Medieval Musings: September 28, 2019

"A new series by a great author...keep up the good work" - Ian W

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A typical workday in the life of... me:

I have been asked how I write 5,000 words almost every day. For me, it is all about consistency, but that does not actually answer the question of how I accomplish this, so here is a play by play of my typical workday.

6:15 am - Roll over in bed as Carol gets up to work out

7:00 am - Listen to the radio to find out the weather 

7:05 am - Get out of bed

7:15 am - Go on a walk with the dogs and Carol

8:00 am - Drop Daisy at home, and walk another 4 KM with TIlly and Carol

8:45 am - Elliptical for 20 minutes - need to burn the calories from sitting all-day

9:30 am - Start the workday by reading yesterday's writing

10:00 am - Start the day's writing and have a cuppa tea

12:30 pm - Celebrate writing 2,500 words and break for lunch

12:45 pm - Take dogs on their second walkies of the day

1:15 pm - Get back to writing and have a cuppa tea

3:00 pm - Take a break and play some World of Warships and have a cuppa tea

4:00 pm - Celebrate writing 5,000 words, and then work on editing and maybe another cuppa tea?

5:15 pm - Stop working because Tilly won't leave us alone until we do

Evening: Dinner, some Mine Crafting while Carol swims at the gym, a walk with the dawgs, and relax and watch TV. Then off to sleep and repeat for 4 more days!

A long time ago (over ten years), when I developed my own fantasy role-playing game, I had an idea that, at the time, I thought was quite novel. I would invent a world, and then each player would take turns running adventures in it. When they ran the game, their characters would become NPC’s (Non-Player Characters), so that each person would have a chance to play the game, as well as run it.

In the long term, it didn’t work, as the players had more fun playing the game than running it, but it did lead me to develop the character of Athgar. I created a rich history for him, as he was supposed to be my own character when I played.

Many of the elements in his original design made their way to Ashes. His village is burnt to the ground, he is befriended by Orcs, and he learned the way of Fire Magic. Other details differ significantly.

Back then, I had not yet developed the world, but the concept of the Therengians appeared during the very same campaign, and Athgar was, indeed, one of them. Other elements changed, however. His original background had him married and with a son. Both his wife and son died during the attack, however, a rather melodramatic event that I didn’t want to repeat for the book.

Natalia was there too, but that I’ll write about later.

Who is Saint Augustine?

Of all the founders of the church, Saint Augustine is perhaps the least understood. Augustine Brackenwald was a scholar who came to the Holy City of Herani from the north coast of the shimmering sea. There is little recorded of his early life, but it is known that he came from a life of privilege, receiving an outstanding education and a generous purse from his family.

Augustine fully embraced the idea that the first Human civilization was based in Herani, a belief he maintained until his death. He was obsessed with finding proof of his convictions, a feat made all the more possible with his wealth and influence.

It was his insistence on investigating ruins that led to the first recorded encounters with Orcs, who inhabited the areas where many ruins were situated. Due to the increased danger of Orc attacks, Agustine grew increasingly frustrated with his attempts to prove his theories.

It is now generally accepted that it was Augustine that first proposed the prospect of banding together with others to reach out and negotiate a peace with the Orcs. This group would, of course, go on to be known as the saints, but Augustine is often called the first saint.

Congratulations to Cheryl who won last week's Giveaway.
Remember, you don't have to guess the right answer to be entered into the FREE giveaway, and the winner gets to choose their eBook from Paul's stories.
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This week, Daisy wants to find out how much you know about Paul!
Hint (The answer can be found in his long bio on his website)

Exciting news! I am one third the way through Embers, the second book in The Frozen Flame series!  And now I find myself also working on a short story that was originally intended for an anthology, but it looks like I’ll be saving it as an origin story as it details how Brother Cyric became a Temple Knight of Saint Mathew. (If you don’t know who Cyric is, he is first introduced in Ashes.)

He is a man driven by his faith, and yet not blindly so. There will be many more of his adventures in the future, for I will eventually be releasing a series called The Chronicles of Cyric. Each will be a collection of short stories and will simply be labelled as Volume I, Volume II and so on. With the first story almost complete (it just needs some editing) I am inspired to write more, but that will wait till after Embers.

As far as writing goes, I have two main series that I’m currently writing and I alternate between each. In between these major works, I typically work on short stories as a sort of ‘palette cleanser’, and this is where Cyric’s story came from.

Now it’s time to get back to work, but here is the opening scene from my short story, just to pique your interest!

Until next time, Happy reading!

Into the Maelstrom

Brother Cyric rolled out of the way as a ball of fire streaked past him. The smell of singed flesh came unbidden to his nostrils, reminding him of the incredible power of magic. All around him, the battlefield lay silent, save for the screaming and moaning of the injured and dying. The battle had been fierce, but now the fighting was reduced to little more than individuals crawling through the blood and entrails, seeking out what remained of their enemy.

As a lay brother of Saint Mathew, an order dedicated to helping the sick and wounded, his task this day, was to do just that. He cast his eyes about once more, taking in the scene of destruction surrounding him, longing to spot survivors amongst the dead, but his hopes were dashed as he recognized the robed figure moving through the carnage.

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