A Writer's Love

Your Hero’s Inner Journey

Kim — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:30:43 +0000

Hi All!! I don’t know about you all, but this Christmas season wore me out!! But I’m back in the saddle again. I’m starting up the writer’s group again and so I’m posting our latest session from the book The Art and Craft of Writing Christian Fiction by Jeff Gerke. So enjoy, ya’ll!!!

Your hero’s inner journey:

The inner journey is basically what does he want from life, what is he looking for. He has a problem or an issue or an unresolved inner conflict. He can’t seem to make it b/c of this inner conflict. It can be anything: overeating, self-destructive, drugs, etc.

The Conflict:
The conflict comes from the subconscious mind driving the conscious which has a desire. The character isn’t aware of this desire that he has inside him. He has a horrible dissatisfaction of life and feels something is missing, but he doesn’t know what it is. This desire becomes the catalyst that eventually shapes his life and takes the entire story to complete. The character has layers that are over this desire. Take them off one at a time. The character never realizes he has this problem.

Freud and the psychoanalytic unconscious Wikipendia.org>
Sigmund Freud and his followers developed an account of the unconscious mind. It plays an important role in psychoanalysis.

This is where it gets boring. Just Psych mumbo jumbo. I didn’t use all of it.
Consciousness, in Freud’s topographical view (which was his first of several psychological models of the mind), was a relatively thin perceptual aspect of the mind. The unconscious was contemplated by Freud throughout the evolution of his psychoanalytic theory as a sentient force of will influenced by human drive that operated well below the perceptual conscious mind. For Freud, the unconscious is where instinctual desires, needs, and psychic actions were stored. Thus, while past thoughts and memories may be deleted or forgotten from immediate consciousness, they still, in some form, direct the thoughts and feelings of the individual from the realm of the unconscious.

Freud divided the mind into the conscious mind (or the ego) and the unconscious mind. The latter was then further divided into the id (or instincts and drive) and the superego (or conscience). In this theory, the unconscious refers to the mental processes of which individuals make themselves unaware.[27] Freud proposed a vertical and hierarchical architecture of human consciousness: the conscious mind, the preconscious, and the unconscious mind—each lying beneath the other. He believed that significant psychic events take place “below the surface” in the unconscious mind,[28] like hidden messages from the unconscious. He interpreted such events as having both symbolic and actual significance.

In terms of psychoanalysis, the unconscious does not include all that is not conscious, but rather what is actively repressed from conscious thought or what a person is averse to knowing consciously. Freud viewed the unconscious as a repository for socially unacceptable ideas, wishes or desires, traumatic memories, and painful emotions put out of mind by the mechanism of psychological repression. However, the contents did not necessarily have to be solely negative. In the psychoanalytic view, the unconscious is a force that can only be recognized by its effects—it expresses itself in the symptom. In a sense, this view places the conscious self as an adversary to its unconscious, warring to keep the unconscious hidden. Unconscious thoughts are not directly accessible to ordinary introspection, but are supposed to be capable of being “tapped” and “interpreted” by special methods and techniques such as meditation, free association (a method largely introduced by Freud), dream analysis, and verbal slips (commonly known as a Freudian slip), examined and conducted during psychoanalysis. Seeing as these unconscious thoughts are normally cryptic, psychoanalysts are considered experts in interpreting their messages.

Jung’s collective unconscious
Main articles: Collective unconscious and Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung, a swiss psychiatrist, developed the concept further. He divided the unconscious into two parts: the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is a reservoir of material that was once conscious but has been forgotten or suppressed, much like the typical notion of the unconscious to Freud. The collective unconscious, however, is the deepest level of the psyche, containing the accumulation of inherited psychic structures and archetypal experiences. The collective unconscious is therefore said to be inherited and contain material of an entire species rather than of an individual.[29]

Luke Skywalker longing to become something great, but what he wanted all along was to find his dad.

Belief:
Character has one defining belief that has shaped her thoughts and choices, but is integrated with either inauthentic or inaccurate assumptions/beliefs especially about herself. This current belief cannot give her all she needs. She needs a place to go and grow. She is looking for a piece of the missing puzzle but can’t find it.

