrahan in Book News

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47North, Amazon Publishing, Arthurian Legend, Celtic mythology, Cover Reveal, epic fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy Series, Hywel Dda, Mark Winters, Roberta Trahan, The Dream Stewards, The Qwillery, The Well of Tears

Today our friends at The Qwillery are hosting the EXCLUSIVE Cover Reveal of my upcoming release – THE KEYS TO THE REALMS (Coming May 6, 2014)!!

Click the link to view the full cover design (front and back) by up and coming fantasy artist Mark Winters – and enter the giveaway for a Reader Comfort Kit including a signed copy of the first book in The Dream Stewards series, THE WELL OF TEARS .

EXCLUSIVE!! The Qwillery Cover Reveal: THE KEYS TO THE REALMS

Marketing Monday – It’s All About Me!

13 Monday May 2013

Posted by robertatrahan in Book News, Marketing Monday

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47North, Amazon, Arthurian Legend, author marketing, Celtic Folklore, celtic traditions, Cornwall, Ebook, Epic Fantasy series, historical fantasy, Kindle Daily Deal, Roberta Trahan, The Well of Tears, Wales

It’s true – book marketing requires shameless self-promotion on the part of the author. What that means, really, is that a person who spends the majority of any given day alone in the confines of her own mind must shout out her name at the top of her lungs while holding up a sign that says “LOOK AT ME!”.

Anyone who knows me in the real world will tell you that I am neither shy nor introverted – I enjoy talking to people and I love working a room. However, I am totally out of my comfort zone when it comes to stepping up onto a platform and drawing attention to myself – except when it comes to my book!!

So here it is, my Marketing Monday tip for this week: BUY MY BOOK – and do it today while you can get the Ebook for .99 – because THE WELL OF TEARS is the SciFi/Fantasy Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon!!

The Inspiration Behind the Fantasy in THE WELL OF TEARS: Stradey Woods

21 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by robertatrahan in The Dream Stewards

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47North, Arthurian Legend, celtic legend, Celtic Lore, Celtic mythology, Coffee & Writing, enchanted forest, fantasy fiction, George Meredith, Gwyn ap Nudd, historical fiction, Hywel ap Cadell, mystic origins, Roberta Trahan, Stradey Woods, The Dream Stewards, The Well of Tears, The Wild Hunt, The Woods of Westermain, Wales

Thousand eyeballs under hoods
Have you by the hair.
Enter these enchanted woods,
You who dare.
 

~ George Meredith, The Woods of Westermain (1883)

I can imagine no more mysterious and mystical a place. Is it any wonder that so many tales of magical quests and dark adventure take place in these secretive, shadow-shrouded stands of ancient majesty? From fairy tale to fright-fest to full-fledged fantasy, the most dangerous evils tend to lurk in the misty, mossy, dense and dank depths of a forest.

When the world of The Dream Stewards began to take shape in my mind, at the heart of it was always an enchanted forest. I wanted to draw inspiration from reality wherever possible in order to ground my fantasy adventure with historically accurate roots. My research led me to a local historian who knew of just the place.

Located between what is now the town of Llanelli and Burry Port still stands a forest of ancient origins called Stradey Woods. At the bottom of the woods is a very old village called Pwll, named for a sacred pool that once existed there. Even today the woods are purported to be haunted, and often veiled with a white, misty fog – all of which adds to its unique mystery.

And as if that coincidence wasn’t magical enough, legend has it that Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh god of the Underworld and the Wild Hunt, had a palace deep in the heart of the woods. There are also stories of an underground tunnel that ran all the way to Glastonbury Tor, another haunt of Gwyn ap Nudd. And this is how Stradey Woods and its fantastical history became the inspiration for The White Woods, the home of The Dream Stewards.

Here is a glimpse into this magical place, by photographer Mike Richards:

 ≈

Many, many thanks to local resident and writer Lynne Lewis of Cornwall, who graciously lent me her knowledge of the history, geography, legend, and lore of the land. A fellow lover of the past, Lynne studied history and art at the University of London, and has authored many historical stories. Most recently, she completed a novel based on the life and career of Hans Holbein, court painter to King Henry VIII, entitled, “Dance of Death.”

