Versatile Has New Meaning!

Blogger and fellow WCDR member Collette Yvonne has nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award!  Cheers, Collette!  I appreciate your interest in my blog and welcome the nomination with heartfelt thanks.

This is an award you earn by nominating 15 others who enjoy your insights and observations as a blogger.  I'm tremendously pleased that Collette has added me to her list.  I never considered myself so much a 'blogger' as a 'writer', and started my web site to develop a profile of myself as a writer and communicate with the enthusiastic readers of my stories. 

In fact, the blog has become a cherished part of this process, and I soon found writing these posts a meaningful connection to my followers and fellow bloggers.  With this nomination, I now feel like a bonafide member of the blogger community.  So, in the interest of this rite of passage, here are my 15 nominations for web sites I love (in no particular order) and the people who write them, followed by 7 things you may or may not know about me, and the rules of the VBA below.

1. Cryssa Bazos: A world of adventure, love and war in 17th century England, and Highwaymen that just won't quit.  For dash and dare, and solid historical fact, Cryssa is a good one to watch.

2. Elaine Cougler: Loyalty, a Canadian twist on the American War of  Independence, and the journey of a writer.  Elaine is a feisty writer with equally plucky characters in her Loyalist series of books.

3. Gwen Tuinman: Stories, words and whispers, all inspiration for Canadian frontier enthusiasts, and seekers of intergenerational truths.

4. Amber Robinson: Illustrator, animator, artist of princesses and all things that go bump in the night!

5. Sandra Clarke: Paranormal walk into the unknown, boldly going where fear is a dream and the unknown an irresistible challenge.

6. Dale Long: Inkstroke, Author's Voice, charcoal sketches, creeps and fascinations, and all things fearward.

7. Dorothea Helms: The Writing Fairy makes it all better.  Fairy sprinkles that make the unimaginable real, and the journey a ton of fun!

8. Rich Helms: Absolutely brilliant resources for all writers on creating a book trailer video, how to and why not, and why you can't do without one! (see my Legend home page for mine, produced in Rich's BT class!)  This and skate bikes, coffee, hanging off a cliff in Costa Rica, and a whole lot more!

9. Leetah Bagalle: The hard truth.  Honesty in a writer is hard to find, but we make our own truths, and Leetah knows all about that.  Brave Blog with honest insights.

10. Lilianna Tommisini: Time for a break to sample life's greatest pleasure- food!  Lili's recipes, insights into cooking and food are the dream column of the Montreal Examiner.  My Cookbook Addiction is just the cure for winter cravings!

11. JL Madore: A writer to watch, untethered, blazing trails, paranormal, romance....it's all here!

12. English Historical Fiction Authors: The aristocracy, English Civil War musings, research, writing, the Historical Novel Society, and more insights for HF authors and enthusiasts.

13. Ruth Walker and Gwynn Scheltema: Writing retreats that celebrate the writer, editors, story doctors, very sharp blue pencils, Ruth and Gwynn at Writescape are a writer's best friends.

14. Kevin Craig: Burned, Broken, Poets and Long Summers, Kevin is an extraordinary YA author who takes on the bravest subjects with forgiveness and style.

15. Sharon Overend: A journey prize nominated writer and editor with insights and success indicators to share, short story awards, and a novel now offered for publication.


7 Things to Share About Me:

1. I have a diploma with distinction in Commercial Communications, and once worked in high tech as an Advertising exec with a budget of $100 million. My novel, Wings of a Fly is based loosely on those days.

2. I worked in product placement in Hollywood in the nineties, and have met Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Heffner, Dom Deluise and Dyan Cannon.  Unfortunately, the closest I got to Peter Falk was his car.  You can still see the Corel balloon and products on reruns of Frasier, Seinfeld, and other shows, as well as a few movies, including Twelve Monkeys.  To this day, I am an honorary member of the Set Decorator's Society of America.

3. My Dad had an old army truck from the second world war which he owned with his Bay Hunt Club hunting buddies.  He designed a bright yellow logo for the club and painted it on the driver's door.  He and his buddies used to drive it north of Lanark to their hunting camp and drive through the Clyde River, which at times came half way up the windshield of the truck.  Years later, they sold the truck, and I found it some time later at the War Museum in Ottawa.  There is a picture of me in evening attire stepping down from the truck, the only time I was ever in it.

4. My wedding pictures were taken by a student of Karsh, and the images won photography awards.  The photographer sold the rights to my wedding photos to a CD-ROM company, who released them on a license free CD worldwide.  Somewhere in Japan, there are probably busboards with my picture on them.....