Luke Skywalker: Was always told he would only be a farmer, yet there was an yearning inside of him that longed for adventure. It wasn’t until Vader killed his family that he was able to finally leave and move onto what he longed to do.

Aragon: He didn’t think he could ever become king b/c of his ancestral past. His subconscious mind said, you can’t be king b/c you will make the same mistakes as your ancestor. His subconscious mind said, you can’t do it. It wasn’t until he left Rivendale and was forced into battle that he took his place as king and proved he could do it.

Conell’s subconscious thought is I failed in protecting my family, so I can’t be king. It wasn’t until he left the castle and was forced into protecting Imogene that he finally realized he wasn’t a failure. His desire was redemption, but his subconscious thought was I’m a failure.

According to Jeff:
For the Christian novel: God realizes this is an inner issue and loves him too much to let him go on this way. Good Christian fiction represents how God works for mankind. God will now work on him to bring him back into relationship with Him. The character will have to face this issue now or be destroyed by it. “The story is really about God helping the protagonist deal with the issue or learn a lesson from it. God sees how we destroy our lives and will sometimes allow us to face storms in order to fix our hearts.

“If great fiction is about bringing the main character to a breaking point over a sin, then all the event of the story are about bringing the character to that moment.” The more he must change, the more he resists which creates that conflict. He must change or die.

Or the character reaches that breaking point and decides he’s not going to change no matter what anyone says. He realizes he really is at fault. He acknowledges what has been causing all his problems. But through lust or pride or selfishness or just plain stubbornness, he decides he can’t or shouldn’t or won’t ever change. And so he pursues a course that leads to his own destruction.

Remember Darth Vader? He had to change or die. That was the choice he had to make at the end of the Star Wars movies. Same with in CAR movie. Lightening McQueen had to stop being selfish and realize he needed others or go back to his old life.

What is the character’s issue or flaw?
What is the knot that needs to be untied?
How will God use the story to bring him to a point of accepting or rejecting that change?

More on Weapons.

Kim — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:58:25 +0000

A few weeks ago, my friend Darren Zielinski, the man who wrote the essays on sword fighting on this blog, had a seminar for my writers. It wasn’t what I was expecting. It was better. Darren had spent months crafting practice weapons made out of plastic pipes and electrical tape. LARPers would be panting.

Darren-made weapons

More of Darren's weapons.

More, more, more!!! Larpers, beware!!

He first went through each weapon’s time period and why the warrior used them, starting with the house-hold axe. Yes, the axe was a great weapon in early medieval times. Most men and women knew how to use it and it was in every home. The axe was the most effective weapon throughout history and anyone could learn to use it. In fact, many poor warriors would use the axe when they couldn’t afford the sword. Then Darren moved into swords including the simple Roman sword to the Medieval Bastard sword, then into the war hammers and polearms.

Next he broke us into couples and gave each person a weapon. Then he showed us simple fencing moves. One thing that stills stands in my mind is he said, ‘follow your instincts.’ He would have one person attack and the other person defend. ‘What do you want to do?’ Then he’d have us do it, showing how defensive moves come naturally.

Darren tutored me and once I blocked a move, my instincts did kick in. I would tell him, ‘I want to slash your neck.’ Or ‘I want stab your neck.’ Or ‘I want to slash your stomach.’ After a while, it became easier and I found myself just doing it. We also went through moves that didn’t work and I tossed those ones to the side. I understood why the warrior practices all the time. It helps the moves to become natural. I also saw how important it was for the fighter to keep fit. By the end of day, (three hours later), I was pooped and wanted to sit and rest. But what if you couldn’t sit or rest? What if the battle lasted into the night and into the next night? What if rest was days away? How could the fighter keep going? When would the adrenaline kick in? You had to pace yourself and not go into the battle with a sword swinging. It took out a lot of needed energy.

I kept thinking, could I really kill another human being? That for me would be the hardest part, spilling blood. It made me a bit queasy, but I tried to put myself into a warrior’s shoes. Someone wants to take my home and kill my family, so yes I would have to do it. But then there’s the people behind the opponent: the family, loved ones, kids. What would they do without out this person? What would my family do without me? What would my character’s family do without him?