Celebrating with Spirits – Medieval Ales & Wines

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in The Dream Stewards

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47North, aleberry, Alwen, Arthurian Legend, celtic traditions, Dream Stewards, Fantasy, historical fiction, holiday traditions., Hywel Dda, Lambs Wool, lambswool, Lily of the Nile, medieval beverages, medieval drink, mulled wine, pagan traditions, paganism, recipe, ritual, ritual ales, ritual wines, Roberta Trahan, Song of the Nile, spiced ale, Stephanie Dray, The Well of Tears, Wales, Wassail, Wassailing, Writing

It wasn’t until the book was in print that I realized that my heroine is a bit of a lush. Alwen, the noble and determined sorceress at the center of THE WELL OF TEARS, has a tendency to turn to a particular medicinal concoction in times of great stress. And sorrow. And celebration. And worship. And when entertaining. And, well, pretty much every time anything at all happens in her world.

THE WELL OF TEARS is set in early 10th century Wales, and centers on the rise to power of a medieval king whose legacy has persisted to modern day.  As was true of  the ancient agrarian based religions of the time, food and drink are essential elements in both social tradition and spiritual practice in my novel.

HippocrasHistorically speaking, the ritual consumption of ales and wines at all sorts of occasions is well documented. This is especially true in observing important seasonal events. Mulled wines and spiced ales have been on the holiday menu for centuries. References to celebratory spirits such as pimen and hippocras date to the early days of the Roman Empire, often also attributed with medicinal and aphrodisiacal properties.

Although pagan traditions in Britain began to disappear or become absorbed into Christian practice after the 3rd century, recipes for ritual beverages continued to appear in descriptions of ancient rites through the Dark Ages and beyond. Spirits have also long been noted as recommended treatment for everyday ailments from the common cold to gout and depression. A nip now and then has been a part of the human experience since the beginning of recorded history.

Early mentions of aleberry (ale + bree [broth]) in my research, a domestic remedy for cold or flu, were so intriguing to me that I made the brew the favorite guilty pleasure of my heroine.

Including this drink in a story taking place in the early 10th century seemed appropriate, but a true and historically accurate recipe for the drink has never been discovered. Known to have been made by boiling ale with nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar and bread sops, strained and then drunk hot, aleberry is not unlike other beverages referred to in Medieval texts. So, to be as authentic as I could, I decided to ’borrow’ a recipe from a similar beverage that still is used today.

Lamb’s Wool is ale mulled with spices and sugar mixed with the pulp of roasted apples. The fruity pulp creates a lumpy froth that is said to resemble the wool of a lamb. A traditional beverage still today enjoyed on Halloween, Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night, Lamb’sWassailing Wool was first a pagan ritual beverage used for ‘apple howling’ or wassailing.

In the ceremonial blessing of the orchard, which occurred during the winter solstice, the drink was poured on the ground and on the trunks of trees to awaken the first stirrings of life in the land and chase away evils spirits. Thus, the next season’s bountiful harvest was ensured. The ritual pouring took place amidst the chant of ‘waes hael’, (OE., ‘be well’ or ‘good health‘)–today recognized as wassail.

Below is a contemporary, Americanized version of a more traditional Old English recipe that is quick and easy to make. If you’d like to try your hand at the more authentic old-world brew, click here:  http://recipewise.co.uk/lambswool

Lamb’s Wool (Wassail)

Ingredients: 

  • 3 apples, peeled, cored & finely choppedLambswool-Wassail-6
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 (12 ounce) bottles dark beer
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ginger

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a casserole dish, bake apples and butter for 30 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Then, in a large saucepan, combine the roasted apples, beer, brown sugar and spices. Heat until hot, and serve (unstrained) in large mugs.

—

Song-of-the-Nile-680x1024

An earlier version of this article appeared last year on the blog of celebrated historical author Stephanie Dray.  Stephanie’s novels LILY OF THE NILE and SONG OF THE NILE are tales of Cleopatra’s daughter Selene. She has recently completed the third and final installment in the series. You can learn more about Stephanie, Selene and the Roman era at http://www.stephaniedray.com

 

Giving Thanks

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in Deadlines & Other Demons

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A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Arthurian Legend, Author, author marketing, Fantasy, fantasy fiction, historical fiction, Medieval Recipe, mystic origins, Roberta Trahan, Thanksgiving, writing life

I’ve been remiss in my postings here – deadline for Book Two of The Dream Stewards (THE KEYS TO THE REALMS) is looming, and I am spending every spare moment on the manuscript. However, I do plan to take a break for the BDOF (big day of feasting) and will return to my blog schedule on Sunday with news and other updates.

In the meantime, I wish all of you a harvest of blessings this week – and to those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving, a bounty of food, fellowship and merry-making with family and friends.