5. I moved to the GTA to take a job running environmental programmes for industry, and launched an education initiative called Building a Sustainable Future, which awarded scholarships to students at the high school, college and university levels for their innovative environmental ideas. I sat on the executive boards of several environmental organizations, including The Canadian Brownfield Network, Energy Star and Ontario Centres of Excellence. 

6. An avid supporter of films, I won a Gold Remi award from the Wordfest International Independent Film Festival as Executive Producer of A Sustainable Future: The Story of the Earth Rangers, produced by Clare Productions.  I also served on the Board of Directors for Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre, and was a script consultant and executive producer in the early development for A Windigo Tale, the American Indian Film Festival's Best Picture film.

7. There is a running theme of rabbits through my life that is probably too crazy for a memoir, but I have drafted some of it anyway under the working title: One Rabbit.


The Versatile Blogger Award Rules:

• Display the Award Certificate (cut and paste it from my post)
• Write a post and link back to the blogger who nominated you – that’s me!
• Nominate 15 other bloggers
• Inform them of their nomination via comment on their blog
• Post 7 interesting things about yourself

Judgement Day

Today is the anniversary of the execution of King Charles I of England, that most majestic and complex of kings.  To many, a martyr who died for the cause of Royalty, and to some, an unbending tyrant who imposed his fanatical beliefs of divine right upon his people.  Given the confusion and paranoia of the times, I suspect the truth is somewhere in between.  This was, after all, the era of witch trials, religious persecution, gunpowder plots and assassination attempts. 

The execution of Charles I, 1649

Charles' grandmother, Mary Stuart, the infamous Queen of Scots, was the first reigning crowned head to be executed on a public scaffold (Henry VIII's wives being consorts).  The horror of precedent was not lost on Elizabeth I, her cousin, who prevaricated on the execution of the death warrant, even after what could be described as a balanced trial (Proof! Mr. Secretary, bring me that proof first!) established that Mary had plotted to assassinate Elizabeth, her cousin and Queen of England.  Only subterfuge by Elizabeth's counsellors finally ensured the execution.


Elizabeth Tudor's agony and fury upon discovering that the sentence had been carried out is testament to her foresight in recognizing the royal tragedy.  Kings were no longer above the law.

So it was for Charles.  His people saw fit to judge his actions as king, to blame him for political wrangling and subterfuge, spying and waging war on his subjects when they would not uphold his law.  Even today, we wrestle with these questions.  What is the balance between the needs of our leaders and the rights of our people?

In London, England, recently, to attend the Historical Novel Society conference, I managed to slip away from the fascinations of historical and story discussion, and visit the Banqueting House, the last surviving wing of Whitehall Palace and the place of King Charles I's execution.

By all accounts, Charles deported himself as a gentleman during his incarceration at Whitehall, and with dignity and courage on the day of his death.


 


And certainly the Banqueting House was the setting for it.  A posh place indeed with high white pillars and marble walls, carved details and priceless works of art, and to crown it all, King James I by Peter Paul Rubens, emerges majestic from the clouds on the ceiling above.

 

James Stuart was a true believer in the divine right of kings.  With John Donne's brilliant expostulations from the pulpit of St. Paul's, James practically invented the concept of kings who could rule unquestioned.  And he rewrote the bible to prove his point.  Only God's right hand would be worthy of such a task. 

Whitehall Palace, c. 1675

The Banqueting House is interesting for another reason.  It's easy to gaze up at the ceiling, lying in one of the bean bags strewn about the floor or gazing at one of the mirror stands installed for the purpose, and listen to the guides tell the story of Charles I's last walk through this hall, how this place was the site of his journey from a 'corruptible to an incorruptible crown', and forget that Whitehall was once a sprawling palace. 

Charles and his court lived here.  He and his wife, the venerable Henrietta Maria, raised their many children here, held masques, conducted the nation's business, and celebrated their daughter's wedding to William of Orange.


James I and his son Charles had been born in Scotland, but Charles' children had all been born in England: English princes, raised to serve the crown and uphold English law.  Two of Charles I's children- Charles and James- became English kings themselves, two- James and Mary- spawned three other English monarchs- William, Mary and Anne.  That is the legacy of Whitehall.

As the principal royal residence, Whitehall defined the richness, artistry, and beliefs of the Stuart monarchy in England.  And, as Charles I stepped out of the second floor window onto a scaffold this cold January day 366 years ago, and died boldly, with the dignity of his crown intact, he drew the admiration of adherents and enemies alike.  He had defined an age of elegance and royal manners that did not die with him. 