I also noticed a kind of excitement flowed through me as I fought Darren. A kind of, I want to beat you, challenge. I realized that swordmanship is like playing a game of chess. Lure the enemy into a trap, then take out the pieces, and take the queen. It’s all about being better and smarter than you opponent. It’s also realizing your weaknesses and finding a way to protect them and make them stronger. I’m a woman, so I’m not as strong as the guys in my group. This was my weakness. (Remember this, those of you who have a female warrior character.) I had to be stronger and better than he was. And also remember, the men in medieval times were very strong as they had to be due to swinging around heavy weapons. The armor found from Medieval times shows how large these guys were.

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Now, as a woman who played the part of a warrior, I learned that although the woman character knows how use weapons and knows how to kill, she’s still a woman. I believe a woman can never have enough shoes and cute and stylish clothes are a must. That perfume is needed and a woman always wears makeup even in battle, not to mention have a brush and some mouse in that backpack. (I can’t tell you how many times I fussed with my hair.) In other words, that female warrior is still a woman and enjoys ‘women’ stuff. She rarely is ‘butch’ and emotionless. She blames her mother for the problems in her life and thinks men are ‘hopeless’. (Sorry, guys.) She may or may not know how to cook and may or may not be slob. She’s just like your co-workers, relatives or even you. But she knows how to kill and understands her ‘baby’.

I read a book about female warriors, and one story was about a female WWII pilot who tried to land her plane, but overshot the runway. She managed to jump from the plane and landed in a forest. The plane crashed near her parachute. Her friends raced to the forest and found her sitting on a branch reaching for her hair ribbon which dangled above her from a limb. Her plane was in pieces below her. Her commanding officer ordered her down for fear the plane would explode. But she panicked when she crossed the field. Why? She was afraid of the cows. I had to laugh because I would have done the same things, except I’m not afraid of cows. Horses, yes.

One of my characters uses a warhammer called Bec-de-Corbin.

My own weapon.

He said I used it as a war hammer. He showed me how to swing it in front of me in a figure 8 across the front of my body, keeping the hammer end as the primary weapon. It was pretty intimidating. But my weakness was once someone timed my swinging correctly, they could stick a blade into my gut. So I had to watch my openings. But I also used it as a sword, bringing in the same basic movements. I also discovered that I could use the hooked end to grab the opponent’s sword and pulled it down, leaving him open for my attack. Another weakness was that Darren’s sword had a longer reach. I had to get in close to make a move, which put me at a risk. So I had to be faster and better. It was heaven and yes, I still have the hammer.

Darren also said, don’t look into the opponent’s eyes. Instead, watch his motions because that would betray his moves. Is his arm tense? Is he leaning forward? These are all clues to tell you want he has in his mind. So I tried. It became easier as we went on and at one point, I wanted to go farther into war fare. It seems it gets into your blood. I understood why the knights longed to fight and looked for battles. It’s an itch that must be scratched. It’s a role of dice and the fighter becomes a gambler that deals with life and death, not cards.

Another point that stood out to me is how easy it is to match the weapon to the fighter. I actually enjoyed using my war hammer, while my friend enjoyed using a sword and another like the pole arm. It really depends upon what the commanding officer hands him to what he enjoys using and what feels natural to him. My bec-de-corbon felt like it was part of my arm and it became natural to me, while a sword was a bit clumsier. I felt more in control with the war hammer. I felt powerful and I liked how others saw my hammer as intimidating. I could also see why the warrior named his weapon. I called mine Bob. LOL!! The warrior grew to love that weapon. It was a protector and gave him an identity. Or as the Samurai have said, it was their soul.

Now add that to the character. Does he like taking a risk and wants to intimidate? If so, then he may want to use something other than a sword, maybe an axe or a war hammer or something unconventual. If he was raised in a fighting academy, then he may want to use the sword. Or if he’s a knight, then he’ll want to use a pole arm or a sword. If he’s a farmer turned fighter, then he may want to use an axe or as what King David used to slay Goliath, a simple sling shot. A person who comes from a sea shore area may want to use a fish spear to fight his opponent or a weapon made from shark teeth or a reef. A poor man uses what’s on hand, while the richer man buys his weapons. So it depends upon his background, finances and his culture as to what weapon he uses.

