Wednesday, January 3, 2018

What does Tolkien and King Arthur have in common? #Folklore #OurAuthorGang


What does Tolkien and King Arthur have in common?

By Mary Anne

"Pay heed to the tales of old wives. It may well be that they alone keep in memory what it was once needful for the wise to know..."
J.J.R.Tolkien, Lord of the Rings



Imagine you have been mysteriously transported to Tolkien's Middle-earth. What do you see? Hobbits, elves, dwarfs... a ring? Rolling valleys, a tiny borough, huge impossible mountains, an all-seeing eye? Whatever you see it is foreign to what you know. It is an imagined kingdom, sweet in the telling, but it has no substance. It is a world apart. So impossibly brilliant that it could never be true.


But I know of a place that has rolling valleys, tiny boroughs and huge impossible mountains. A places where the rivers hide secrets and the caves do not give up their treasures. There is no Gondor, but there is a Camelot. There is no Aragorn, but there is an Arthur. There is no Gandalf, but there is a Merlin.



There is not ring, but there is a grail. There is not Middle-earth...

Or is there...?

Did Tolkien know something that we did not? You see the island of Britain has an inner story. A story you will not find in a history book. And yet, this story is so compelling that for over a thousand years we have been telling it in one form or another.



This story has sparked pilgrimages. It has encouraged fearful soldiers to be brave. And it has convinced a nation that she will never fall to an aggressor. It is, of course, the story of Arthur and his Knights.

In folklore, we find Arthur, not in some dusty old history book. It is at the hearth where his name was first heard, spoken in whispered tones of awe and then later as someone to imitate. Now we read his story in books or watch it on the big screen. Arthur is everything that is good. A worthy hero. The perfect Knights. A Just King. But who was he really?



It is a simple question, but one that is so difficult to answer. Could he be a shadowy Celtic deity? Or perhaps a Roman general? Maybe he is not one man, but several — for there have been many possible Arthur's. Perhaps he is nothing but an invention of a bard's overactive imagination. Is there any truth to him at all?

Over the next couple of posts, I am going to be exploring the possible Arthur's and the land in which he ruled over...


In the meantime ~  why not head over to the 6th Century and find out what happened after the death of King Arthur.

War is coming...








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Tuesday, January 2, 2018

The Art of Individual Beauty

by Grace Augustine

photo courtesy of istock

2017 ended with a major snow event for those of us in the Midwest. It started snowing at 9 am Dec. 29th and continued off and on throughout the weekend, bringing with it 6 inches of snow. 

As I sit inside looking out at the stillness of the snowfall, I'm reminded of an article I read recently about a photographer who took pictures of snowflakes.  I did a bit of research and below are my findings.

According to an article written by Stella Ko from CNN, Wilson Bentley (an American farmer) was the first to photograph a snowflake.  In 1885, Bentley attached his camera to a microscope and voila...the first snowflake photo was born. The full article may be read at http://www.cnn.com/style/article/evolution-of-snowflake-photography/index.html

In 1885, American farmer Wilson Bentley attached a camera to his microscope and took what is believed to be the very first photo of a snowflake.
photo courtesy of CNN Style

Since Mr. Bentley's beautiful discovery, our tech savvy world has gone viral recently with the snowflake photographs of Russian photographer, Alexey Kljatov. He fashioned a device from a camera lens, wood, screws, and old camera parts. This has produced some of the most fabulous photographs to date of our unique crystalline beauties. Full article and photos at https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/03/alexey-kljatov_n_4373888.html



photos courtesy of Pinterest

Just as each snowflake has its own beauty, its own unique appearance, its own voice...we all do, too. As humans, we think we want to look just like so and so, or be just like so and so, when in reality, we need to look at our uniqueness and embrace WHO. WE. ARE.

Writing is our art. It is a beautiful expression of our uniqueness. Just as each snowflake is individual and corporate, we are, too. Each of us writes what we know, what is unique to us--yet we are all a part of a beautiful literary world that offers readers great joy in many different genres.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Happy New Year From #OurAuthorGang


Happy New Year from Our Author Gang!
Read our authors' accomplishments in 2017 and wishes, hopes, and plans for 2018


Rich
Accomplishments:
  • Published Luin the Sapphire, Book 5 of the Aglaril Cycle.
  • Revised many short stories in my short story collections.
  • Submitted a story to the NESW Anthology
Plans:
  • Publish Carne the Ruby, Book 6 of the Aglaril Cycle.
  • Attend as many events as I can to sell books.
  • Continue to work on short stories and poems.
Rebecca
Accomplishments:
  • Independently published the following books
    •  The Rashade': Chronicles of the Coranydas Vol 1
    • A Guardian Falls: Chronicles of the Coranydas Vol 2
    • Neutral Space
  • Published through Hoffman & Hoffman 
    • For Their Sins
Plans:
  • Independently Publish the following books
    • Dragons of the North: Box set
    • Descendants Rising: Chronicles of the Coranydas Vol 3
    • The prequel to Chronicles of the Coranydas
    • Finish at least one other project for publication
  • Submit a novella to an anthology 
  • Start attending local events and increase my marketing efforts
Joe
Accomplishments:

Independently Published the following books and novella:
  • Mad Shadows II: Dorgo the Dowser and The Order of the Serpent (2017 Semi-Finalist in the Golden Quill Award.)
  • Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin, co-authored by Erika M. Szabo (Winner of the 2017 Golden Book Judges' Choice Award for Children's Fantasy)
  • The Power of the Sapphire Wand, co-authored by Erika M. Szabo
  • Mad Shadows: The Weird Tales of Dorgo the Dowser, won the 2017 Golden Book Readers' Choice Award for Fantasy.)
  • "The Pirates of Penance," published in Pirates in Hell, volume twenty in the Heroes in Hell series created by Janet Morris and published by Perseid Press. 
Plans:
  • To see the two short stories, one novella, and one novel I sold get published.
  • To work on another novel of Dorgo the Dowser
  • To work on a new story for the next edition of the Heroes in Hell series.
  • To do some vacation traveling.
  • To regain my health and stay healthy.
Mary Anne

Accomplishments:
     • Published The Du Lac Princess (Book 3 of The Du Lac Chronicles)
Awards:

    The Du Lac Chronicles
    • The Golden Box Book Publishing Golden Book Award 2017 Finalist 
    • Discovered Diamond Award 2017

    The Du Lac Devil (Book 2 of The Du Lac Chronicles)
    • Readers' Favorite Finalist 2017
    • IAN Book Of The Year Award Finalist 2017
    • Golden Quill Award Winner 2017
    • Chill with a Book Readers' Award 2017
    • BooksGoSocial Readers Choice Award Shortlisted 2017 
Plans:
    • To finish and publish Book 4 in The Du Lac Chronicles seres.
    • To continue to blog and increase my readership!

Grace

Accomplishments:
     *Richard's Relics, Book 5 of the Acorn Hills series, The 2017 Golden Box Book               Publishing Golden Quill Awards Semi-Finalist
     *Richard's Relics, 2017 Bronze Winner, Authordb cover contest
     *Published ebook IF ONLY...A DIVA TO THE GUIDES PREQUEL
     *Published ebook/paperback holiday novel PROTECTED BY HIS GRACE

2018 Plans:
     *Complete Moonlight Wedding
     *Complete Poppy Tuck
     *Complete Health & Wellness trilogy
     *Participate in community events to promote my books
     *Coordinate an autumn author forum
     *Increase my readership by being more active on blogs

Ruth
Accomplishments:
  • Read a ton of books
  • Kept last year's seasonal job - worked part time through the year
  • Feeling healthier than I have in several years
  • Writing a weekly garden column 
  • Designed the Bitter cover for the bindup of Bitter Blood, a short story, and Bitter Nights
  • Joined A Small Gang of Authors
2018 Plans:
  • Finish Bitter Nights
  • Start second Bitter novel
  • Pick up where I left off on Hunter's Moon (a planned four book series)
  • Keep working that part time job
  • Add more books to my book website ~ Alien Star Books
Toi
Accomplishments:
  • Joined A Small Gang of Authors
  • Joined the IWSG Book Club (took on moderator position)
  • Blogged something at least twice a month
  • Read and reviewed at least 50 books
2018 Plans
  • Continue to blog at The ToiBox of Words at least twice a month
  • Continue to blog with A Small Gang of Authors
  • Read and review at least 50 books
  • Continue to be active with the IWSG Book Club
  • Work on a complete rewrite of the Eternal Curse Series for the 10th anniversary edition
  • Work on a secret project and see if it reaches a point where I want to share it with the world.
Erika
Accomplishments:
2018 plans:
  • I grew a lot as a writer in 2017, therefore, I'm planning to rewrite The Ancestors' Secrets series which I published in 2013
  • I have the outline of a new historical fiction novel. Hopefully, I will start writing in 2018

COMMENTS

Toi Thomas

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Happy New Year A Small Gang of Authors!
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Mary Anne Yarde

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Happy New Year, everyone! What a busy year 2017 was!
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Rich Feitelberg

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Talent in spades. Cool.
 
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Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
The authors of A Small Gang of Authors share their 2017 accomplishments and 2018 goals! Stop by and say hi!
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Ruth de Jauregui

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Wow, what a great group of authors! May you all reach your goals in the coming year.
 
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Rebecca Tran

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Congratulations to everyone on their accomplishments and best of luck on their goals.
 
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Joe Bonadonna

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
This is very cool! We all accomplished so much. Congratulations, everyone . . . and Happy New Year!
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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today on A Small Gang of Authors . . . something different from us. It's New Year's Day, and we each take a turn listing things we accomplished in 2017, and what hope, plan, dream, and wish for in 2018. Check us out, and thank you all for your support since we formed our gang, and we hope to add new members and to keep us and this blog site growing. Happy New Year!
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Erika M Szabo

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
We have accomplished a lot!
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Erika M Szabo via Google+

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Happy New Year From #OurAuthorGang
Happy New Year from Our Author Gang! Read our authors' accomplishments in 2017 and wishes, hopes, and plans for 2018 Rich Accomplishments: Published Luin the Sapphire, Book 5 of the Aglaril Cycle. Revised many short stories in my short story collections. Su...

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