A Brief Guide To A Fantasy Arsenal

Useful advice not only for fantasy writers. Historical fiction works too…

Nicholas C. Rossis

I hosted the other day a guest post by my author friend, Charles E. Yallowitz, but today I’m sharing his excellent series of posts he has written on fantasy (Medieval) arsenal. Charles has recently shared posts on the types of swords, shields, and projectile weapons used in fantasy (and inspired by real-life Medieval and ancient weapons). I hope he continues this series, as it’s a great resource for all of us fantasy writers (by the way, if you haven’t checked out his blog yet, you should do so for his great tips on writing rounded characters, his fun fantasy short stories and a lot more).

So, let’s start with that staple of fantasy…

Swords

Here is what I’ve been able to find out about swords:

Two-handed swords

• the European longsword, popular in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance.
• the Scottish late medieval claymore (not to be…

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Nunta la Lipoveni

Pentru ca ador toate traditiile lumii.

Jurilovca online - Comuna Jurilovca -Rusi lipoveni Jurilovca

E un ritual necunoscut pentru majoritate. Care incepe cu o lunga perioada de petit si logodna, continua cu vinzarea/cumpararea miresei si cu petrecerea burlacilor, dar mai ales cu traditii specifice de cununie. O nunta lipoveneasca e un adevarat eveniment pentru comunitate si, in acelasi timp, o ocazie de pastrare a specificului etnic.

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La lipoveni nu s-a pomenit mireasa cu decolteu, volanase si cap descoperit. Femeia lipoveanca n-ar indrazni sa apara in fata preotului, pentru cununie, fara sa fie imbracata in costumul traditional si fara sa aiba capul acoperit de un batic.
Pina la momentul cununiei e drum lung insa, cu petit, logodna, „devisnik”, cumparat/vindut mireasa.
Rolul de petitor revine, de obicei nasului de botez sau unui apropiat al familiei viitorului mire. Intr-o zi de duminica sau de sarbatoare, neaparat inainte de apusul soarelui, petitorul merge la casa fetei. Daca aceasta accepta cererea, ii trimite baiatului un batic.

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Portret de scriitor – Marina Costa

Portret de scriitor – Marina Costa

Radio Shalom a prezentat, în emisiunea din 16 august 2017, portret de scriitor Marina Costa. Un interviu realizat de Camelia Pantazi-Tudor cu Marina Costa, care prezintă VIEȚI IN VÂLTOARE.

The Countess of Carlisle

Milady de Winter… the real one.

Cryssa Bazos

This article was originally posted on the English Historical Fiction Authors (EHFA) site on May 4th, 2017. For more in-depth articles on British history, visit the EHFA. You won’t be disappointed.

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Photo credit: xelaba via Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

One of the most intriguing characters in historical fiction is Milady de Winter of the Three Musketeers. Alexandre Dumas depicted her as a lethal spy whose loyalties were sold to the highest bidder, notably the Cardinal Richelieu.

The inspiration for Milady was a socialite and renowned beauty of her day, Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle. Though Lucy was not an agent of Cardinal Richelieu, she held court at a time of social upheaval when men were drawing battle lines against King Charles I. The real woman was even more fascinating than the fictional one.

Lucy Percy, by Anthony van Deck [Public Domain] via Wikimedia Commons Lucy Hay was born Lucy…

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Joyeuse Fete de la Saint Jean!

Des poemes et des fleurs pour une fete inoubliable…

Vieti în vâltoare, de Marina Costa

O recenzie despre Vieti in valtoare

ivanacristescu

de Antoaneta Rădoi

23 martie 2017; ora 17,00; Casa de Cultura Calderon; Eveniment Editura Betta;  Lansare de carte: “Vieţi în vâltoare”, autor Marina Costa.

Pe numele ei real Lelia Vasilescu, Marina Costa lansează un nou titlu, în două volume, “Viţi în vâltoare”, după ce mai anul trecut debuta cu “Pribegii mărilor”.

Ambele titluri poartă amprenta inegalabilă a unui povestitor iscusit, ca şi cum povestitorul însuşi ar fi trăit aventura epocii respective. Nu-i simplu deloc, zic, să relatezi povestiri intercalate cu fapte istorice concrete petrecute într-o epocă ce nu-ţi este cunoscută decât din istorie sau, mai bine zis, din….”istorii”. În “Vieţi în Vâltoare”, ca şi în “Pribegii mărilor” dealtfel, Marina Costa îmbracă pielea personajului despre care vorbeste, aici Rossana, purtându-te în aventură printr-o antrenantă lectură pe care eu ca cititor am parcurs-o, parţial aseară după lansarea cărţii, cu inocenţa şi curiozitatea cititorului care vrea să afle ce se afla-n capitoul…

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5 Steps to Finding Fulfillment

Cultivating Connection

Full disclosure: I am not necessarily a believer in the idea that everyone has a singular purpose in life, and that we would all wake up excited to go to work every day if only we could find our purpose.

Besides being a very privileged perspective, I think it’s a risky proposition. I mean, let’s be real. Most people work to live, not the other way around. And most are doing extremely valuable work that needs to get done, and there is great honor in that. So I’m not knocking it. Not one bit.

But what if you were in a position where you were feeling chronically disillusioned and discouraged by the daily grind, and it was beginning to take its toll on your psyche, and perhaps even your physical health? And what if you had the means to do something about it? Should you?

Well….perhaps. That’s a personal philosophical…

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