I’ve also noticed from books that some knights were very religious, mostly Catholic. Well, of course!! If you knew you could die tomorrow, then surely you wanted to know what was beyond this earth. That’s something a lot of writers forget. Death is real; there’s no reset button like the video games when the character dies. Fear of death is very real and the warrior must learn to overcome it. If not, he’ll never be able to face battle. I felt that fear when I faced Darren. What if this was a real battle and I could die tomorrow. How would I feel? Some warriors depended upon ‘fate’. If it was my time, then it was my time. Some cultures had idols that they prayed to or prayed to their ancestors to protect them. But they had to overcome that fear. So too, your character must learn how to overcome that same fear.

I now long to learn how to use all these medieval weapons and master them. Of course, I would never use them to harm anyone but it sure would be cool to learn. Maybe one day.

Discovering a Crusader

Kim — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:23:51 +0000

picture

I’ve added a new page to my website, In Search of Sir Robert Lawrence of Ashton Hall, Circa 1190 AD. Robert is my 1190 AD Grandfather and fought with King Richard the Lionhearted in the Third Crusade. Robert did a brave deed and was knighted by Richard and given a coat of arms.

I created this page because there are just too many dog-gone rumors running around about my grandfather and my family, claiming either Robert didn’t exist or that the genealogy is wrong. Many in the Lawrence clan were upset, angry and confused, as was I.

So I spent a year looking for Robert and finally, finally found him and information regarding him. I also discovered all the rumors were wrong and seemed more like conspiracy theories. I’m surprised I didn’t see Sir Robert had something to do with Area 51. Gesh!! So anyway, check it out if your interested. You’ll see it on the home page or you can just click here. Enjoy, my lovelies!!

Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue

Kim — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:17:59 +0000

A replica of the ship Pinta sailed by Columbus

Last month, Columbus’ ships, the Nina and the Pinta, visited my city. I could see the masts from the building where I work and the fantasy writer in me begged to go see them.

You can see the masts in the background rising above the buildings. This is what I saw from my office building.

So I obliged her and went on a Saturday. Here is a small tour video and some pictures.

It was very interesting. And just to destroy Hollywood’s version of the Pirate of the Caribbean, the sailors where only thirteen to nineteen years old, not thirty or forty. Yeah, I know, frightening. Teens in charge of a ship. But remember, at thirteen, a teen was considered an adult and by thirteen, he/she was married and getting ready for their first child and had a house of their own. They basically died at age 40. So at thirteen, a man was basically thirty in our age, 40 – he was at eighty. In fact the pictures you see of ‘old bald men’ in history books are only maybe 30 years old, not 60. And that twenty year old handsome man is probably only 14. (Just think, teens, you got it made.)

The sailors didn’t have quarters except for the captain and the first mate and captain’s quarters were only the size of a small closet, the ceiling being only maybe four feet tall. He had two beds and a small writing desk. The sailors slept where they stood on the ship, meaning on the deck, no quarters, no hammocks, nothing. You toughed it out. Now it’s not on video, but the tour guide said that the crew count was originally twenty-nine. Notice how many people are on the ship as I took the video. That’s about how many people were on the Nina and the Pinta. So you were bumping into people . . . and you were on a ship, along long, long, long way from land. Not for me. I can’t imagine how brave those folks were.

The sailors stored animals and food in the galley, the horses and cows suspended from the ceiling to keep them from breaking their legs. If someone died, his body was buried at sea. A very tough life. And for those of you, who are wondering, where’s the potty? Well, you used a rope to hang over the front of the ship and did your business . . . and hopefully didn’t fall in. Pass. I need my potty room.

The ships themselves were beautifully made, but very, very small. Again, a Hollywood trick. Big ships. These ships were probably the size of a yacht. Imagine thirty people on a yacht, no potty, no decent kitchen, no comfy bedroom. You endured the heat, the cold, the storms, all for one man’s dreams. You just prayed you’d make it home safely.

The whole entire experience was very interesting and since I’ll be having ships in one of my novels, this comes in handy. Below are the pictures I took. And yes, I did get sea sick and the ship was tied to the shore. I felt the ship moving and couldn’t even imagine sailing across the sea in on of them. Very brave people to have done this.

