A Familiar Figure - snippet from DAME AUDREY #Medieval Romance for #WeWriWa

Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors. Meet writers in various genres and read 8-10 sentence snippets of their stories. Find a new author and sample their work. Enjoy!

I am continuing snippets from my new medieval romance set in fourteenth century England in and around my hometown of Reading.
Dame Audrey was given a magic brooch by a dying minstrel and instructed to find its owner, the Green Lady of Hawthorns. She has visited the Abbey to ask the archivist, Canon Randolf, if he has heard of this lady. He is keen to acquire the gold brooch for the Church.

You can read last week’s snippet here – https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2019/08/an-eveil-relic-snippet-from-dame-audrey.html

The last lines are: Slipping the brooch into my purse, I said in a sweetly pious tone, “By God’s grace, let me pray for guidance; forswearing an oath is a serious matter.”

In this week’s snippet, Audrey walked out before the Canon had time to protest. She has gone to pray in Saint Mary’s Church, a real 12^th century church in Reading.

Please excuse my abuse of semicolons to fit. I have also removed some sentences to emphasize the main point.

     A familiar figure knelt at a pew near the altar, the auburn-haired bailiff, Selwyn Drake, with his head bowed on his chest.

     I tiptoed to the fifth row from the front, dropped onto my knees and bent over my entwined hands. Clasping my wooden cross between my hands, I prayed to the Virgin Mary and her heavenly son; I begged for a clue to lead me to the Lady of Hawthorns. No answer came; God’s words had never sounded in my mind; why should they now? 

     Several times during my prayers, my gaze strayed to Selwyn’s bright head and broad back. What was he praying for? I hadn’t seen him in the church last Sunday. He might have attended Mass at another local church, although most yeoman favored Saint Mary’s Church because of its closeness to the finest Butts for their archery practice.

      When Selwyn rose from the pew, I stood also, and watched as he walked along the aisle toward me; his head was still bowed and he looked even more solemn than usual.

     As he approached, I bobbed a curtsy and greeted him, “God be with you, Master Drake.”

Blurb:

Young widow seeks true love in this vivid Medieval romance with a touch of fantasy.

     In fourteenth century Britain, Dame Audrey cherishes her independence as the widow of a wealthy cloth merchant. But several of the wealthier traders covet her profitable business and she fears they will invoke the Abbot’s authority to compel her to marry a man of their choice. Her worst nightmare is suffering under a cruel husband like the hateful jeweler, Henry Goldsmith, who has threatened to curb her lively spirits.

     Audrey joins a pilgrimage to Glastonbury to pray for guidance. The holy relics give her no inspiration nor do her fellow travelers. On the homeward journey, she aids the dying victim of a brutal robbery. She wins the stranger’s blessing and a gold brooch with a green dragon. Back in her hometown, the faerie brooch attracts trouble from thieves of all ranks and the attentions of a handsome yeoman, Selwyn Drake. As her nightmare looms nearer, she grows desperate to preserve her freedom.

     Can the magic brooch help Audrey evade the schemes to force her into wedlock or must she submit to a husband’s will?

DAME AUDREY is on sale for only 99c at: Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N  GooglePlay

As always, I’ll be happy to reply to your comments.  
Please return to www.wewriwa.com to sample the works of the other writers.

Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.

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Dame Audrey: Medieval Background and Sources

My story of Dame Audrey Thyme, the young widow of a cloth merchant, is set in England in the late fourteenth century around the same time as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. I have attempted to use authentic descriptions of the people and settings whenever possible. Hence, I consulted books about that period and discovered several valuable on-line resources.

In the Middle Ages, people’s lives were constrained by their status in the hierarchical Feudal System. Commoners had to obey nobles and were subject to the King’s rules and religious authorities. Changes in the fourteenth century accelerated the rise of a Middle Class of people with greater independence.

Audrey's Pilgrimage

Dame Audrey takes place in the southern part of England. My heroine lives in Reading(Redding) at the confluence of the Thames and Kennet rivers. Her story begins in Glastonbury, where she is on a pilgrimage to the famous Abbey. She travels to Bristol and returns to Reading, partly along the old Roman road between Bath and London (see map). Her journey includes overnight stops in the towns of Chippenham, Marlborough and Newbury. I have assumed the travelers rode about 20 miles a day, with a midday break for a meal and to let the horses graze. The main roads would have inns and hostels about every 10 miles to accommodate travelers. Audrey and her companions ride palfreys, horses with an ambling gait that is faster than a walk and smoother than a trot. Audrey enjoys riding and keeps three horses. She has two mares for herself and her companion, Margaret. Her yeoman, John Holt, rides the third horse and serves as an escort armed with his bow and sword.

