So, here's the FB Page for "The Pendragon Chronicles", so stop by and give us a "like" and join the conversation!
And enjoy this concept image of Bedivere, drawn and colored by the highly-skilled Danny Kelly
Showing posts with label pendragon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pendragon. Show all posts
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Pendragon Chronicles
So, here's the FB Page for "The Pendragon Chronicles", so stop by and give us a "like" and join the conversation!
And enjoy this concept image of Bedivere, drawn and colored by the highly-skilled Danny Kelly
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Fuzzy Wuzzy Wuz He?
I'm having trouble lately with my "was, were" usage. I never thought about it too much before, but I heard an editor speaking the other day and he commented that he could tell an amateur writer by his (or her) use of was and were. He counted them up and if there were more than...I don't remember the number...like 4-8 I think...on a page, then he wrote the writer off as a newb!
I'm concerned about my use of "was" and "were" now.
I wish I knew more about this. Guess I have some reading to do...
Here's a clip of some current writing (warning - I have not editted this so it is raw Gates)
"The sight of Hadrian’s Wall always amazed Taliesin. He stared in awe as they approached. It had been visible now for hours, but as they got closer, it seemed to grow taller and taller.
“First time seeing the wall, bard?” Lamorak asked.
“No,” Taliesin replied. “I have been here before, but it still amazes me.”
“You have been above the wall?” Lamorak asked.
“No,” Taliesin said.
“Then why would you come here? Just to see it? Are you an Engineer as well?”
“As a bard, I travel a great deal,” Taliesin said. “I wanted to see the very line that divided the civilized world from barbarism.”
“Is that what the wall does?” Lamorak asked.
“According to the Romans,” Taliesin said.
“I live above the wall,” Gawain said where he rode close by. “I hardly find it to be barbaric. Rough maybe. The North requires hardy people, but it’s not as uncivilized as the Romans thought.”
“Not everyone thinks so highly of Roman ‘civilization’ anyway,” Morgan said with a smile.
“What can we expect above the wall, Gawain?” Arthur asked.
“It’s hard to say, Arthur,” Gawain replied. “When we traveled from Lothian, we traveled with an army. I saw the roads and the towns along the roads, but I have not ventured into the wilds much, except on hunting trips.”
“I have traveled the North extensively, Arthur,” Merlin said. “The people there are people like everywhere else. They are proud of their lands and they are fearful of outsiders. The project an image of ferocity and barbarism to keep you from wanting to ride through the gates of Hadrian’s Wall. They are not monsters and they don’t eat babies.”
“So there are no monsters above the wall?” Taliesin asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Merlin replied.
Taliesin looked at the aged wizard and wondered, not for the first time, just what mysteries Merlin had seen in his years.
The Wall loomed ahead, almost obscured through a falling snow that almost made it look like a ship coming out of the fog. The Milecastles could be seen by the flickering torches and fires that warmed the soldiers there. Directly ahead of Arthur’s party was a large fort, Aesica or “Great Chesters”
The smell of the wood fires drifted across the road and it carried with it the smell of roasting meat. Taliesin’s stomach grumbled. After weeks on the road, the thought of a fort and a well appointed kitchen struck his fancy.
“Smells good, eh?” Arthur said. “Perhaps we’ll eat better than the black bread and stew we have eaten at the way stations along the road.”
“I would like a bath and a bed,” Morgan said.
I would like to join you, Taliesin thought, but he didn’t give words to this thoughts. Morgan had been ignoring him more lately and he wondered if she was finished with him. It hurt him to think she might be. He was very fond of the learned priestess.
“Look, someone’s coming,” Merlin said, pointing up the road towards Aesica.
A pair of figures were riding towards Arthur’s party. They would surely have recognized the Pendragon standard that Bors held aloft.
“I believe it’s Lucan,” Arthur said. “I don’t recognize the man he is with, though he looks like a Ranger. Not one of Alymere’s Ghost, though.”
Arthur was right. It was Lucan, Bedivere’s half brother and second in command of The Bulls.
“I wonder if he found Bedivere like I asked?” Arthur wondered aloud.
Lucan was dressed in his armored finery as befitted a cavalry officer. His breastplate was polished, his boiled leather was shiny and neat. His blue cape floated behind him as he rode. He wore no helmet, letting his long blonde hair flow behind him. The resemblance to Bedivere was clearly visible and Taliesin saw Morgan watching the approaching warrior. Taliesin thought he saw admiration for Lucan in Morgan’s eyes and Lucan was truly a fine specimen, like his half-brother. Taliesin felt the hot stab of jealousy. "
I included a section where I described a character - in this case Lucan. See what you think
I'm concerned about my use of "was" and "were" now.
I wish I knew more about this. Guess I have some reading to do...
Here's a clip of some current writing (warning - I have not editted this so it is raw Gates)
"The sight of Hadrian’s Wall always amazed Taliesin. He stared in awe as they approached. It had been visible now for hours, but as they got closer, it seemed to grow taller and taller.
“First time seeing the wall, bard?” Lamorak asked.
“No,” Taliesin replied. “I have been here before, but it still amazes me.”
“You have been above the wall?” Lamorak asked.
“No,” Taliesin said.
“Then why would you come here? Just to see it? Are you an Engineer as well?”
“As a bard, I travel a great deal,” Taliesin said. “I wanted to see the very line that divided the civilized world from barbarism.”
“Is that what the wall does?” Lamorak asked.
“According to the Romans,” Taliesin said.