Now the crew of the replica ship is about ten and they live down in the galley. It’s quite nice and spacious, but still not for me. If you get a chance to see these ships, then by all means, see them. You won’t regret it. And the kids love it.
Or even better, you can be a volunteer sailor on the ship. But take your sea sick pills.

Nina and the Pinta

The Pinta seen from the shore

Deck of the Pinta

Cross on the Pinta's sails

THe Ship's Boat

The Nina

The Front of the Nina

Book tours

Kim — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:49:40 +0000

Picture

I do apologize for being away for so long. Life has me by the throat. But I’ll keep up, I promise. This time around, I want to discuss those wonderful Book Tours. I recently signed up for the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy tour and hopefully, I’ll get books soon and be able to review them. It could be interesting, not to mention I get free books. But I went on a discovery to find out what I could find regarding the blog book tours.

Recently, a friend and fellow writer shared with me the valuable took of Virtual Book Tours. A writer sends out his/her book to various blogs, the blog owners are required to read the book, then post a small review about it. I’ve signed up for it, so we’ll see what happens. Please note, I’ve never done this before, but want to do it with my book.

I had only heard about blog tours earlier this year from , the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Review which reviews Christian fantasy books. They have a rolling blog tour that starts at the CSFF and sends the reviewed book to the blogger members. Now, the CSFF

DOES NOT

take self-published books. Their goal is to show the Christian publishing world that fantasy books are wanted and that the readership is longing for more.

But on the upside of this, it will bring more traffic to your blog as others who interested in the reviewed book would like to see what you have say. Plus your blog is linked to other participate sites, bringing in more traffic. And who knows? If your SP book is a good one, the bloggers themselves may want to review your book.

But I will note: The New Authors Fellowship does review and post Christian self published novels.

Now if you are self-published, don’t shy away from the blog tour. It is possible, from what I’ve gathered, that the SP writer can organizer her own blog tour. It isn’t easy and takes a bit of work. But you reach out to other bloggers asking that they review your book and post that review on their blog.

Reach out to friends first and other bloggers that may have linked up to your blog. Or even better, ask the bloggers on your board if they would be willing to review and post. Most bloggers are pretty cool about it and will be willing to review and post.

From what I have seen, blog tours are a great way to bring attention to your book. It seems to be pretty successful across the board. Of course, writing well helps. My friend who turned me onto blog tours is hooked up with a great number of writers, so doing the tour would be pretty easy for her. So it might be helpful to link up with other writers who are in the same genre as yourself. In fact, if you see that they are publishing a new book, be the first one to step up and ask to review the book and post it on your blog.

I also came across this great interview from Self-publishing resources and this great article. It goes into wonderful details on how the SP can promote their own book tour. Again, it takes a lot of work, but it is possible.

It looks like I’ll be moving more toward Createspace.com for my book. It seems the most logical way to go right now. So I will be running the blog tour. I’ll let you all know what happens.

Here are some links to other bloggers that have more information on the blog tour:

Stinalindenblatt.com

Keyboardhussy.workpress.com

A Christian Medieval Faire

Kim — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:26:09 +0000

My friend told me about this today and I’m so going to be there. It’s a Christian Medieval/Reformation faire with all the fixins’ except the knights fighting. Boo Hoo!! I’ll miss those hot knights. Anyway, here’s the link: Providence Peoria Faire

Our stated purpose for sponsoring the annual Reformation Day Faire is “to encourage the Church to remember her past, particularly the rich heritage of the 16th-century Reformation. We strive to help families understand and appreciate the history and theology of this dynamic period. Beyond just having a great time and making new friends, our prayer is that all who attend the Reformation Day Faire will leave inspired and challenged to think and live more biblically, as they consider the lives, ministry, and teaching of the Reformers of old.”

It looks like fun and folks are encouraged to wear their medieval clothes. They also have some ‘wars’ going on, so that could be really cool. A Christian LARP. So if you’re around Morton, Illinois, (Just outside Peoria Illinois) then be sure to register and come on down!!! I know I’ll be there!!!

