Info Favorites Register Log in
myArmoury.com Discussion Forums

Forum index Memberlist Usergroups Spotlight Topics Search
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > Looking for readers familiar with 1290s Wales Reply to topic
This is a standard topic  
Author Message
Angela Quarles




Location: United States
Joined: 22 Mar 2013

Posts: 5

PostPosted: Fri 22 Mar, 2013 6:11 am    Post subject: Looking for readers familiar with 1290s Wales         Reply with quote

Hello, I've just finished a first draft of a time travel romance called MUST LOVE CHAINMAIL that takes place during Madog's Rebellion of 1294-95 and I was going to see if anyone would be interested and willing to read my 10 page chapter and character outline to see if there are any glaring historical problems with the plot? Much easier to change plot problems at this stage Big Grin Msg me if you're interested, thanks!
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Shahril Dzulkifli




Location: Malaysia
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Likes: 1 page

Posts: 1,265

PostPosted: Sat 18 Apr, 2015 5:13 pm    Post subject: Looking for readers familiar with 1290s Wales         Reply with quote

I may not be familiar with Wales in the 1290s because I don't know how that country looks like during the Middle Ages.
And your book Must Love Chainmail is about a future bride who accidentally wishes herself to travel back in time to medieval Wales after she became enchanted by a folk hero, who is half-Welsh.

“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength”

- Marcus Aurelius
View user's profile Send private message
Craig Peters




PostPosted: Sat 18 Apr, 2015 8:04 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Well, for one thing, no one who is particularly well-informed on arms and armour calls it "chainmail". The term "chainmail" is an 18th century anachronism that arose based upon a misinterpretation of medieval art which led to speculation that there were several types of mail, like ring mail, banded mail, reticulated mail, and so forth. With these other types of mail, a term was needed to distinguish between them and "chain"mail, hence the term. But none of these other speculative types of mail have been found in archaeological finds, meaning there's only one kind of mail, and the designation of "chain" is unnecessary, not to mention that it was never used in the Middle Ages.

Obviously, the great majority of modern people only know the anachronistic term "chainmail", and calling your book Must Love Mail would lead readers to assume your story is talking about Sleepless in Seattle type mail. But maybe Must Love Mail Armour would be a good compromise; it is historically accurate and tacitly educates your reader without causing unnecessary confusion.
View user's profile Send private message
Mark Griffin




Location: The Welsh Marches, in the hills above Newtown, Powys.
Joined: 28 Dec 2006

Posts: 802

PostPosted: Sun 19 Apr, 2015 2:02 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Shwmae, creoso!

I don't mind much about the chainmail thing much anymore, except in cursory passing. Its so ingrained and there are better things to bang on about.

'You've got chainmail' works well... :-)

Quote:
I may not be familiar with Wales in the 1290s because I don't know how that country looks like during the Middle Ages.


It doesn't look that different to now to be honest, I'm sitting in it right now. Isolated farms and rural communities, newcomers raise eyebrows and the transport system awful. We don't hate the English, just they are so far beneath contempt that forming an opinion isn't worth the bother... :-)

I read and advise for a fair few authors, read my credits in Robyn Young's books for example. Happy to cast an eye, send it on over!

Yours, in the ancient principality of Powys,

Griff

Nos da. Pob hyw, po lwc!

Currently working on projects ranging from Elizabethan pageants to a WW1 Tank, Victorian fairgrounds 1066 events and more. Oh and we joust loads!.. We run over 250 events for English Heritage each year plus many others for Historic Royal Palaces, Historic Scotland, the National Trust and more. If you live in the UK and are interested in working for us just drop us a line with a cv.
View user's profile Send private message
Angela Quarles




Location: United States
Joined: 22 Mar 2013

Posts: 5

PostPosted: Wed 29 Apr, 2015 5:13 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Craig Peters wrote:
Well, for one thing, no one who is particularly well-informed on arms and armour calls it "chainmail". The term "chainmail" is an 18th century anachronism that arose based upon a misinterpretation of medieval art which led to speculation that there were several types of mail, like ring mail, banded mail, reticulated mail, and so forth. With these other types of mail, a term was needed to distinguish between them and "chain"mail, hence the term. But none of these other speculative types of mail have been found in archaeological finds, meaning there's only one kind of mail, and the designation of "chain" is unnecessary, not to mention that it was never used in the Middle Ages.

Obviously, the great majority of modern people only know the anachronistic term "chainmail", and calling your book Must Love Mail would lead readers to assume your story is talking about Sleepless in Seattle type mail. But maybe Must Love Mail Armour would be a good compromise; it is historically accurate and tacitly educates your reader without causing unnecessary confusion.