“I live above the wall,” Gawain said where he rode close by. “I hardly find it to be barbaric. Rough maybe. The North requires hardy people, but it’s not as uncivilized as the Romans thought.”
“Not everyone thinks so highly of Roman ‘civilization’ anyway,” Morgan said with a smile.
“What can we expect above the wall, Gawain?” Arthur asked.
“It’s hard to say, Arthur,” Gawain replied. “When we traveled from Lothian, we traveled with an army. I saw the roads and the towns along the roads, but I have not ventured into the wilds much, except on hunting trips.”
“I have traveled the North extensively, Arthur,” Merlin said. “The people there are people like everywhere else. They are proud of their lands and they are fearful of outsiders. The project an image of ferocity and barbarism to keep you from wanting to ride through the gates of Hadrian’s Wall. They are not monsters and they don’t eat babies.”
“So there are no monsters above the wall?” Taliesin asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Merlin replied.
Taliesin looked at the aged wizard and wondered, not for the first time, just what mysteries Merlin had seen in his years.
The Wall loomed ahead, almost obscured through a falling snow that almost made it look like a ship coming out of the fog. The Milecastles could be seen by the flickering torches and fires that warmed the soldiers there. Directly ahead of Arthur’s party was a large fort, Aesica or “Great Chesters”
The smell of the wood fires drifted across the road and it carried with it the smell of roasting meat. Taliesin’s stomach grumbled. After weeks on the road, the thought of a fort and a well appointed kitchen struck his fancy.
“Smells good, eh?” Arthur said. “Perhaps we’ll eat better than the black bread and stew we have eaten at the way stations along the road.”
“I would like a bath and a bed,” Morgan said.
I would like to join you, Taliesin thought, but he didn’t give words to this thoughts. Morgan had been ignoring him more lately and he wondered if she was finished with him. It hurt him to think she might be. He was very fond of the learned priestess.
“Look, someone’s coming,” Merlin said, pointing up the road towards Aesica.
A pair of figures were riding towards Arthur’s party. They would surely have recognized the Pendragon standard that Bors held aloft.
“I believe it’s Lucan,” Arthur said. “I don’t recognize the man he is with, though he looks like a Ranger. Not one of Alymere’s Ghost, though.”
Arthur was right. It was Lucan, Bedivere’s half brother and second in command of The Bulls.
“I wonder if he found Bedivere like I asked?” Arthur wondered aloud.
Lucan was dressed in his armored finery as befitted a cavalry officer. His breastplate was polished, his boiled leather was shiny and neat. His blue cape floated behind him as he rode. He wore no helmet, letting his long blonde hair flow behind him. The resemblance to Bedivere was clearly visible and Taliesin saw Morgan watching the approaching warrior. Taliesin thought he saw admiration for Lucan in Morgan’s eyes and Lucan was truly a fine specimen, like his half-brother. Taliesin felt the hot stab of jealousy. "
I included a section where I described a character - in this case Lucan. See what you think
Monday, April 26, 2010
This weekend
This weekend I:
- Ran 12 miles on Saturday (ouch) - getting ready for a half marathon
- Wrote some in The Pendragon Chronicles
- Got some art from Del Hewitt - first few sketched pages of "Danger Guild". Love it! (They'll be posted soon as a sneak preview)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
King Arthur
Are there any really cool King Arthur stories out there? I can name a few, I think, but I still don't find many that are done to my satisfaction. Stephen Lawhead probably got the closest with Bernard Cornwell a close second. After that, I'm not sure how to rank them. There are so many and for me, so few hit the mark.
Let me try and make a list. My criteria is "coolness" not accuracy. It bugs me when people argue accuracy for King Arthur since we can't even prove definitively if he exists AND there are already conflicting stories that are hundreds of years old. It's hard enough to find consistency with today's "Legends" (Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman, Tarzan) let alone on that is 1500 years old.
Anyway, the Green Gates Arthurian fiction list ranked in order of coolness:
Let me try and make a list. My criteria is "coolness" not accuracy. It bugs me when people argue accuracy for King Arthur since we can't even prove definitively if he exists AND there are already conflicting stories that are hundreds of years old. It's hard enough to find consistency with today's "Legends" (Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman, Tarzan) let alone on that is 1500 years old.
Anyway, the Green Gates Arthurian fiction list ranked in order of coolness:
- Stephen Lawhead's "The Pendragon Cycle"
- Bernward Cornwell's "The Arthur Books" Series
- Mary Stewart's "Merlin" Series
- Dafyd Ab Hugh's "Arthur Warlord" duology
- Jack Whyte's "Camulod Chronicles"
- Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon" (I never loved the rest of the series)
- Excalibur (the movie)
- King Arthur (the movie)
- The Last Legion (movie)
- Cherith Bladry's "Exiled from Camelot"
- Clemence Housman's "The Life of Sir Aglovale De Galis"
- TH White's "Once and Future King"
- Douglas Clegg's "Mordred Trilogy"
- Vivian Vande Velde's "Book of Mordred"
- Howard Pyle's "Story of King Arthur and His Knights"
I haven't read every Arthur book, but I have read these. I may amend the list as I read more.
Friday, July 3, 2009
A ltle preview
Check it out! A little concept sketch of a young King Arthur from Green Gates's "Pendragon Chronicles" - now in development.
Ok...at this point, Arthur is not "King" yet...you'll have to wait for the book.
We're a little far out on this one as of yet...2010 or early 2011, but more news will trickle out as we move along.
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