Getting Medieval

Memorial Brasses Rerun

Here is an article I posted a while back, worth another look see:

 

Brasses are a window back in time. More prevalent than a painting, surviving textiles, or armor from the medieval period, they tell the story of all walks of life, from merchants, to jugglers, to knights and squires; a permanent representation of a society long gone.

Brasses are metal tablets engraved with the image of the one memorialized. The metal is often referred to as “latten” or “a latten” (from the French laiton, brass). According to the Dictionary of Chivalry, the plates were not even true brass “but are compounded of about 60-65% copper, 10% lead and tin, and perhaps 30% zinc. Till about 1550, latten was always imported from Flanders and Germany, often coming through Cologne; hence, they were sometimes called ‘cullen’ plates.” Don't you just love language!

 

The thing about brasses is not necessarily their spot-on rendering of true portraits, but in the invaluable detail of the clothing and armor of the time. Something like 8,000 brasses survive in England alone, from the 13^th to the 18^th centuries. Some brasses are life size while others—set in churches—are smaller representations.

 

Making a rubbing from these brasses (that is, laying a piece of paper over the brass and using a crayon or some other media to transfer the image onto paper) became somewhat of a mania in the 1960s. So much so, that the practice was discouraged by the government and churches in the fear that the details on the brasses would be rubbed away from so much use. That fear has relaxed and there are in fact many brass rubbing societies in Britain today. But ask before you rub (a good rule of thumb for any and all occasions, I’m sure) because some of the brasses are fragile and can be damaged by rubbing and so they aren’t allowed. And many are located in churches so it is definitely not on to do so during a church service.

Cover Me

Got cover? I do. At last! Interesting the artist's perspective, breaking down a story into a single image. Hope it piques the interest of those browsers out there.  

First Mysteries

I had to fill out a questionnaire some time back, and one of the questions asked, "What was the first mystery you remember reading?" I'm sure a lot of people mentioned Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, but--and I know this is sacrilege--but I was never into Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.

But I did remember the first mystery I read and enjoyed, I just couldn't remember the title. After a bit of googling, I found not only the title, but the book itself! And I have it now.

The Ghost Rock Mystery by Mary C. Jane is now out of print (it's from 1962), but it was not out of my memory. Well, just look at the cover. A creepy house, night time shenanigans, a flashlight, a girl with two boys (hey this was me growing up, though I would have been wearing jeans and a t-shirt, too. I was quite the tomboy). And, of course, a mystery to solve!

Here's what the back of the book says: "Of course Janice and Tommy don't believe in ghosts or haunted houses. But when they visit Aunt Annabelle's guest house in Maine, they begin to wonder...

"Why does the sinister guest creep around the top floor when he thinks everyone is asleep? How about the flickering light that appears out of nowhere in a midnight storm? And what can those hoofbeats in the big rock mean?

"If Janice and Tommy are to help Aunt Annabelle, they must prove that Mountain View House is not really haunted. And there is no time to lose..." 

None indeed! It was the hoofbeats in the rock I remember the most. They were suitably creepy to an 8 or 9-year-old.

What was the first mystery you remember reading?      

Interviewed by Julia Spencer-Fleming

It's me this time that's interviewed in a micro interview on Julia's website. See it here.

Rhys Bowen at Vroman's

Dare I admit that this is the first author signing I've ever been to? (I've been to plenty of author events, panels and the like, but never deliberately to an author signing. Well, something has got to be the first).

Anyway, I was there at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena (the place where I'm having my book launch in November), sitting in a chair before a table laden with Rhy's new book, A Royal Pain, sequel to her first outing for Lady Georgina, Her Royal Spyness, which I talked about on this blog.

And there I sat, wondering if I am to snatch a book from the table and run over to the cashier or wait until after the presentation (I'm awfully green at this). I opted for waiting for the last minute to snatch a copy from the table and pay afterward.

I was there at Vroman's in support of Rhys because she was on the first panel I ever sat on at Bouchercon, Alaska, and was very nice to me. I also sat with her at the signing table, she with her long line of people and me with a smattering, and not being too proud to urge her many admirers to come over to the dark side and talk to me when she was too busy.

And I also really liked Her Royal Spyness.

Rhys arrived and donned a hat in proper attire for a tea and proceeded to tells us a bit about herself. She said she had been writing all her life and got a job at the BBC, editing radio and TV plays, and thinking she could do better than what she was reading. She finally submitted a radio play and they produced it and she was on here way. As far as books, she started with children's books, got an agent, and wrote one of the first teen novels (1979) for Bantam, who ran 100,000 copies. She was a rolling success. Part of that success was that she wouldn't say no to any writing request, and at one time, she confessed she wrote 10 books a year! As it is, she finishes a novel in three months. (Oh my GAWD! What a slouch I am, whining about writing one novel in 9 months. I'd better get cracking!)

I loved hearing her read her excerpt. Some authors can't read for toffee, but Rhys can do it and it was an enjoyable excerpt. These books are so fun to read, they really would be fun to read aloud. At any rate, when I stood in line to get mine signed, naturally she didn't at first recognize me (stupid Jeri. How many people does she see a day on her month-long tour? And Alaska was a year ago!) We'll both be at Bouchercon again this year in Baltimore and might end up on a panel together again. She might well become sick of me before this is over.