I know Wink But the heroine is from our time (she's time-traveled back) and so I felt it was okay for her to call it that. I'm careful that the hero never does though.
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Angela Quarles




Location: United States
Joined: 22 Mar 2013

Posts: 5

PostPosted: Wed 29 Apr, 2015 5:26 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Mark Griffin wrote:

I read and advise for a fair few authors, read my credits in Robyn Young's books for example. Happy to cast an eye, send it on over!

Yours, in the ancient principality of Powys,

Griff

Nos da. Pob hyw, po lwc!


Mark, that would be awesome. I actually posted the original request a couple of years ago, and just came back on to see if anyone would be interested in reading the completed novel since I hadn't heard anything, so am glad to see this old thread got bumped--it's now way past the 1st draft phase though.

It starts out with the heroine visiting the ruined Castell y Bere and then getting zapped back right before the Welsh lay siege to it as part of Madog's Rebellion of 1294. The hero is half-Norman half-Welsh, with his father's Marcher lands forfeited after he sided with Simon de Montfort and was killed at Evesham (and our hero was only a young lad and no one was around to plead for the pardon of the family to get the land back). Anyway, the hero is fostered with another Marcher per the usual thing, and he's grown up very conflicted about his father and also about being Welsh--like he has to be more Norman than a full-blood to prove his loyalty to King E. Obviously, the story throws him into a loop and makes him question everything, including his loyalty to the king... This is a long way of saying, I would love a Welsh perspective on this to make sure I'm getting all this right, etc. I'll PM you....

Thank you!
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Mark Griffin




Location: The Welsh Marches, in the hills above Newtown, Powys.
Joined: 28 Dec 2006

Posts: 802

PostPosted: Wed 29 Apr, 2015 5:37 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

best use email, mark@griffinhistorical.com

I often used to have picnics at Castel y Bere, my wife lived just below it.

Currently working on projects ranging from Elizabethan pageants to a WW1 Tank, Victorian fairgrounds 1066 events and more. Oh and we joust loads!.. We run over 250 events for English Heritage each year plus many others for Historic Royal Palaces, Historic Scotland, the National Trust and more. If you live in the UK and are interested in working for us just drop us a line with a cv.
View user's profile Send private message
Dan Howard




Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
Joined: 08 Dec 2004

Spotlight topics: 2
Posts: 3,636

PostPosted: Wed 29 Apr, 2015 5:40 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Angela Quarles wrote:
I know Wink But the heroine is from our time (she's time-traveled back) and so I felt it was okay for her to call it that. I'm careful that the hero never does though.

Aren't you going to have language problems? How is someone from today going to communicate? She will be encountering people who speak Middle Welsh and Early Middle English. Most of the English nobility will be speaking Norman-French.

Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen and Sword Books
View user's profile Send private message
Angela Quarles




Location: United States
Joined: 22 Mar 2013

Posts: 5

PostPosted: Wed 29 Apr, 2015 7:26 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Dan Howard wrote:
Angela Quarles wrote:
I know Wink But the heroine is from our time (she's time-traveled back) and so I felt it was okay for her to call it that. I'm careful that the hero never does though.

Aren't you going to have language problems? How is someone from today going to communicate? She will be encountering people who speak Middle Welsh and Early Middle English. Most of the English nobility will be speaking Norman-French.


Yep. I'm hoping I've made it believable, but that's another reason I'm looking for "Beta readers" pre-publication. She's fluent in English and French and works as a translator, so she's good with languages, but yeah, I have her not understanding a word anyone's saying at first, especially the hero, who's speaking Norman French. She does find a kid who speaks Middle English, which she has a hard time with understanding, but she slowly starts picking it up by listening A LOT and using her skills. But then she gets isolated with just the hero, and it's over a period of about a week that it takes her to start getting the gist of his dialect. I needed to weigh the demands of storytelling with this, as I didn't want to make this into a book about how hard a time she's having learning the language, so....

You might be surprised at how many time travel romances don't even bring up the language barrier at all. I just couldn't ignore it though--I felt it had to be addressed, because as a reader, it would annoy me not to...
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Luka Borscak




Location: Croatia
Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Likes: 7 pages

Posts: 2,307

PostPosted: Wed 29 Apr, 2015 9:38 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'm not Welsh, but I would also be interested in reading it if you don't mind several people seeing your work before being published... Wink
View user's profile Send private message


Display posts from previous:   
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > Looking for readers familiar with 1290s Wales
Page 1 of 1 Reply to topic
All times are GMT - 8 Hours

View previous topic :: View next topic
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum






All contents © Copyright 2003-2024 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Basic Low-bandwidth Version of the forum