Latest News
Druid King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle
I think he’s got a point. And I’m not just saying that because my novel Altdorf has Druids in it! He also has a really cool suit. What do you think? About the point or the suit. King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle Speaking before the hearing, King Arthur Pendragon said: ”Let those we lay to rest, stay in rest” A druid who went to the High Court to try to stop researchers examining ancient human remains found at Stonehenge has failed in his legal bid. King Arthur Pendragon wanted the remains found in 2008 to be reburied immediately. He was fighting a Ministry of Justice decision allowing scientists at Sheffield University to analyse the samples for five more years. His bid was rejected at a High Court hearing in London. Mr Justice Wyn Williams refused to give Mr Pendragon permission to launch a judicial review action, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to show that the Ministry of Justice might have acted unreasonably. See the rest at BBC News – King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle. *Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I...
read moreEven Swiss demons are tidy
*Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts.* I don’t know about you, but I really want to rent one of those inflatable Sumo wrestler suits and have a go at these guys. Mind you, they do look a little scarier than I would in a fat-man suit. The straw men, or empaillés, appear on the Sunday before Mardi Gras in the village of Evolène in the Val d’Herens. They wear baggy suits of sacking, stuffed with up to 30 kg of straw. Their faces are hidden under a carved mask, and they carry a broom. ©...
read moreMichael Stackpole updates his Talion Challenge to only 5,000 copies!
Michael Stackpole makes an interesting anaology on his blog about readers truly deciding the future of literature: “…this new age of writing is all about you being able to vote directly, with your recommendations and dollars, to let writers know what it is you want to see us write. In the past, your choices were limited to what editors and book-buyers thought were hot. If you didn’t want sparkly vampires, you were going to get them anyway, even if it meant your preferred reading material was squeezed out. Your desires no longer get filtered through a byzantine web of number crunchers figuring out how much of what they have to sell so they can afford offices in Manhattan. You literally become patrons of the arts, the same as the folks who paid Shakespeare and Michelangelo. I’ll write fun stories for you—in worlds you know, and new ones… This will be a time of experimentation, but now readers and writers have a ton more freedom to play and enjoy. This means you’ll be getting better stories, and authors will have the flexibility to appeal to larger audiences. With those larger audiences, and a lack of Manhattan overhead, we can keep...
read moreWhy is “CH” the international symbol for Switzerland?
Wild Maa (green man) and “Leu” (lion)… are two of three heraldic figures who take part in the Vogel Gryff festival in Kleinbasel, the part of Basel on the right bank of the Rhine. © swissworld.org Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts. A bunch of Celtic Pagans “CH” stands for “Confoederatio Helvetica” which is Latin and the official name for Switzerland. How did this come about? Well, it turns out “Helvetica” is more than just a cool font. It refers to the “Helvetians”, the main tribe of Celts that populated the area now known as Switzerland. When one mentions Celts, people tend to think of Ireland. But there were many, many, many (that’s how I say “I don’t know how many”) tribes of Celts living throughout Europe before the Romans got their mitts on them. The Celts in the British Isles were simply the last ones to be exposed to Roman occupation, so historically we know more about them than the others...
read moreAsterix and Obelix in Switzerland
“What’s a fondue Asterix?” “I expect it’s some kind of local orgy.” A quote from the most awesome historical research text series ever. I had a longer post in mind but I’ve been sucked into reading Asterix in Switzerland (No. 16) again. Gauls, Romans, Druids, magic potions, and menhir. Who could resist? Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few...
read moreWhy does the Pope have Swiss guards?