Later in the story, she visits her mother in the village of Pangbourne on the Thames about 6 miles west of Reading. 

Most people lived in the countryside in villages or farms. Ian Mortimer’s excellent book, The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century,” has a table of the estimated populations of the largest towns or cities. London was the largest city in Britain with a population of about 40,000. Bristol was the third largest city at 10,000 inhabitants. London and Bristol had flourishing harbors for overseas trade, and goods could be transported inland along the Thames and Severn rivers. Most cities and towns had populations of about 1000 to 2000 people. 

To assess the relative sizes of places, I used the on-line searchable resource of Open Domesday (1086) https://opendomesday.org/name/

Although, the Domesday Book lists the number of households counted in the eleventh century, many towns and villages do not seem to have changed much by the fourteenth century.

Reading: I have found estimates of about 1500 for the population of Reading in the fourteenth century. My rough guess translates this number into about 200 houses. Modern Reading is much larger and has grown more than its neighboring towns and cities. It has three twelfth century churches, St. Mary the Virgin, St. Lawrence, and St. Giles, and the ruins of Reading Abbey. You can see the remnants of the Medieval town in street names such as The Butts, Friar Street and Holybrook Lane. Because of the small size of the town, I decided to mention only a single merchants’ guild. 

You can find my book here:

Dame Audrey  Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N  GooglePlay

Young widow seeks true love in a Medieval romance with a touch of fantasy.

Medieval England – Sources

I found several valuable resources during my research into medieval life in the fourteenth century. 

Ian Mortimer’s The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Chaucer’s People: Everyday lives in Medieval England by Liza Picard

Other excellent sites for specific topics include:

Rosalie’s Medieval Women –  http://rosaliegilbert.com 

Medieval Farming Year - https://www.historyonthenet.com/medieval-farming-the-farming-year

Leaving Earth: Aliens Among Us, Book 2, Paranormal Romance by Liza O'Connor

A Warning from someone who knows...

“We all like to believe we are masters of our fate. However, usually it isn’t true. Somewhere, a person exists, sometimes completely unknown to you, whose slightest action impacts your life.”

Blurb

Billionaire David Ross has created a sanctuary for an alien species that superficially resembles Earth’s black panther. This race is superior in both strength and longevity to humans. David’s plan is to seed a new world with the offspring of these aliens and selected humans. Contrary to the covenants of the project, he sends a special young woman named Jesse to the island against her will. Her arrival changes more than he planned.

Excerpt

Jesse awoke to the pleasant sensation of warm rough tongues washing her body and a chorus of purrs. She opened her eyes to discover the sensation of heaviness on her body was no longer due to paralysis, rather to the addition of eight cubs draped across her as they affectionately licked and cleaned her hairless skin.

The moment she shifted her head, all eight disappeared underneath the bed. However, a second later, one head popped back up, followed quickly by another. They all looked the same. Yet when she concentrated on them, she could sense their differences. The first one was bold and brave. The second was more cautious, but very ambitious and thus determined to keep up with the bold one name, Tegra.

She mentally asked the cautious one his name, and he replied ‘Basil.’ Knowing she could hear him, he proceeded to chatter non-stop about how they had found her in their nursery and were debating whether she might be dinner.

I’m family, not dinner, she replied in a panic.

She felt the laughter of all the cubs. Basil had been teasing her. They knew very well that she was their new nanny.

What happened to the old nanny? Jesse asked with sudden concern.

The question caused the cubs to mew in distress. Within seconds, a tall blonde woman arrived and picked up Basil and soothed him. “It’s all right,” she assured him and then looked at Jesse with mistrust. “What did you say to them?”

Jesse tried to explain, but her voice had not yet returned, nor could she speak in the woman’s mind.

The woman looked chagrined and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry. I forgot you could not speak. Can you move at all yet?”

Jesse raised her hand and petted Basil. He purred in return.

“Something wrong?” Mike asked from the door.

“The children were mewing in distress” the woman said.

Jesse could hear the accusation in the woman’s voice. She thought the new girl was to blame and she held Mike responsible because he was the one that insisted Jesse was fit to be the cubs’ nanny.

Jesse reached out for Mike’s hand as he approached her. They mewed when I asked them what they had done to their prior nanny.

Mike stared at her in momentary surprise. Her ability to speak in his mind surprised him, but so had her question to the cubs.

“Why did you ask that?”

She could sense his distress as well. I was only teasing. The cubs had teased that they had thought me dinner, so I teased them in return.

“Their prior nanny died,” he explained. “They feel responsible…”

Why?