The Cromwell regime, for all its repudiation of the concept of monarchy, in the end was more a hiatus in the political arena than a lasting legacy.  It could ultimately not defeat that royal veneer.  Like the painted masterpiece on the ceiling of the Banqueting House, heralding the triumphant ascent of King James to the divinity that transcends earthly disruption, the monarchy in Britain endures; its dignity, pomp, veneration, for all its buffeting then and now, survives.  And we can thank Charles Stuart I for that.  For, like Britain herself, in dignity and duty and courage, he never flinched.

For more on the life and execution of Charles I:

Official Web site of the British Monarchy

The History Learning Site

Cryssa Bazos, 17th Century Enthusiast

@CharlesStuart42

BCW Project - British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate

Brittania

 

The Maple and the Ash

This Christmas, my sister Lorie gave us all a very special present: beautifully wrought wooden bowls.  These true gifts were crafted by my uncle, Bob Clayton, with wood from the maple tree we were forced to cut down in my mom’s front yard this past year.  

The maple tree was planted in 1978 by my father, to commemorate the marriage of my eldest sibling, Tom, to his wife Karen.  It was barely taller than me at the time. 






Me, with my sister Lorie 1981



As we grew, so did the tree, until it towered over the house.  My father would sit on the porch, stare at that tree, and say it was getting too big.  But he let it grow, for reasons I understood completely.  That tree was part of our family. 

Mom, with Lorie, Tom and baby Sally










In 2011, Dad and I sat on the porch of the home I grew up in, the house he bought with his pregnant wife over 50 years before, and where he had raised a family. 

 

The sun shone over the neighbourhood on a perfect July day, as if everything were going to be perfect, the birds singing, the grass lush and green, my mom’s roses in bloom.  Only now, my Dad knew he was dying and so was the tree.  It was my 50th birthday.  And Dad said, “I should have taken that tree down . . . I wanted to . . .”  He turned to look at me, and I understood the regret, the desire to preserve a life we all valued. 

 

And I said, “I will take care of it, Dad.”

 

 

He was 98 pounds by this time, the first I’d ever seen my Dad look old.  He passed away two months later from esophageal cancer. 

Landscapers came to assess the trees on my mother’s lot, and they agreed the maple must come down, and the many mature ash trees in the backyard would need to be treated to prevent infestation of the Emerald Ash Borer, now sweeping through Ontario.  It seemed to me that so much of what I thought was permanent was being eroded.

The Maple and the Ash

by SA Moore

 

Cut down,

because you towered over my mother's house;

the wedding that planted you

long since sprouted grandchildren

Housefront obscured

 

Infested,

because Chinese lumber is cheap;

fifty years at creekside

no match for foreign pests

Backyard at risk

 

Alone,

because black cells invaded my father’s stomach;

the marriage that made you

cut short to fifty-five years

Inside suspended 

 

After the tree was removed, the house seemed lonely and exposed.  The driveway was stacked with hunks of wood that had once been our tree.  The landscapers told us the centre of the tree had been rotting, but the limbs were solid.

My younger brother, John, began inviting people to take pieces of the tree, and his friends from my dad’s hunting camp and my uncle, a wood carver like my dad, obliged. 

 

To have a piece of that tree now in my house, and so beautifully crafted is a reminder of the values my dad and I shared.  Family comes first, true beauty lies in duty, and our place on this earth requires dedication . . . and sometimes, it requires letting go.

 

Writing Doesn't Have to Be a Solitary Act

The slogan for The Writers' Community of Durham Region is not just a mantra, it's a singular truth.  Writers often feel closeted in their passions.  We dream of other worlds as we examine the past, envision the future.  And sometimes we don't tell anyone for years at a time what's going on in our creative mind's eye.  We quietly, obediently live other lives, and do what reality requires on a daily basis.  But whenever we can, we take the opportunity to hide away and escape to that other world that accepts our musings as reality.  Our real reality.

The WCDR is holding a massive book fair in the Durham Region to encourage local writers to come out of the shadows and unveil their creative selves for the benefit of booklovers.  I will be joining over 80 others at UOIT to reveal the creative world that has captured me for so many years. 

The image above is a new drawing created by Brittany Leclerc and Amber Robinson of AmberAnimations which I will be unveiling at Bookapalooza on Saturday, November 22.  It is part of a collection of tapestry images that brilliantly unfold the story of my trilogy, Legend of Three Crowns.

