Lady Lyonet needed help in a desperate way.  Her sister, Lady Lyoness, was the prisoner of the vile Red Knight, who coveted Lyoness’ lands and fortune.  Lyonet tore across the land and arrived in Caerleon  before King Arthur on Whitsunday.

Lyonet told the king about the evil things the Red Knight had done but didn’t mention Lyoness’ name.  Lyoness had made Lyonet promise to withhold her name because so many knights had already tried to rescue her and failed.  Without knowing the damsel’s name, Arthur would not grant his knights to go.  However, a young man who worked in the kitchen stepped forward and promised to go and rescue Lyonet’s sister.

Having no choice, Lyonet agreed.  And after Sir Lancelot knighted the young man, they set out to rescue Lyoness.  They had to go through the dreaded Black Lands and the Black Knight who ruled there.  To Lyonet’s great surprise, the young kitchen knight won!

After defeating several other opponents, Lyonet began to consider there was more to this young kitchen worker than she first thought.  He finally revealed he was actually Gareth, the King of Orkney’s son.  Also, Sir Gawain and Sir Gaheris were his older brothers.  Gareth wanted to keep his identity hidden from Arthur until he could prove himself a knight worthy of the Round Table.

Lyonet then had to admit forty knights had already tried to rescue Lyoness and been killed.  But upon seeing Lyoness from the top tower window, Sir Gareth’s courage was bolstered and called out the evil knight.  They fought many hours, until finally the Red Knight yielded.

Sir Gareth and Lady Lyoness were married soon after.  But Lady Lyonet didn’t mind.  One look at Gareth’s older brother, Sir Gaheris, was all it took to forget about Gareth.  Lady Lyonet and Sir Gaheris fell deeply in love and were married as well.

‘

What do you think about the story?  If Gareth knew the truth before leaving with Lyonet, would he still have gone?

‘

Watch for Ragnell’s story next month.

`

~Tiffany

www.tiffanygreen.net

Recently, I began the research for a set of books I plan to write and came across some interesting details about the women of Camelot.  Elaine of Corbenic is one of those women who may not be as well known as Guinevere or Morgan le Fay, but has a fascinating and terribly sad tale.

King Pelles, Elaine’s father, held the most wondrous treasure, the Holy Grail, and kept it hidden away in Corbenic.  The Holy Grail had miraculous powers to heal if one but sipped from the cup.

Elaine’s story began when the evil Morgan le Fay cast a spell, and Elaine was kept in a boiling cauldron.  Sir Lancelot heard about this wicked deed and charged to Corbenic to rescue the lady.  As was the fate of many of the fair sex, Elaine of Corbenic fell deeply in love with Lancelot du Lac. But the love was one-sided, as Sir Lancelot loved only Queen Guinevere.  (Although there was another Elaine who fell in love with Sir Lancelot, Elaine of Astolat, this was not the same lady.)

Seeing her lady in such despair, the maid, Brusen, had a plan to get Sir Lancelot and Elaine together.  Too much in love to protest, Elaine went along with the deception, and the maid informed Sir Lancelot his Guinevere had secretly arrived and would spend the night in the castle.

Upon waking the next morning, Sir Lancelot found himself in bed with Elaine, not Guinevere, and left for Camelot immediately.  Nine months later, Galahad was born, and Elaine kept her days busy with her son.

When the opportunity came to go to Camelot, Elaine went.  She continued to love Sir Lancelot with all her heart and hoped there was a chance for them.  Elaine was settled in the room next to Guinevere, and the crafty maid Brusen managed to fool Lancelot into going into Elaine’s room once again.

`

When Guinevere overheard Lancelot’s voice in the room next door, she stormed in and threw the knight out of the castle.  Grieved to the point of madness, Sir Lancelot left and roamed the land.

Two years later, Elaine came across Sir Lancelot after he had stumbled near starved to death under a fountain on her father’s land.  She quickly revived him with the Holy Grail, and he decided to stay.

`

Elaine’s happiness knew no bounds, until the fateful day Sir Ector and Sir Percival rode up.  Queen Guinevere had been searching all along for Sir Lancelot and requested him to return to Camelot at once.  Galahad, fifteen years old by then, departed after his father to become a knight.  And poor Elaine never saw either her love or her son ever again.

`

Tell me what you think of Elaine of Corbenic.  What do you think she should have done?  Fought harder for Lancelot?  Forgotten him and found another?  Taken a sword to the scoundrel?  I’d love to know your thoughts.

`

Next month, I will present the brave Lyonet’s tale.

~Tiffany

www.tiffanygreen.net

As a writer, I love words.  Words allow us to communicate our thoughts to others.  Words can make us laugh, cry, see red, get sick…you name it!  As time marches on, words can evolve and take on new meanings.  Sometimes whole new words spring up.  Neologisms are newly coined terms that have yet to enter the mainstream.

Recently, I found a few examples and, well, am still wiping my eyes.  Enjoy!