He looked around at the cubs all waiting for his reply. “It was not their fault and that is all I will say just now.”

She realized it was not a topic of discussion before the children and let it lie. Still, she wondered what the children had done to make them feel responsible for their nanny’s death.

She sensed a change in Mike. His eyes dilated as he stared at her naked body. His pants gave signs of an erection. Normally, she was a very modest person, but even now, when she could reach for the sheet to cover herself, she did not. The truth was, she enjoyed the sensation of his admiration.

“Catina, will you take the children to their dinner?”

“Mike, you know the rules…” Catina warned.

“I know them. Will you take the children?”

She gave him a warning look but did as he asked.

Once Catina and the children were gone, Jesse asked, what rule are you contemplating breaking?

Mike laughed aloud. “Not me. I always obey the rules,” he assured her. He reached down and helped her up from the bed, then carried her to the mats where he laid her down. “We are going to work on your muscles, so you’ll recover faster.”

ALIENS AMONG US

BOOK 2

Leaving Earth

AMAZON 

D2D

  

About the Author

   Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens in a myriad of genres.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT

LIZA O'CONNOR’S MANY BOOKS

Investigate these sites:

Liza's Blog and Website   Facebook   Twitter

Multiverse Blog

An evil relic - snippet from DAME AUDREY for #WeWriWa #Medieval Fiction

Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors. Meet writers in various genres and read 8-10 sentence snippets of their stories. Find a new author and sample their work. Enjoy!

I am continuing snippets from my new medieval romance set in fourteenth century England in and around my hometown of Reading. The book will release next Tuesday, August 27th.

You can read last week’s snippet here – https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-serious-crime-snippet-from-medieval.html

This weekend, I’m switching to the fantasy thread in the story. Dame Audrey was given a gold brooch by a dying minstrel with instructions to return it to its true owner, the Green Lady of Hawthorns, who lives near Audrey’s hometown. Audrey suspects the brooch has magical properties.

Please excuse my abuse of semicolons to fit. I have also removed some sentences to emphasize the main point.

In the hope of finding the home of the brooch’s owner, Audrey visits Redding Abbey to speak to the archivist, Canon Randolf of Mucklehurst. She shows him the brooch/medal.

     I pressed my question, “Do you know of this Lady of Hawthorns?” He might think me a simpleton, but I had no other clue to her identity.

     “No saint of that name is written in our books;” he reached for the medal. It emitted a red flare; he jerked away, crying, “Jesu’s blood, it stings,” and stuck his finger in his mouth like a babe.

     Faking astonishment, I asked, “What’s the matter?” If I understood his reaction correctly, the brooch had a means of repelling its enemies; the brooch had not attacked me, rather its light had healed my burns. I doubted it targeted good Christians; the Canon was renowned for his greed not piety.

     “Nothing; ‘tis an evil relic.” Composing his features into a false smile, he said, “Your best course, as recommended by our superiors, is to donate the heathen object to the abbey; I can absolve you from the oath you made to a pagan.”

     Slipping the brooch into my purse, I said in a sweetly pious tone, “By God’s grace, let me pray for guidance; forswearing an oath is a serious matter.”

Blurb:

Young widow seeks true love in this vivid Medieval romance with a touch of fantasy.

     In fourteenth century Britain, Dame Audrey cherishes her independence as the widow of a wealthy cloth merchant. But several of the wealthier traders covet her profitable business and she fears they will invoke the Abbot’s authority to compel her to marry a man of their choice. Her worst nightmare is suffering under a cruel husband like the hateful jeweler, Henry Goldsmith, who has threatened to curb her lively spirits.

     Audrey joins a pilgrimage to Glastonbury to pray for guidance. The holy relics give her no inspiration nor do her fellow travelers. On the homeward journey, she aids the dying victim of a brutal robbery. She wins the stranger’s blessing and a gold brooch with a green dragon. Back in her hometown, the faerie brooch attracts trouble from thieves of all ranks and the attentions of a handsome yeoman, Selwyn Drake. As her nightmare looms nearer, she grows desperate to preserve her freedom.

     Can the magic brooch help Audrey evade the schemes to force her into wedlock or must she submit to a husband’s will?

Pre-order for 99c at: Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N  GooglePlay

As always, I’ll be happy to reply to your comments.  
Please return to www.wewriwa.com to sample the works of the other writers.

Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.

Join me on Facebook and Twitter 

Chaucer’s England, Part 2: The Rise of the Middle Class #Medieval History

Geoffrey Chaucer from the Ellesmere Illustrated Manuscript of The Canterbury Tales

People's lives in the tumultuous fourteenth century were disrupted by the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death. These events and the accompanying social upheavals, fostered the development of a middle class of lay people who did not serve a noble. They were still the king’s subjects and were also supposed to obey the religious rules. 