College of Arms

Kim — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:38:01 +0000

Lawrence Coat of Arms

This is my family Coat of Arms

If you’ve been on my blog for a while, you know I’m always wanting to promote those who help me. So here we go again. The College of Arms in London England is a really awesome place. They take care of dead people, most importantly, my dead grandparents. Now the college isn’t some mad scientist lab, but a place that stores records of families granted Coat of Arms from England and around the world. My Uncle spent 20 some years researching my family tree, only to have someone question his research. Well, some of you know me and some don’t. To those who do know me, you know, I can’t let things go.

Now the most important thing about the College is they grant Coat of arms to individuals and those Coats become that family’s property. When I saw that my 1500 AD Great Grandfather (Thomas Lawrence 1589 – 1593, yeah, I know, the dates are weird.) was granted the same Coat as my 1100 AD grandfather (Sir Robert Lawrence of Ashton Hall, England 1150 AD – 1191 AD) but slightly altered, I knew as they say, that’s a winner!!!

I contacted the College and met a really nice English gentleman who has an English accent even in his writing who confirmed that yes, the Coat stays in the family and the grantee must prove to the College that he is indeed a member of that family. They take his records, match to theirs, eat cookies and tea and there ya go!! Follow point A to point B and a pretty picture begins to emerge. If Thomas belonged to Robert, and my uncle has Thomas’ son’s Birth records, and the birth records of everyone up to yours truly, then by logic, that means . . . um . . . add the one . . . I belong to Robert!! Yeap, that’s right. I belong to a real live honest to God knight (and I write fantasy, medieval based books. Ok, no spooky music.) So he fought in the Crusades and no I don’t agree with them, but King Richard never asked my opinion. Shame on him!! But history is always 20/20.

I can’t go back in time and warn Richard not to go, but I can respect my grandpa. And that’s what the College does, take care of my grandpas and grandmas, making sure they are happy. So for me, the College is a very special place. So check out the College, ask questions. They are REALLY pricey and they certainly go over my $20 budget. ($670 to confirm my Uncle’s findings.) So if you have a Coat of Arms in your family, talk to the College. They can track that puppy down, but for a price. But in the end, when you realize you have greatness residing in the Coat stuck up in the attic, then that’s pretty cool. So please, bless my grandparents and check out the college. And be sure to say hi to my grandparents. You’ll know them by the major competition sports in the hallway and the incredibly stubborn people walking down the halls of the college.

One day, I’ll take the College up on their offer and fork over the $670 to meet my grandparents in person. That will be a great day.

Kip Edwards

Kim — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 00:31:50 +0000

The man who made my map is having an art show. From his facebook: My next event where I will be selling artwork is the Germantown Hills Fall Craft and Vendor Show at Germantown Hills Middle School, 103 Warrior Way Germantown Hills, Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 5th, 2011 9am-2pm. If you’re in the area, stop off and ask him about maps and his art work. Kip’s Facebook.

What I learned at Bristol Ren Faire

Kim — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:39:29 +0000

Our first stop wasn’t the faire but the Institute of Art in Chicago, Illinois, USA. We arrived at 4pm and the Institute closed at 5pm. We got in at half price and made our way to the medieval collection. There wasn’t much, just some coats of armor. But still very impressive. I was amazed at how big the knights’ biceps were. These were some big guys!! We also saw a suit that was kinda small. We found out later it was for teens only. Don’t get any ideas, teens!!!

: A kinda hot knight. No, not really. Just a suit of arms. Sorry.

: The armor for teens. or Tweens.

More armor.

The next stop was at the Palmer House/Hilton Hotel. My friend/hostess told me it was incredible inside and we just ‘had to see it!!’ I shrugged and said, why not? I figured it was just another fancy pants hotel. Seen one, seen them all. But my feet were hurting from walking in the Art Museum and I thought I could rest my ‘dogs’.

The Grand Hallway

Instead of the regular old fancy hotel, we stepped inside into a world I rarely see. The fancy world of the extreme rich. My idea of a nice hotel is one without bedbugs and the beds have clean sheets and I eat free stale bagels in the morning. This place was like a palace.

So us, being the nosy creatures that we are, scurried through the place being nosy busy bees. We climbed twisting stairwells (The kind that are in castles) to the guest hallways and peeked into empty conference rooms.

The secret stairway.

Now that's a conference room!!!