But for those of you who have never even imagined going to see an author at a bookstore, do go. Not only is it entertaining but they love to see you and really thrive on your gushing attention. (This is a blatant plea to go to mine so that I won't have an audience of none). But really. Do go. I think most all bookstores have a website and they post their author schedules there. So do libraries. Go. GO! 

Dark Age Detection

Nice little mention from Sarah Weinman on her Barnes&Noble review/blog. It's just one line but it's a nice line and well placed.

And my editor, Keith Kahla, gets interviewed today on Evil E. Check it out. 

Medieval Archery

"Range is open. You may loose!" The shout the archers were waiting for before they nocked arrows and let them fly toward their straw butts (targets). The archers in question wore t-shirts and shorts, leather quivers over their shoulders, baseball caps and dewrags on their heads. They were the archers of Deriburgen, a "barony" in the "kingdom of Caid" in southern California's Inland Empire. Welcome to the SCA. 

The SCA is the Society of Creative Anachronism started by some folks in Berkeley, CA, way back when to encourage study and firsthand appreciation of the Middle Ages. They are also known as re-enactors, folks who like to joust and have wars and recreate--through clothing and crafts--what it was to be a medieval person.

Naturally, I'm all there. But this is actually the first time I was able to get to a local event in my kingdom. I wanted to see what they had on offer and, as I enjoyed archery so many years ago, I thought it would be fun to get into it again.

Today, however, I was just an observer. I didn't fancy hanging out in the 98 degree heat today, even mostly standing under the shade of Easy-ups. Instead, I said my hellos, watched the doings, and appreciated the skill of the participants, both young and...um, not so young.

I talked a bit with the Captain of the Archers, Neuschal (or his more mundane name of Todd Humphrey), who has been involved in SCA for twenty years. He teaches elementary school music and slipped into SCA through music and his love of history but slowly got involved in other aspects. Like Archery.

Then there is Roger, a champion archer who also does leatherwork and several other crafts. He showed me some arrows and talked about their manufacture (made of cedar shafts with turkey feather fletching. Bird of prey fletching--a bit harder to come by--makes the arrow's flight silent, just as the flight of a bird of prey is silent. If you've ever been surprised by an owl flying at you at night, you can see the reasoning.) 

He also made the suits of armor greeting all-comers. I was a dry, dusty ranch--as most are in this area. A rooster crowed in the background, and horses snuffled nearby, not at all interested in what was going on next to their paddocks, neither the archery nor the weapon-throwing. I didn't partake of either today. Too hot and sunburned from yesterday's activities, but I hope to return and get to know more of these people and fully embarrass myself with a bow.    

      

Authors, Authors Everywhere

It was a beautiful day last weekend in La Jolla, California. (But of course it was!) Here in San Diego county where the ocean breeze sweeps up from the coast to cool the sight-seers, I indulged in viewing some of the work of artier folk at the 22nd Annual La Jolla Festival of the Arts, located on the parking lot of the University of California San Diego. Booths of pottery, engravings, sculptures, paintings, photography, and assorted what-nots were on display for the curious, some 190 artists represented. And most all were gallery-quality stuff.

There was also a pavilion wherein La Jolla’s premier independent bookseller, Warwick’s, set up their booth and offered two panels. The one on Sunday boasted some southern California luminaries: April Smith, T. Jefferson Parker, Joseph Wambaugh, and Don Winslow.

Smith was tagged for moderator duties and first ventured into the question of becoming a mystery novelist, breaking it down to its components—defining “becoming”, “mystery”, and “novelist”.

Parker admitted that his first foray into writing didn’t turn out as planned, but his second attempt was made up of the styles of authors he liked, “mysteries made up of other mysteries,” and he stumbled upon his signature style.

Wambaugh was a cop who’d written a novel and took the risk of publishing and being fired for his ruthless depiction of real life in the squad room.

Winslow shared his multiple careers of safari guide, director of Shakespeare in Oxford, and being a PI before he found success as an author.

Smith confided that it took her five years to write her first novel while producing TV dramas as Cagney and Lacey. Smith also touched on the notion that these particular authors draw from their California locales to inform their stories, and Winslow agreed, saying that the “west is where people go to reinvent themselves,” citing that sort of “cowboy ethos” that went into his latest novel Dawn Patrol. Each author was informative and entertaining, but it was Wambaugh who gave the audience the most laughs.

When Smith asked for stories on how they landed their first contracts, Wambaugh quipped that he didn’t want the audience to think he didn’t suffer before he was published. “A week after I got the call,” he said, “a burglar beat the hell out of me…She was tough.”

Talking about his genre, Wambaugh confessed that he “flipped the procedural drama. It used to be how the cop acts on the job. I write how the job acts on the cop.” Later, when he discussed adapting his novel for the screen, he talked of his displeasure with the movie of The Choir Boys. He was hired as the only screenwriter, but the director didn’t like his script and had it rewritten. No one was pleased with the outcome and Wambaugh sued to have his name taken off the screen credits. And as he reminded the audience with relish, he was still around, while that director was decidedly dead! (He took no credit for it :D) A good hour-long discussion ensued. And after, when they all did signings, part of the proceeds from the sale went to the disabled of San Diego. A good day was had by all.