1) The Plague – A series of terrible outbreaks of the Great Pestilence killed about a third of the entire population, mostly inhabitants of towns and young children. Despite the horrific death toll, the Plague years gave way to a more prosperous age. Suddenly, laborers were in short supply, and consequently valuable. They were paid better and could afford good food and houses. Lands were left vacant when their owners died and became available for purchase by the newly wealthy middle class.  

2) The Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453) – The French Wars were waged by the kings of England over their claim to the French throne and territories. The war fueled the need for soldiers, especially English yeomen with their long bows. All able-bodied Englishmen were ordered to practice archery every day. The English yeomen with their longbows formed the mightiest war weapon of that age. A skilled archer could shoot six arrows a minute with a range of several hundred yards and pierce armor. Yeomen with longbows contributed to the decline of knights as a major force in battle.  

Battle of Crecy showing Anglo-Welsh longbowmen; Jean Froissart -  http://www.maisonstclaire.org/resources/chronicles/froissart/book_1/ch_126-150/fc_b1_chap129.html

The Middle Class

3) Merchants and craftsmen in towns owned shops and traded without serving a lord. The merchants’ guild elected a town mayor from their members. Skilled people like physicians and lawyers might also work independently of a noble. 

Weavers, Giovanni Boccaccio, Medieval Life

4) Yeomen, the archers who fought for the king or his nobles, could win riches and own land. A landowner with sufficient wealth might also become independent.  

The rise of the middle class led to a blurring of the distinctions between nobles and commoners. A yeoman with modest farmland might marry the daughter of a poor knight.  

Most people lived in the countryside in villages or farms. London was the largest city in Britain with a population of about 40,000. Bristol at 10,000 people was the second largest city. Most cities and towns had populations of about 1000 to 2000 people.  

My Medieval Romance, Dame Audrey, tells the story of a cloth merchant's widow and a yeoman who inherits land. 

Only 99c at Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N

Note: My major source for life in the fourteenth century is Ian Mortimer’s The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century. 

A serious crime - snippet from #Medieval Romance for #Wewriwa

Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors. Meet writers in various genres and read 8-10 sentence snippets of their stories. Find a new author and sample their work. Enjoy!

I am continuing snippets from my new medieval romance set in fourteenth century England in and around my hometown of Reading. The book is on pre-order for release on the 27th.
My heroine, Audrey, countered a robber’s attack and met the hero, Selwyn Drake. He is acting as the sheriff’s bailiff to maintain peace in the town. His men have captured the thief and Selwyn has skillfully handled a group of alleged victims.  

You can read last week’s snippet here – https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2019/08/i-will-grant-no-exceptions-snippet-from.html

Here are the last lines for context: One of the men slunk away, as did the dubious slattern.

Please excuse my slight abuse of punctuation to fit 8-10 sentences.

     The bailiff watched her sidle toward the alley; he frowned, but said nothing. Did he let her go free from lack of proof of her complicity in the crime or was he inclined to be lenient to a woman? Either way, his merciful act did not dampen my good opinion of him.

     “Do you wish me to testify?” I asked.

     He gave me a swift, thoughtful look, before replying, “If you please, Dame Audrey; he attempted to assault you, which is more serious a crime than stealing a purse.”

     Lowering my gaze to the muddy street, I pondered the consequences. The reeve’s justice was harsh; my testimony might send the man to the gallows, while a convicted thief would merely lose a hand. 

     Pursing my lips, I nodded; I had to tell the truth, despite my regret for the severity of the punishment. Exasperation ate at me for agreeing to another delay in my preparations for the fair. Yet, I was curious to learn more about Selwyn Drake; I was impressed by his acute judgment and attractive smile.   

Blurb:

Young widow seeks true love in this vivid Medieval romance with a touch of fantasy.

     In fourteenth century Britain, Dame Audrey cherishes her independence as the widow of a wealthy cloth merchant. But several of the wealthier traders covet her profitable business and she fears they will invoke the Abbot’s authority to compel her to marry a man of their choice. Her worst nightmare is suffering under a cruel husband like the hateful jeweler, Henry Goldsmith, who has threatened to curb her lively spirits.

     Audrey joins a pilgrimage to Glastonbury to pray for guidance. The holy relics give her no inspiration nor do her fellow travelers. On the homeward journey, she aids the dying victim of a brutal robbery. She wins the stranger’s blessing and a gold brooch with a green dragon. Back in her hometown, the faerie brooch attracts trouble from thieves of all ranks and the attentions of a handsome yeoman, Selwyn Drake. As her nightmare looms nearer, she grows desperate to preserve her freedom.