But what really caught our eyes was the main gold laden lounge area. Everywhere were statues of golden angels holding lights in their hands or lights surrounding them. Balconies curved out from the upper half stories reminding me of Romeo and Juliet theme.

Angels and candlelight.

Juliet's balcony.

A huge painting of angels peeking over a round opening covered the ceiling. People of all classes mingled everywhere; rich folks intermingling with the poor, folks standing with their groups of friends trying to talk over each other.

Angels peeking down.

One of my friends mentioned that this might be what it’s like in a castle court with everyone talking. What would happen if the King/Queen appeared at the stairwell? Would every eye turn to her/him? Would the crowd part for her/him? What would the silence be like?

My other friend said this is where his character would be. So I told them, look around you, see what you can pick up and use. What are these folks wearing? (most of the rich were in fancy casual, you know, the kaki pants for $65, the casual top that goes for $80 and the fancy shoes? No Walmart specials for these folks.) Others wore badges signifying a conference. They were dressed in nice business attire. Then you had the date night folks, the girls wearing the expensive extra tight ‘little black dresses’ that showed of EVERY skinny curve (GRR) and the guys in ties and fresh cleaned pants. Then there were the white jacketed waiters who would bow after taking the orders and trying to please everyone with cash in their pockets. They’d smile and bow and crack light jokes with the customers. But when they were together, they switched to being regular folks trapped in a lousy job desperately trying to make a living. It did remind me of a castle court. But in the 21 century. Now bring it down to the 17th or even 14th century. Same actions, same people, different clothes.

Then it was off to Bristol land!!! My most favorite place of all.

The Hot Knights of Bristol!!

So what did I learn? I learned learn your history!!! We talked to Fencing Master named Bob Charron of  St. Martins Academy who is an expert on fencing and medieval period. We were able to spend an hour talking to this talented man and he shared with us that the medieval educational system was far more advanced then ours could ever be. Students were expected to learn four languages (one who knows only two is considered illiterate. I still struggle with English and can say Como estas? That’s about it. Tocos, Enchiladas and Que es?), they had to understand Plato (not Pluto the dog) and Aristotle and Socrates (all are Greek philosophers), geometry, science, fencing, languages, reading, writing, and astronomy and math. The students were also expected to MEMORIZE (yes I said MEMORIZE) complete books word for word. In other words, no computers, no twitter, no video games, no Kindle, no Amazon.com. It was said once you memorized the book, it was yours forever. That’s why there are few original medieval books. Folks would memorize it, then hand it off to someone else. Imagine memorizing 300 pages of written text and retaining it until you died. I’m lucky if I can remember what I did yesterday. Or even an hour ago. This is something to remember in your medieval/fantasy world. If there aren’t any printing presses, then the characters would have to memorize books. You could even make up your own books and the character could recite passages, things you made up for the made up books.

As I listened to Bob speak, I saw more branches for my novel to explore and it suddenly hit me, I don’t have any conversations about the philosophers or intelligent banter. If folks in the medieval times were as intelligent as Bob claims they were, then maybe my characters could be just as smart. Without the distractions of internet, TV, twitter, FB and video games, maybe my characters could have evolved the same way, having an intelligence that forced them to memorize books since books were harder to reproduce, especially if they hadn’t invented the printing press. They would have to depend upon strangers as entertainment, allowing visitors to stay in the hosts’ homes when they were on long trips. (Ugh!!) Visitors would be welcomed, not feared or troublesome. The people were more opened and loved more fiercely. They actually cared about each other more than we do. It seems that FB, twitter, video games, and the internet have only separated us more into single beings instead of pack being as we were meant to be.

So now I’m exploring books written by those in the medieval times, not someone’s interpretation. As my friend said, History depends upon who is writing the books. I’m now reading The Book of the Courtier by Baldassarre Castiglione. (I highly recommend this book for anyone who uses Medieval times in their world building. It really gets into the medieval culture.) They have a kindle version available. Nice to have when the internet isn’t an option. I’ve also ordered A Knight’s Own Book of Chivalry by Geofroi De Charny. Both of these books were written in the Medieval times and are full of interesting comments. I’ll share them as I plunge through the books.  Here’s another link for you all. It has books that were written in the middle ages, so at least you’ll have better information then what someone read in someone else’s book. Plus you can download them into kindle and nook. Enjoy!!

