February 2023 update #5

 

A lot of writing progress in the last week - I should finish chapter 14 today! This takes Gwernin & company to Stonehenge, where they plan to watch the midsummer sunrise in the next chapter. This was not really a good decision on their part; Stonehenge (and Avebury, their next target) being in Anglo-Saxon territory, in the expanding kingdom of Wessex. Complications may ensure.

Pertinent reference for this chapter:

Wessex in the early Middle Ages by Barbara Yorke, London : Leicester University Press, 1995.

February 2023 update #4

 Since the last update, I've really got going on the writing. Finished chapter 11 (The Two Wells) on Friday; chapter 12 (Camlann Field) on Sunday, subject to a little tinkering; and I've got the larger part of chapter 13 (In Arthur's Hall) done already. After that I'll have to see what goes in chapter 14, which will be transitional to the next set of linked chapters. Those will involve some people Gwernin has met before. :)

Februry 2023 #3

 After spending several days on the Taliesin project, I'm finally back to The Old Gods Endure. I spent a lot of time proof reading the manuscript to date, fixing a number of minor issues, and redoing the chapter formatting, then managed 285 words on chapter 11. I hope to finish that chapter by this time next week, hopefully sooner.

I've also changed the header on this blog to match my business cards. The ogam letters on the branch spell out "tre gwernin", which means "Gwernin's home".

February #2 - An unexpected detour

 I have been putting in a lot of writing time the last few days, but not on The Old Gods Endure. Instead I've  been combing back through the Storyteller books to date and The King's Druid for snippets about Taliesin. I was beginning to have the feeling of potentially painting myself into a corner which led to my writing The Druid's Son in order to get Mac Criomthann's background straight. I don't plan (lol) to stop working on Old Gods in order to hare off and write Taliesin's story, but I've sorted out pertinent snippets into an timeline, and have only found a couple of minor contradictions to date. Now onward w/ Gwernin. :)

February 2023 #1

 Only 80 words so far on Chapter 11, but I hope to write more today. The last week was dedicated to research, plus coping with some very cold weather (highs in the teens F). The next week should be better. Currently useful references have included Geoffrey Ashe's Arthurian Britain, and the next three chapters will deal partly with Taliesin's experiences before and after Camlann.

January 2023 #3 update

 Chapter 10 is coming slowly, but it's coming. I need to finish it this week. At least I've mostly got last week's snow shoveled, and can concentrate on other things. 

Chapter titles so far, btw:

Prologue
1. Llys-tyn-wynnan
2. Pengwern
3. setting out
4. the hound lord
5. the hill above the yew wood
6. the town outside the walls
7. the place of many gods
8. the waters of the goddess
9. the third time
10. the cave of ghosts

As usual with my Storyteller books, I'm planning on 31 chapters, so you can see I have a way to go!

Update 1/25/23: finished chapter 10 today. Now I have to do more research...

Very slow progress

 

Mostly tinkering and thinking this week as far as the new book goes. I have got the party as far as Cheddar Gorge, where they are about to be trapped overnight by flooding. Chapter title: the Cave of the Ghosts.

Last Saturday Rowen and I attended the SCA's Caerthe 12th night - the first time I'd made it there in about four years - and I sold some books. Most of the sales were to people who hadn't seen my books before, and were either Storyteller, The Druid's Son, or one or more of the poetry collections. This is good so far as getting new readers, although I had expected more interest in The Fallen Stones. I need to follow up by finding more opportunities to merchant this year.

A New Year beginning...

 Well, having got through all the winter holidays (and the associated winter weather), I am finally starting again on chapter 10. At this rate, I will be lucky to finish the book this year, but we'll see. I'm not sure I am going to keep the present cover image, but haven't found anything so far that I prefer.

November 2022 update

 

I'm finally getting a little writing done again on "The Old Gods Endure" - 1,075 words today on chapter 9. Late September and October were crazy, and it's taken me this long to get going again. There was also the usual research pause, with interruptions. Hopefully I'll finish this chapter in a few days and move on.

Old Gods update 8.1

 Writing has been slow this month, but I finally finished Chapter 7 a few days ago, and after spending more time researching, map reading, and generally fiddling with the planned order of the next few chapters, I finally started Chapter 8 yesterday. This takes Gwernin and his friends to Aquae Sulis (Bath). It seems pretty clear that a lot of that Roman city was in ruins by our story date of 562 AD, but the hot springs were still there... and perhaps other interesting things.

Some nice cool damp weather here in Denver today, which matches the weather I'm describing in the story for a change. :)