     Can the magic brooch help Audrey evade the schemes to force her into wedlock or must she submit to a husband’s will? 

Pre-order for 99c at: Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N 

As always, I’ll be happy to reply to your comments.  
Please return to www.wewriwa.com to sample the works of the other writers.

Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.

Join me on Facebook and Twitter 

Medieval England in the Fourteenth Century - Part 1: The Feudal System

This post is the first of a series I am composing for the release of my new novel set in Medieval England. 

Chaucer’s Britain: The Feudal System

Most people’s status in the society depended on their position in the feudal system. The feudal system had three branches: Clergy – those who pray; Nobles – those who rule; and Laborers – those who serve. See the image above for a person in each category.

Each of these branches had its own hierarchy.

Clergy 

The Pope was the head. (For part of this century there were two competing sets of popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome. England, however, favored the pope in Rome, perhaps because of the Hundred Years War with France.)  Next in order were: Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots and Abbesses, Priors, Monks and Priests.

Nobles 

The King headed this branch and ruled everyone else. Below the King, lords and ladies with great estates, knights, esquires, and squires had decreasing wealth rank. They held allegiance to the king. 

Laborers 

The people who worked for the other classes. The major division was between freemen and bondsmen. Men and women in both categories served the wealthier nobles. Most laborers worked on farms. Freemen could own land or become craftsmen or merchants. 

Outside the Feudal System: Outlaws and Entertainers such as traveling musicians, jugglers, fortunetellers etc. owed no allegiance to a noble. 

Source: My major source for life in the fourteenth century was Ian Mortimer’s The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century. 

A young widow seeks true love in this vivid Medieval romance with a touch of fantasy

Pre-order for 99c at Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N

I will grant no exceptions - Snippet from DAME AUDREY for #WeWriWa

Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors. Meet writers in various genres and read 8-10 sentence snippets of their stories. Find a new author and sample their work. Enjoy!

I am continuing snippets from my new medieval romance set in fourteenth century England in and around my hometown of Reading. I'm happy to announce the book, Dame Audrey, is on pre-order for release on the 27th.
My heroine, Audrey, was attacked by a robber and met the hero, Selwyn Drake.  

You can read last week’s snippet here – https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2019/08/no-hedge-born-churl-snippet-from.html

Here are the last lines for context: Glaring at the bailiff, Henry Goldsmith protested, “Preposterous. I’m no hedge-born churl. Who are you to fling orders at an eminent town merchant?”

     His voice resonant with authority, he said, “The High Sheriff’s appointed bailiff, Selwyn Drake; I will grant no exceptions to the law.”  

     Henry’s broad face purpled in rage and he spluttered an oath. Curbing his anger, the brushed back his hood and doffed his red velvet cap, “Dame Audrey can vouch for my good name.”

     Gleeful at his predicament in being forced to plead for my aid, I smiled and curtsied; “Good day, Henry.” Nodding at the bailiff, I said, “I can vouch for Henry Goldsmith; he is a jeweler by trade and a senior member of the town guild.”

     “Despite your good name, Master Goldsmith, I must ask you to accompany me to the reeve’s hall as a witness. After you have testified of the man’s crime for the records, you can recover your goods.” Selwyn Drake gestured to the other victims, “All of you must come to press your claim to the stolen purses.”

     One of the men slunk away, as did the dubious slattern.

Blurb:

Young widow seeks true love in this vivid Medieval romance with a touch of fantasy.

     In fourteenth century Britain, Dame Audrey cherishes her independence as the widow of a wealthy cloth merchant. But several of the wealthier traders covet her profitable business and she fears they will invoke the Abbot’s authority to compel her to marry a man of their choice. Her worst nightmare is suffering under a cruel husband like the hateful jeweler, Henry Goldsmith, who has threatened to curb her lively spirits.

     Audrey joins a pilgrimage to Glastonbury to pray for guidance. The holy relics give her no inspiration nor do her fellow travelers. On the homeward journey, she aids the dying victim of a brutal robbery. She wins the stranger’s blessing and a gold brooch with a green dragon. Back in her hometown, the faerie brooch attracts trouble from thieves of all ranks and the attentions of a handsome yeoman, Selwyn Drake. As her nightmare looms nearer, she grows desperate to preserve her freedom.

     Can the magic brooch help Audrey evade the schemes to force her into wedlock or must she submit to a husband’s will?

Pre-order for 99c at: Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N 

As always, I’ll be happy to reply to your comments.  
Please return to www.wewriwa.com to sample the works of the other writers.

Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.

Join me on Facebook and Twitter