One more thing that I learned is their belief system. We often think that the medieval people had a weak belief system in God, being mostly religious, not spiritual. On the contrary, these people clung to God with both hands wrapped securely around His neck. As a minister who oversees a church service in the faire on Sunday morning said, these people never knew if they would wake up in the morning. He pointed to the wooden shingles covering the roofs and said, “Bristol told us to change out the wooden shingles on the roofs because they were a fire hazard. Now imagine wooden flammable shingles on a medieval home. They go up in smoke in minutes. These people knew there was a chance they might not wake up in the morning.”   So yes, they were very spiritual. It was the Church that became a task master, telling them they could buy their way out of hell. Not everyone bought into it.

I thought about that. A disease could wipe them out, while we have medicine and doctors. Their homes could burn down, while we have fire departments. We have heated/cooled homes, fresh water and foods, We have cars, no wars, a stable government, all that a society needs to make it happy. They had bad water, foul food, bad sanitation, and they never knew if another country would try to conquer them. So I see why they clung to God so desperately. I would too. I also noticed that when the actors in the congregation recited the congregational parts during the service, it was with conviction, not as a religious duty. I realized then that if one lived in those times, the reciting would become a plea to God to please look after us and our leader.   So in my opinion, having a religious/spiritual belief in a diety/God is a must for anyone writing a fantasy/medieval book. Or take the other way and the MC doesn’t believe in anything which would make him stand out from everyone else, even isolate him.

So there you got it, what I learned and what I’ll add to my story. Another layer from the mystical lands of Bristol. I’m really looking forward to taking another group of eager writers to the Palmer house, Art Institute (one day I will see it all) and of course the faire. Until next year.

Jane the Phoole from Bristol Renaissance Faire, Bristol, Wisconsin

Kim — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:54:52 +0000

The Lovely Ms Jane the Phoole

I meet Ms. Jane last year at the Bristol faire located on the border of Illinois and Wisconsin in the US. (45 min from Chicago, Illinois) and she was kind enough to take a picture with my friend. Besides being very gracious, she also made my friend and I feel very welcomed. Jane, played by Ann Elizabeth Shapera, plays the Queen’s main silly jester and she is very kind and always has time to talk to anyone at the faire, no matter who they are. She’s silly, serious, whimsical, and likes to cheer up those who have down faces and is convinced Fairies really do exist. When I heard Jane had a blog, I had to hunt her down and get it from her. Thankfully, I ran smack into her, and asked her for her blog addy. After pulling A LOT of stuff from her very deep pocket, (Reminding me of Tom Baker, AKA The Doctor) she finally brought out her card. Here’s the Link. Please be sure to check out her site. Her link is also under my Favey Non-writing links.

I learned more stuff at the faire and I’ll be sure to post it all. Mammasita, did I learn more cool stuff!! I can’t stress the importance of all fantasy, historical, and all other writers to hitting the Bristol Renaissance Faire. Yeah, I know it’s far, and costs money and all the weird people running around thinking they are elves, faires and knights, but there’s a layer to Bristol, something hidden under the makeup, costumes and hot knights – God bless the hot knights!! – something that screams world building. It’s seen in kind Jane, the wonderful queen, the snotty Lords and Ladies, the gallant knights. Something that us fantasy writers need to unearth. When characters gossip about other characters, and yes, they gossip about the character, not the actor, when Jane insists I see the Queen as my favorite person, when a knight makes my toes shiver, then that’s world building. It’s personality, it’s getting to know characters. And believable characters are just as important to world building as magic, cultures and language. Bristol has that unique talent of bringing the 1600′s into the 2000′s. There are only two things wrong with Bristol: They open on Saturday morning and kick you out at 7pm on Sunday night (You need at least a good four days to see ALL the faire and they are closed on the week days) and the faire only runs from July 9th to Labor day. Very sad indeed. I shall miss the fair Ms. Jane until next August, when I’ll pile more eager writers into the car and head for the mystic lands of Bristol.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my lovely writers. I do have more, LOTS more to share. In fact, I’m already saving money for next years great adventure to my new world building place, Bristol Ren Faire.