• Intaxication:  The quick spurt of joy you feel when you get your income tax refund only to wear off when you realize it was already your money.
• Reintarnation:  Dying then coming back to life as a hillbilly.
• Bozone:  A gaseous layer around the earth that keeps bright ideas from penetrating stupid people’s brains.
• Cashtration:  Having to fill up your pickup when gas is over $3.50 a gallon.
• Dope-ler Effect:  The reason stupid ideas seem smart when they come at you rapidly.
• Pokemon:  A proctologist from Jamaica, mon.
• Beelzebug:  That devilish mosquito in your bedroom when you’re trying to sleep.
• Tequilaquarium:  That place you go to drink like a fish.
• Fartsided:  What happens when you stand next to someone who ate refried beans for lunch.
• Abdicate:  Giving up on ever having six-pack abs.
• Arachnoleptic Fit:  That crazy dance you do after walking into a spider web.

*                                                                         *                                                                         *

Have you heard any neologisms you can add to the list?  Perhaps you’ve made up one and would like to share?

~Tiffany

www.tiffanygreen.net

I’ve had a great affection for all things English since I could remember.  I think that is one of the reasons I decided to write historical romance set in Regency England.  In 2010, I was fortunate enough to travel to England and explore the southern part of the country.  What a great adventure!  We visited tiny villages with thatched roof cottages to the bustling grand city, London.

So I got another opportunity to visit again last November.  We explored the northern part of England, Wales, and Scotland.  From Manchester, Chester, Liverpool, York, to tiny towns in Wales I could not possibly pronounce (I have my doubts the Welsh can even pronounce them,) the landscape was breathtaking!  Even the weather cooperated for November.  In fact, it was downright warm at times.  Must have brought a little Texas sunshine to them.  Maybe I should charge for that?  And then we went to Edinburgh.  Holyrood Palace is something to behold!  Finally, we wrapped things up in Paris.  The city was lovely, the people were gracious, and the wine was outstanding!  Can’t wait to go back.

Stay tuned for my next grand adventure.  I already have something in mind…

~Tiffany

www.tiffanygreen.net

Why is it, exactly, some books are merely okay, while others you cannot put down to save your life?  I’ve been pondering this question for a while.  Is it the story?  The characters?  What?  Why is To Kill a Mockingbird still one of the best stories ever told?  What sort of magic has Stephanie Meyer tapped into when she wrote her Twilight series?  Why can’t I stop chuckling every time I pick up my copy of Beyond Heaving Bosoms?  Okay, that last book is not a novel, but a rather hilarious glimpse into the world of romance writing.  Still, I am moved to tears with reading the blasted book.

One of my favorite things to do when reading a “keeper” book is to try and figure out why it worked so well.  Recently, I read Gaelen Foley’s My Wicked Marquess and knew within the first ten pages this book would stay with me to the grave.  So, the first thing a “keeper” book must have is a good opening.  Of course, having an interesting plot is a must as well.  Just one look at the following blurb and you know there’s no boring stuff going on inside Eclipse:

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger.  In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob—knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf.  With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make:  life or death.  But which is which?

I feel, and others may disagree, that the characters are the most important part of a story.  I have to care about them.  They pull me into the story and make me keep reading.  I must feel for them when they go through the harrowing journey of falling in love.  I must laugh when they say something funny; I must cry when their world comes crashing down around them; I must be moved to tears when they finally figure it out.  Something about the characters must stir my soul, where I have to keep turning the page to find out what happens to them.  Then, when the last page is read, I must be spitting mad that I can’t read more.  With a “keeper” book, I continue to think about the characters long after the book is put down.  I must wonder what they were like when their children had children and what happened as they grew old.  Do you ever wonder what Scout and Jem were like as adults?  I do.  For surely, those children lived and breathed and grew old, even if Harper Lee really did make them up.

Finally, I think a “keeper” book must beget more “keeper” books.  We romance writers must be so moved with what we’ve read, we wish to write our own “keepers.”  I am very interested in knowing what books you’ve read lately you would consider a “keeper” and why.

~~Tiffany~~

www.tiffanygreen.net

I know, I know, you were probably expecting me to post something Christmasy.  But I just couldn’t let this day pass without mentioning the significance of 12-21-12.  I mean, so many people around the world have been waiting years and years to see what happens today.  Right?  This is the day the world is supposed to come to an end.  Or so the story goes.

The Mayans were brilliant at keeping time and making calenders.  They were genius in mathematics and astrology.  But did they prophesy doomsday–the end of the world?  Are we going to experience cataclysmic earthquakes, will the ice caps melt and cause worldwide flooding, does the earth wobble off its axis and crash into the moon?

Hardly.  I think many people are panicked for nothing.  Just like the infamous Y2K hype, people are running scared for nothing.  The Mayan calender goes in cycles and simply starts over today.  That’s it.  Mystery solved.  Now, go enjoy your day.  The sun will rise tomorrow, the earth will still be here.

Oh, and have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

~Tiffany Green

www.tiffanygreen.net

What a wonderful opportunity we have at this time to stop for a moment and realize how incredibly blessed we really are.  Oh, sure, some of us are going through some difficult times.  Some have health issues, some are struggling financially, others may have recently lost a dear loved one.  But each of these terrible events is suffered for just a time.  Our hearts do heal.