Over the next few weeks, we will be posting these images in a new portal about the world of Aramanda, the princess and would be queen of three mythical kingdoms.  Legend of Three Crowns, Dark Lady and The Third Crown follow Aramanda through her early days as Princess of Lyxton, her contests with her brother, battles, dark secrets, mystical conquests, tragic love, and bitter struggles.  Palaces, court life, sumptuous balls, and sixteenth century towns come to life at the expert of hands of Amber and Brittany. 

We look forward to sharing these images with you on this site over the next two weeks.  I will be posting excerpts from Book One for you read and enjoy as we add the character portraits and scenes in vivid colour.  And, yes, there's even a booktrailer.  But if you can't wait, come to Bookapalooza and see them for yourself.  I will be at booth 45, beside the marvellous historical fiction writer, Elaine Couglar and across from the fabulous Writing Fairy and Booktrailer101.  We promise you a world of creative imagining and plenty of reveal about the secret musings of writers. And admittance is free!

History as Real Life

To historical fiction writers, there is nothing so real as history.  We marvel at how it mirrors our present lives, how it makes current affairs sound familiar. The choice between romanticism and reality is a mark of preference, and every author must make it.  I like to think there is romance in our present lives that can be found in the past, and hard reality, too, that comes vividly to life in historical context.

On a recent trip to London, England, to attend the Historical Novel Society Conference (#HNSLondon14), I took two weeks to walk the historic streets of this ancient city and discover new treasures in its present that would reveal more vividly to me its past. 

What I found, of course, was a curious mix of past and present, examples of human nature and its accomplishments, that cannot exist without the other.  Travelling alone, I took to the habit of people-watching, and some of my photos reflect the singular dramas of locals and tourists, co-mingling against the backdrop of one of the biggest and most historic cities in the world.  For me, the present of London unfolded as a mix of classes struggling to exist as one, from Camden Town Market where I visited friends, to the Victoria and Albert Museum that reveals, room after fabulous hall, the grandiose claims of a larger-than-life empire. 



                           The impressive façade of Buckingham Palace is witness to daily drama, where local meets and tourist

The Wallace Collection is close to the University of Westminster where I stayed, so I walked over to see what treasures it held.  A mansion built in the late sixteenth century that once entertained Charles I, it is one of London's best kept secrets.  And for any historical enthusiast, what a treasure trove!  Renowned for its armoury collection, these rooms are arguably the most impressive, but the entire house is a wonder. 

Reading about battles is a cerebral exercise; seeing the weapons of a past age, and the depictions meant to represent the battles they were used in brings home the need to interpret history, to recount, relate, rationalize, and romanticize its meaning.  London is a feast of artifacts, archives and real life examples of the results of centuries of battle.  The Wellington Arch, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Horse Guard, the Banqueting House, and of course the iconic Tower of London are just a few examples of the storehouses of history, good, bad and ugly, waiting for historians, writers and the curious to experience and interpret how these items and the events they represent have made us what we are. 

What history forgets: which window was Charles' I's last view?

Yoda suspends disbelief before the National Gallery

 

The history of our past, the sum total of who we are, can be larger than life, awkward to recapture, and unwieldy to climb down from once we try to climb on top for a larger view. 

 

 

Ultimately, the link between who we were and who we are today is the mystery every historical writer wants to tackle.  We look for the clues, wonder at the resonance as we trace past to present, and find answers in the hard realities mingled with the romanticism of a former age we want to believe in. 

 

 

 

This imperative was never more poignant than the poppies that sprang up on the green of  The Tower moat this year.  Red ceramic poppies- 888,246 to represent those who died in WWI, were placed in bold splendour against the backdrop of the ancient palace and prison walls, the skyline mixed with the old and new of a burgeoning city.  The cause and effect of past and present doesn't get more real nor as romantic a tribute as that. 

 

 



Nothing is More Busy and Wittier Than a Hound

And so begins the Legend.  This book plate from a medieval royal manuscript (British Library, Royal MS 12 F. xiii, Folio 30v)  is drawn to represent King Garamantus with his noble Hounds as depicted in the eighteenth chapter of  'De Proprietatibus', a collection of the works of Pliny and Aristotle and of the medieval physicians and romancers.

OF THE HOUND,

Nothing is more busy and wittier than a hound, for he hath more wit than other beasts. And hounds know their own names, and love their masters, and defend the houses of their masters, and put themselves wilfully in peril of death for their masters, and run to take prey for their masters, and forsake not the dead bodies of their masters. We have known that hounds fought for their lords against thieves, and were sore wounded, and that they kept away beasts and fowls from their masters' bodies dead. And that a hound compelled the slayer of his master with barking and biting to acknowledge his trespass and guilt.  Also we read that Garamantus the king came out of exile, and brought with him two hundred hounds, and fought against his enemies with wondrous hardiness.