You gotta be tough to dress like this. Why does the Pope have Swiss guards anyway? This question kept nipping away at the back of my mind and was really the instigating force behind me writing The Forest Knights books (ALTDORF & MORGARTEN). I mean look at this guy–he’s dressed like a Smurf. How did they ever become the Pope’s elite bodyguard? The answer you will most often hear is because they are “neutral”, peace-loving. They don’t take sides. Ahh, that’s nice. The friendly, peace-loving mountain people are neutral. They don’t want to hurt anyone. Unless you try to cross their border. …by 1912 the Swiss Army included 281,000 men and could call on an additional 200,000 auxiliary troops…Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Switzerland that year. As the Kaiser observed Swiss army maneuvers, Swiss President Ludwig Forrer told his guest that “we have the resolute intention of protecting our independence against any attack on this [land], our dearest possession, and of upholding our neutrality against anyone who fails to respect it.” In a conversation depicted on a contemporary post-card, the Kaiser queried what the quarter of a million Swiss Army would do if faced with an invasion of...
read moreKappa Kappa Kappa!
The Kappa Hunter has gone live! Click here to buy it for $0.99 at Amazon or here to learn more I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it. I liked it so much I’ve decided to make it a series, so there will be another one coming...
read moreLast heir to Austro-Hungarian empire dies
Otto von Habsburg, the eldest son of the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire has passed away. The Habsburgs may be the villains in my novel “The Forest Knights“, but they were a remarkable family dynasty and a major player in European politics well into the 20th century. Anyone brave enough to speak out against Nazi Germany in 1938 deserves a moment of repect. “Otto von Habsburg was born in 1912, as the heir to the empire, but it collapsed at the end of World War I and the Habsburg family went into exile. After World War II, Mr Habsburg became a champion of European unity during its Cold War division. He served as a member of the European parliament for two decades. He is to be buried in the Austrian capital, Vienna. Mr Habsburg only officially relinquished his claim to inherit the empire in 1961 and five years later was allowed to return to Austria for the first time since the family fled in 1919. He was an opponent of the Nazis and spoke out against Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938.” Click here for the full BBC news...
read moreCheese, chocolates, watches and…stick fighting?
Ahh…modern day Switzerland. What comes to mind? Rolling, velvety-green hills surrounded by the snow-capped peaks of the Alps. Heidi, cheese, chocolates, watches, neutrality, democracy, banking, and cow-bells. (Had to throw that in–you can never have too much cow-bell). That’s what shows up on the surface. As we dig a little deeper we come up with the Pope’s Swiss Guards, the Geneva Convention, mandatory army service for all male adults, semi-automatic rifles in every home, and Pierre Vigny. Who? Pierre Vigny, a Parisian-born guy who ran a “stick-fighting” school in Geneva in the early 1900’s. He later moved to England for a time and became the head instructor of E.W. Barton-Wright’s Bartitsu school. Bartitsu, of course, being the martial art of Sherlock Holmes. (Although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spelled it “Baritsu” in his novels–maybe he thought it best to keep the “tits” out for the censors of that era?) “London Women of the Upper Tendon Are Learning Protection Against Ruffians” Vigny’s wife even got into the mix, and taught women how to “poke men under the ear” with a parasol. Check out the article “The Parasol for Defense” at the bottom of this page. From Heidi to stick fighting. I’m...
read more“The Forest Knights” is born
Five years ago my girlfriend said “It’s time to meet my parents.” This was my response: She paused for a very long, uncomfortable moment before responding, “Uh, yeah. I think so.” Now what’s this got to do with “The Forest Knights” you ask? Well, my girlfriend immigrated to Canada about eight years ago from…(yep, you guessed it) Switzerland. And since her parents still live there, we would need to go on a trip. Now I’ve always been a history buff, and when I finally came to terms with the fact I was going to Heidi-Land, I began to read up on the little country. When I found out this is where William Tell came from (not England!) I got especially excited, and began to hum the overture while I made a long list of all the “Tell hotspots” to visit. I met a lot of great people and saw some beautiful country on that trip. and somewhere along the way, the seeds of a novel began festering in my subconscious. At that point, all I knew for sure was it would have nothing to do with chocolate or watches. Army knives were, of course, still a...
read more