I feel hearts heal faster when we give thanks for the positive things in our lives.  Yes, you may have lost your job, but your children are healthy.  Yes, you may have been ill a long time, but your husband of forty years is still at your side, loving you more with each passing day.  Yes, your home recently burned and it’s a struggle every day, but your friends and family are there for you.  It would be so easy to dwell on all the loss and negative happenings.  Instead, find the silver lining, reach for the hope, surround yourself with the goodness in your life.  This is the best medicine for a broken spirit.

So, this year when we gather with our loved ones around the Thanksgiving table, be grateful and give thanks.

Wishing you love and joy,

Tiffany

www.tiffanygreen.net

It’s that time of year again.  Glowing Jack-O-Lanterns spicing the air, tiny pirates, princesses, and devils demanding “trick or treat” in off-tune squeals, dancing ghosts and flying witches decorating the neighborhood.  Even Hubby wants to know when “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” special will be aired.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  Candy apples, popcorn balls, and candy corn.  (Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder why we can’t get candy corn all year long?)

I also love all the spooky stories and books.  My favorite is “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving.

Here’s a great excerpt:

An opening in the trees now cheered him with the hopes that the church bridge was at hand. The wavering reflection of a silver star in the bosom of the brook told him that he was not mistaken. He saw the walls of the church dimly glaring under the trees beyond. He recollected the place where Brom Bones’s ghostly competitor had disappeared. “If I can but reach that bridge,” thought Ichabod, “I am safe.” Just then he heard the black steed panting and blowing close behind him; he even fancied that he felt his hot breath. Another convulsive kick in the ribs, and old Gunpowder sprang upon the bridge; he thundered over the resounding planks; he gained the opposite side; and now Ichabod cast a look behind to see if his pursuer should vanish, according to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone. Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of hurling his head at him. Ichabod endeavored to dodge the horrible missile, but too late. It encountered his cranium with a tremendous crash—he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and Gunpowder, the black steed, and the goblin rider, passed by like a whirlwind. (Irving, The Harvard Classics, 1917, para. 68)

What about you?  Do you have a favorite “spooky” book you’d like to share?

**Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate.**

~Tiffany

www.tiffanygreen.net

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Reference

The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction. (1917). The legend of sleepy hollow. Irving, Washington: Author. Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/310/2/2.html

When I went to England a couple of years ago, I learned some very interesting facts.  To the average person, they may seem small and insignificant, but to a writer and lover of everything English, I gobbled them up, eager to use them in my books.

Here are a few things I learned:

• Colonel Thomas De Veil started the Bow Street Magistrates Court in 1740 from his home, opposite the Royal Opera House.  It was Henry Fielding, the novelist who sat on the bench at the court, who actually came up with the Bow Street Runners idea, formed in 1754 by his brother John, which became the first paid police force.
• Sir Robert Peel formed the Metropolitan Police in 1829, who were called “Bobbies” in his honor, and Bow Street became the first police station in Britain.  This station is the only police station in London to have a white light instead of a blue light outside because when Queen Victoria would attend the Royal Opera House across the street, the blue light would remind her of the blue room in which Prince Albert died.
• The oldest printing and publishing house in the world is the Cambridge University Press; the oldest bookstore in the world is also located there, established in 1581.
• The first botanical gardens began in Oxford in 1621.
• The Savoy Theater was London’s first public building to be lit by electricity.
• Champagne was actually invented by an English doctor, Christopher Merrett of Gloucestershire, in 1662.  In 1695, a French monk, who also happened to be a winemaker in the Champagne region, Dom Perignon, adopted the process.
• George III purchased Buckingham Palace in 1762 from John Sheffield, the first Duke of Buckingham, who built it in 1703.

Have you any interesting English facts you’d like to share?

~Tiffany

www.tiffanygreen.net

I’m the type of person who has to have the perfect working conditions in order to write.  I wish this were not so.  I wish I could write anywhere, at any time, and under any conditions.  I wish I could sit for five minutes at a bus stop and come up with something fabulous.  This is simply impossible for me.  I need long blocks of time to get in my characters’ heads, and I need quiet.

>

Some time ago, I realized I had to get away from a ringing phone, seeing dirty dishes in the sink, a barking dog, and a husband who still could not remember how to use the fax machine.  In other words, I had to have my own writer’s paradise.

>

After coming to this realization, I started planning.  What did I want? What could I afford?  What could I envision using as a special place to plot?  And that’s when it hit me.  Whenever I’ve gone to conference or on vacation, I’ve done some excellent plotting in a hot tub.  Relaxing in the warm, churning water with a glass of wine could unlock ideas, get the creative juices flowing, and had characters chattering like nothing else.  Eureka!  I got my answer and created a special place to write in my back yard.

>

*                                                              *                                                                *

I must say, it works pretty well.

How about you?  Do you have a special place to read or write?

~Tiffany

www.tiffanygreen.net