In Legend of Three Crowns, King Francis cultivates his 'Hounds', three gentlemen of his bedchamber, who do his every bidding.  Amusing, witty, and very busy annoying  Francis' court and bedding the lords' wives, they yet have a greater purpose, which the King's daughter, Aramanda, discovers in her quest to be named her father's heir. 

Book One of the trilogy focuses on this fairy tale existence King Francis has built for his country and the stability for his dynasty, centred around the mystical birthmark of his daughter's in the shape of three crowns.  But like any good medieval fairy tale, the plot soon becomes dark. 

To protect a family secret and preserve an illicit operation, Francis orders the murder of his minister, Wyerly, a man who has befriended Princess Aramanda for political gain.  The mystical forces of her family's dark past begin to invade Aramanda's seemingly idyllic life, and she sees a graphic premonition of Wyler's murder.  Her brother, Edourd, ruthlessly allied with the lords, is determined to best her and replace her in her father's affections, securing the crown for himself.  But the hounds, led by the King's favourite, Milton, ally with Aramanda, and their mischief proves effective in staunching the lords' advantage.

Aramanda's belief in loyalty and honour tie the hounds irretrievably to her, and Milton, desperately in love with her, struggles to serve her, even as she is tied irretrievably to the Legend of Three Crowns. 

Favourite Inspirations from History

The Writer has a unique relationship with History.  It starts in our childhood, when we know we want to write, and we start recording in our heads, impression by impression, what makes life meaningful. 

For me, those early morning trips to the rink for my brother's hockey practises (sorry John, it was not your journey to AllStar that was on my mind, but the Centre 70 library next door! Love ya, though!) that illuminated my love of the history that came before our time.  I devoured every book on European history, especially kings and queens that I could find in that small Frontenac County library.

Life has been busy.  I made my living in a modern emerging sector, Communications, and did very well at it, even working for a number of years in high tech.  But history is still my first love, and I have spent as much time reading, writing, and thinking about historical events as I have making a living and enjoying my profession. 

My profession is now writing, and I love it!  I'm just fine-tuning my trilogy, Legend of the Three Crowns, and my agent, Sam Hiyate will soon be offering it for publication.  It's a literary crossover historical fiction fantasy about a princess who discovers what it will take to be queen.  As far removed from my own life as one could get you could imagine, but in fact, those who know me will see the place it comes from. 

The process of working through this book, its characters, theme, the deep emotional place that gave birth to its journey has been a revelation.  The hours, years, I spent reading history, fiction and non-fiction, and everything in between have all been poured into this book.  I have travelled from places in Canada to the U.K., the U.S, and Europe to research this story, and have written on planes, trains, garden benches, my mother's sofa, coffee shop armchairs, sanctuaries, writing retreats, my living room and my spiffy renovated office.  Creating my own history.

Most recently, I spent a week in the Bahamas with fellow HF writer Cryssa Bazos, who strangely did not mind spending 6 hours a day or more scribbling in a notepad or banging on a keyboard, while the sun shone warm outside on a clear March day.  All in all a wonderful holiday. I rewrote 100's of pages of my ms that week.  And we did find time to visit historical sites and the pirate museum!  One day, Cryssa got a fb message about posting your favourite authors of all time, so we took a break to make our lists.  My list is a testament to the resonance of the historical inspirations in my life.

On the week that the fabulous HF writer, Barbara Kyle, will be attending WCDR's RoundTable, I thought it a good time to share the list with my readers.  Hope you find some favourites of your own, or find time to read them and create new favourites!  Sadly, some of the Canadian names on this list have passed away, but their work is part of my history, and the collective history of what makes us Canadian.  And for a Canadian Literary Historical Fiction writer, that is a fact of relevant and significant inspiration.

1.      Alexandre Dumas

2.      John Meade Falkner (Moonfleet)

3.      Anne Bronte

4.      Emily Bronte

5.      Jane Austen

6.      Hugh MacLennan

7.      Robertson Davies

8.      Dr. Suess

9.      Ivy Wallace (Pookie children's stories)

10.  Charles Dickens

11.  W.O. Mitchell

12.  Hester W. Chapman (historical biographer)

13.  Shakespeare

14.  Brothers Grimm

15.  Bruno Bettelheim (child psychologist and the writer of the Meaning of Fairy Tales)

16.  Margaret Mitchell

17.  F. Scott Fitzgerald

18.  Paul Quarrington

19.  Alistair MacLeod

20.  Mordecai Richler

21.  Leonard Cohen

22.  Farley Mowat

23.  Nino Ricci