And, just for fun, a couple of things to keep you entertained until I return:

First, here is a link to a  medieval roast fowl recipe from the folks at A BOKE OF GODE COOKERY – as it happens, turkeys were not introduced to Europe until the 16th century, so this recipe calls for for a swan. Any large bird will do. Please note that the original recipe (in Old English) is quoted first, followed by a contemporary translation – just in case you’d like to give it a try:  Roasted Swan with Chaudon

Next, for your viewing pleasure, I give you a holiday favorite: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Awen à Bendition!!

The History Behind the Fantasy in THE WELL OF TEARS: Hywel dda (Hywel the Good)

27 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in The Dream Stewards

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47North, Amazon Publishing, Arthur, Arthurian Legend, Cymru, Fantasy, fantasy fiction, historical fiction, History, Hywel Dda, Hywel the Good, mystic origins, Roberta Trahan, The Well of Tears, Wales, Writing

In my debut novel THE WELL OF TEARS (Book One of the Dream Stewards), the story of the ancient sorcerer’s guild known as the Stewardry unfolds around historical milestones that mark the reign of a remarkable (and somewhat savage) ruler in 10th century Wales. Like the legendary Arthur, this later king brought lasting peace and stability to a war -weary land. That may well be where the similarities between the two end, but the more I learned about this less famous man, the more intrigued I became.

The recorded history regarding the era of Hywel the Good is scant, and what survives is conflicting and largely scholarly conjecture – a perfect storm for a fantasy writer. Plenty of historical backdrop, but not so much that the facts would interfere with the re-imagining of the events, the people, their relationships, and their world. THE WELL OF TEARS (Book One of The Dream Stewards) takes place in a magical realm that parallels the human one, and centers on a prophecy that foretells Hywel’s rise to power.

Hywel Dda, as depicted in the Peniarth Manuscripts

Hywel ap Cadell, descended from a long line of warrior kings and ruled in Wales from around 905 AD until his death in 950 AD. To this day, his reign is purported to be the longest period of peace and prosperity in the pre-modern history of Wales. This long and relatively benign rule earned him the epitaph “Hywel the Good”.

Hywel is credited by many historians with stabilizing the political and economic climate of the region by bringing all of the independent kingdoms under his sole control – something that had never been accomplished before, or since . It should be assumed that he accomplished this through no small measure of ruthlessness and brutality. His reign is described as violent, and his tactics include the assassinations of several of the rightful rulers of the lands he desired to possess. Hywel was clearly a skilled warrior as well as a brilliant, and probably vicious, military strategist.

However, he was also adept at political maneuvering and was very good at cultivating alliances that supported his ambitions. It seems that Hywel believed that territorial disputes between clans and power struggles between kings led to the sort of unrest that threatened the unity of all nations and, in turn, made them vulnerable.  His intent appears to have been to create a sovereign nation that was not only economically and socially prosperous, but also secure from the ravages of invasion. And it bears noting that during his years as overlord, the kingdoms under his control were spared the rape and pillage of the Viking conquests – where the neighboring regions were not.

Map of Hywel’s Kingdom (Blue)

When viewed through the lens of time, it seems clear that Hywel was a man in pursuit of a vision. Every significant decision he made appears to have been an intentional move toward consolidating the smaller principalities into one kingdom. An early marriage to the daughter of a rival king that brought the kingdom of Dyfed under his control, alongside the lands he inherited from his father. A series of skirmishes, the  questionable death of his younger brother, and his skillful betrayals of assorted cousins eventually garnered him nearly all of the territory now known as Wales and Cornwall. Add to that his strategic submission to the English monarchs who held power during his life (pure political genius), and you have the portrait of a man who was born to be king.

Perhaps Hywel’s most admirable quality was his life-long dedication to establishing formal rules of governance. In about 928 AD, Hywel made a pilgrimage to Rome, which is where historians believe he found the inspiration for his own legacy – the codification of the first written body of law, which  addressed issues of local governance, property rights and social conduct. A conference held at Ty Gwyn ar Daf, one of Hywel’s residences, circa 945 AD, resulted in the documentation of these laws for posterity. They are still known as “The Laws of Hywel the Good”, and were actively enforced for several centuries after Hywel’s death.

And so we have the makings of a complicated and somewhat romantic hero; certainly a man who would stop at nothing to accomplish his own ends, but also one who did it all in the furtherance of what he believed to be a greater good. At least as Hywel saw it, the end justified the means. The stuff of legend, I say, and a life full of enough intrigue to inspire me to create an entire mythology in his name.

