September 4, 2013
Work has kept me super busy this week, but thanks to the folks at Horrible Histories, I found this amusing video to share about sieging a medieval castle. It’s one of my favorites! (You can view it here too)
Work has kept me super busy this week, but thanks to the folks at Horrible Histories, I found this amusing video to share about sieging a medieval castle. It’s one of my favorites! (You can view it here too)
Summer is ending and oh how I wish I was still in the Caribbean. I had a wonderful vacation this year (even if there were hints of Lovecraftian horrors!), but I’d go back to Atlantis in a heartbeat, and I imagine I could get a ton of writing done in between dips in the Cove….
Starz’s The White Queen proved last Saturday that it was more than willing to cross the line between historical fiction and historical fantasy, and I really liked what I saw. I’ve not read Philippa Gregory’s books on which the show is based, but I assume the scriptwriters weren’t so bold as to add magic into…
As my series on the Magic of Medieval Fiction nears the Sixth Century, I decided to read Brendán by Morgan Llywelyn, a novel about one of that century’s most renowned Irish saints. I must say that in reading this book, all my research about Irish monks for Enoch’s Device seemed to come to life (which…
This month, my family and I returned to one of our favorite vacation spots: Atlantis in the Bahamas. On the plane ride there, I decided to read a short story by H.P. Lovecraft called “The Temple.” It’s about a German U-boat commander whose sinking vessel settles upon the ruins of Atlantis after madness claims his…
This Saturday I watched the U.S. premiere of The White Queen on Starz, a miniseries based on the Philippa Gregory novel of the same name. The story is set during The War of the Roses, which happened to be the inspiration for George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. Needless to say, I enjoyed stumbling…
My plans to write a more elaborate post this week were scuttled by my unforgiving travel schedule, but I did have enough time to find another amusing video from the talented folks at Horrible Histories. Hope you enjoy it! (You can watch “Vikings vs. Monks” here too.)
Until I migrate to my new site, you can follow my blog at Fresh-scraped Vellum!
After a lot of book reviews, I’m aiming for some light-hearted fresh-scraped vellum humor for this week, thanks to the folks at Horrible Histories (and YouTube, of course – you can watch it here too). Incidentally, in the Middle Ages vellum was made from calfskin, and parchment was made from sheepskin. I even included a…
For the third year in a row, I plan to spend my summer vacation in the Bahamas. It’s hard not to like the Caribbean with its perfect beaches and wonderful resorts, but as a fan of history, the Caribbean always makes me think about pirates. Maybe it was the Disneyland ride I used to adore…
This week, I’m pleased to feature a review of Robert Lyndon’s Hawk Quest by guest reviewer Bill Brockman. Bill is an avid reader of historical fiction, but he’s also devoted his life to public service as a Battalion Chief of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department and a 31-year part-time airman in the Air National Guard….