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I've had scores of people ask when the next installment in the King Raven series—Scarlet—will be published. If you live in the US or UK, the answer is 'September, 2007'. Now for some other questions.
Hi! Why is the Hood paperback still not in the shops in the UK? It's the middle of October and Waterstones are still waiting for stock, but more importantly the readers are getting impatient!!!
When a book is published in August, as Hood was in the UK, the mass market paperback will usually follow nine months to a year later, with the possibility of a trade (or quality) paperback after six months or so. However, a few readers have spotted a 'Special Airport Edition' large-size paperback, mostly sold only at airports for customers leaving the country. So, if you happen to be travelling out of the country, you might pick one up. Otherwise, you'll have to wait for the official paperback launch a few months from now.
Do you ever post an itinerary of the bookstores you visit to promote your books? I ask because I would really like to stop by and get my book signed next time you are in town (San Diego, CA).
I don't do a lot of promotional touring, but I promise to post my itinerary on this web site next time I venture out. In September, I did visit about 45 bookstores between Seattle and San Francisco simply to meet the staff, sign existing stock, drop off freebie books, and give each sales team a dozen fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts (guess which of those four things was most well received)...but, unfortunately, this promo stint was not a reader-oriented tour.
I am interested in learning more about the concept of Naud. Can you point me to a resource or explain where you found that idea? The concept sounds remarkably like what Christ does in transfering our sins to himself, to bear the guilt of our sins and crimes. I didn't find much in searching the web, except for references to your works. Thanks for your time.
Many cultures over many millennia have practiced various ways of dispensing mercy with justice. Most people in the Judeo-Christian tradition are familiar with the concept of 'jubilee' (especially since Bono and others have launched campaigns to cancel Third World debt). It was a time to refresh things, reset the clock, and level the playing field by doing such practical things as freeing slaves, forgiving debts, allowing fields to lie fallow, forgiving wrongdoers, and allowing the poor and beleaguered to begin again.
Naud is a little like jubilee in that it breaks into the normal progression of events to ensure that justice is done. I used Naud in the ALBION books as a form of 'sanctuary'. Did we all read or see The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Sanctuary allows a wrongdoer a chance to beg forgiveness and offer redress for his crimes without being harassed (or worse) by those he has wronged and who might wish him harm. It allows hot tempers to cool off, and calmer heads rule more rationally, and also helps squelch an escalating cycle of violence and revenge.
Recently I have been researching the Nephilim and I noticed some stark similarities to the Apocryphal descriptions of these creatures and your description of Taliesin. In your research for the story did you find anything that might connect the two traditions? Or was the account of Taliesin's "birth" strictly the product of your imagination? If not could you elaborate on your sources. I would find it highly helpful in my quest for the elusive Masters Degree.
Happy to help a student. The tale of Taliesin—his birth and youth and coming of age as a bard—is a traditional Celtic story which, while it includes many fanciful elements, offers an insight into historical Celtic life and lore. Various forms abound, but I found nothing in any of my sources to suggest a connection with the Nephilim—the Mighty Men of biblical lore.
I have just begun my very first novel by Stephen Lawhead. I purchased and am about 100 pages into Hood and so far I'm loving it. But I do get a little confused with the Ffreinc, Normans, and English. Are they all the same? I know the Normans are from the north of France and William the Conqueror, who was a Norman, conquered England and became William I King of England. So I see the connection between the English and the Normans. But who or what are the Ffreinc? And what are Marchogi? I have searched and am having trouble finding a definition. The best I have found is that they are like cavalry, or soldiers of horseback. Is that even close? Thanks for the help, I'm loving this book and plan to read more of your work.
Some basic European history will help any reader who didn't study this in school. In order to understand the players are in the drama, the first thing to remember is that in the 11th century, Britain was home to three distinct peoples: the English (longtime residents made up of various invading Germanic tribes); the British (the indigenous population, called the Welsh by everyone else); and the Normans (French newcomers who invaded and conquered England and attempted to extend their rule into Scotland and Wales).
William (the Conqueror)—a Norman—invaded England in 1066 and, defeating the English defenders, took the crown to become King of England. He was previously the Duke of Normandy, the region that roughly corresponds to what we know as northern France. (It was called 'Normandy' because the North-men, or Danes, had invaded it and settled there a few hundred years previously.) In Hood, the Welsh-speakers knew William and his people as the Ffreinc. At the time that Hood is set (roughly 1092), most of the invaders spoke French and considered themselves Norman (or Franks) even if they had lived in England all their lives.
The English were descended directly from the settling Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, etc—who set their sights on England in the days of King Arthur. In contrast, the Britons are the indigenous people of Great Britain, who were by this time more or less isolated in the Celtic lands that we now call Wales and Scotland. Bran and the other Celts in my book would have thought of themselves as Britons; the Normans/Ffreinc would have considered them Welsh, which would have been, at that time, a very insulting label—from wealas, which is Saxon for 'foreigner.'
You guessed the marchogi more or less correctly. Marchogi is the Welsh name for the Norman soldiers, footmen and knights, who served the lords and barons of the March, the forested and mountainous buffer zone between England and Wales.
I work as a 3rd shift security officer and rely on books to keep my mind active—so I figured you might have some recommendations for other authors that inspired you—or that you enjoyed yourself (oh and i've exhausted R.A. Salvatore, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and Asimov as well...I have a lot of free time at work) .
I'll be happy to tell you whose books I enjoy, concentrating on fiction. Martin Cruz Smith is almost always good. Start with Gorky Park and work your way through the Renko novels, and then read Rose for a completely unexpected and original historical tale. Carter Beats the Devil, by Glen David Gould, was our nuclear family's pick for 2006. Have you read Ian Fleming's James Bond books? They were a big influence on me.
Don't forget the classics. Go back to the books that were wasted on you in Junior High: A Tale of Two Cities, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Ivanhoe. Virtually anything by Dickens is a good bet. Or Jules Verne.
My wife weighs in with some less adventure-based novels. To Kill a Mockingbird and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn are favourites. This year she read and enjoyed The Living by Annie Dillard, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and Peace Like a River by Lief Egner. On the non-fiction side, Norman Davies' Europe is excellent, and worth the weeks and months it will take to read it.
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