If you’re as intrigued as I am about the history of Wales and Hywel Dda, I invite you to enjoy the fable-ized version I have created in THE WELL OF TEARS and the next books of The Dream Stewards. For you die-hard historians out there,  Wikipedia has a surprisingly accurate and complete overview of his accomplishments. Original sources are scarce and very hard to find, which as far as I am concerned, only adds to the mystique!

For the Love of Lore: Why I Write Fantasy

08 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in The Power of Prose

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47North, Amazon, Arthurian Legend, author marketing, Coffee & Writing, fantasy fiction, Grimm's Fairy Tales, historical fiction, Mary Stewart, Merlin, Novel Writing, Roberta Trahan, The Well of Tears, Writing, writing life

It’s one of the questions always asked of authors – why do you write (insert genre here)?  Every writer has a unique backstory – a collection of singular and often profound experiences that have informed and inspired them.  For me, it all started with fables and fairy tales.

The summer of 1977, I traveled with my parents to rural western Montana on the occasion of my great-grandmother’s death.  We stayed for nearly a week to help clean out the ancient farmhouse that had been the Davis family home for nearly 50 years. It was a somber time, and the adults, eager to keep the kids busy while they tended to the needs of the moment, assigned us all tasks.

Naturally, I volunteered to clear out the bookcases in the sitting room. Books had long been a source of solace for me, and I was so very sad. Sifting through these treasured relics from Granny’s long and well-lived life was a way for me to feel connected to her and still process the reality that she was gone. Better still, I was told I could keep as many books as I liked – since the whole lot was to be donated to the local community service center.  My mother, the minimalist, limited “as many as I liked” to “a few” – and so I resolved to choose carefully.

In those many bittersweet hours, I sifted through hundreds of volumes of literature, periodicals, school primers, grammar books, historical biographies, and who knows what all else. Many of these books were well over a hundred years old, which both astonished and intrigued me. I had never seen such old editions of any book, let alone the classic titles I recognized. 

When all was said and done, I had some tough choices to make – in the end, I came home with a first edition of Bernadin’s Paul Et Virginie in the original French, circa 1787 (I had never seen a book printed in a foreign language before); early printings of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair and the children’s classic The Little Lame Prince; and the best of the bunch – a very early English translation of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

The book was pretty worn (as you can see from the photos) and missing the title page,   but I was over the moon. I was initially captivated by this collection of what were called “household tales” because I recognized the titles of some of the fables as childhood stories I knew – or thought I knew. I quickly discovered that these were grittier and much more provocative versions of what I had always thought were Golden Book originals. Being a moody and maudlin tweenager at the time, this suited me just fine.

 I spent several weeks obsessing over this book – partly because I was enthralled by the darkly romantic window into the past, and partly because I wanted to know “the story behind the story”.  I knew that mythology and folk lore were allegorical and that cautionary tales were based on real fears and events, and this appealed to me on every level.

That summer I read every book on mythology I could find in the local library (which wasn’t many), and then the librarian turned me on to the fantasy fiction genre. She introduced me to Mary Stewart’s iconic Merlin series (The Crystal Cave and The Hollow Hills) – my first encounter with the real Arthurian legend, and the amazing world a masterful novelist could create by blending fact, fiction, and fantasy. I have been in love ever since.

Why do I write fantasy? The easy way out would be to say that I write fantasies because those are the stories that come to me. This happens to be true, but it only scratches the surface –the full answer is much more complicated than that. The genre calls to me intellectually, emotionally, instinctively, and spiritually.

I would have to say that underpinning those early inspirational reading experiences is the neuropsychology that is hard-wired into my DNA. I have a pathological need to understand the foundations of the human experience, as well as what could be called a clinical compulsion for research. I am also completely seduced by the “in-between” spaces in our histories and cultures which defy explanation, and the misty veil at the edges of our existence that hints at something beyond what we can comprehend.

This is where the magic lives, and sometimes, so do I.

Best-selling author of the quasi-historical epic fantasy and post-apocalyptic science fiction. Dragon Seeker, Myth Maker, Coffeechocoholic & Antique Jewelry Hoarder.

THE KEYS TO THE REALMS (The Dream Stewards #2)

THE WELL OF TEARS (The Dream Stewards #1)

AFTERSHOCK (A Short Story)

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