Topsy-turvy Fun

Hengist Journey #2

The second Nature’s tribe book delves deeply into the traditions surrounding the “12 Days of Yule,” many of which have found their way into our modern celebration of Christmas.
Unfortunately, none of these made the cut:

Hoodening:

A motley crew would travel from house to house, playing out a short sketch featuring a man dressed as the Hoden Horse, who terrorises the children, snapping at them with great wooden jaws. He’s accompanied by the whip-cracking Waggoner, a tiny jockey who can’t quite seem to mount this terrifying beast and Mollie – a man dressed as a woman who wields a broom and chases the women around the room. Musicians play well known ditties which everyone joins in, and they are rewarded with gifts of food and coin before besieging the next household. 

Lord of Misrule - Topsy-Turvy:
Similar to Saturnalia, an ancient tradition dating back to Roman times, also the Feast of Fools - a Christian adaptation in Medieval Europe.
For many villages it was the height of the season, where everything was shaken up. Lords and masters would dress as peasants and serve their people, who donned airs and graces to match their borrowed finery for the day. Husbands and wives would swap clothes, people would wear garments back-to-front, inside out or all of the above.
A Lord of Misrule would be appointed to preside over the revelries, and he would decree a set of rules which people had to obey or pay a forfeit. The emphasis was on fun and mischief as people ate, drank and played tricks.

Freya-Day and the Queen of Winter
One of twelve days was dedicated to Freya, where people would greet each other with a traditional greeting involving a hug, kiss and even a small dance to spread the warmth and love of the season. The main feast would be split between households, with groups of neighbours banding together and each one providing one of the courses, then all moving to the next house for subsequent houses. And a different beverage would be served at each one – the original “pub crawl.”
Usually on a different day, women would be treated like queens, wearing their finery, topped with an ivy crown. Their menfolk and children would take over the cooking and household duties while they took a day off to visit with their friends.

Hengist Boxsets

The Hengest books are now available in 3 boxsets, each only 99c/99p for a limited time.
Archer's Quest has the two books featuring Archer - a 16-yr-old hottie who sets female hearts a-flutter in 2 worlds.
#1 - Archer, the Warrior, follows his adventures in his own world, where he must fight - against his enemies, his friends and even the girl he loves - in order to prevail.
#2 - Rory, sees Archer travelling to a foreign world filled with marvels such as chocolate, cars and computers, none of which exist in his own, quasi-medieval homeworld. The challenges are very similar as he meets a raft of lads - and even a girl - who want nothing more than to take him down.
Extra - Bad Lads, sees three of the thugs Archer encountered along the way grabbing the mic and telling their own tales.
Uniting the Tribes is available to read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited, and features 3 more heroes: a math geek, a time-travelling techie and a rebel gypsy.
#3 - Reagan, the Magi, has to solve a DaVinci-style mystery to determine the correct position for the next White Horse.
#4 - Slater, the Outil, travels back in time to when Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles were being built, but only he can spot the flaw in the design.
#5 - Geraint, the Renegate, has a huge task. His relationship with the Townie girl, Siany, is essential in defeating the rogue Renegates who would take over the Hengest world.
Extra - Good Guys, gives a few more supporting players a crack at the mic.

These medieval, romantic adventures form the prequel series to the Hengest adventures, and will appeal to fans of Call the Midwife, Poldark and The Good Witch who enjoy elements of magical realism, mystery and humour. Also FREE on KU.
The Nature's Tribe stories are set in 14th Century England, when plagues and witch-hunts meant it was not a great time to be a midwife. Especially one using the magic of herbs and earth energy in her healing. But Gaia has a plan for Senna and her family when the Black Death ravages the country.
#1 - 3 Handfastings and a Burial. Exactly whose handfasting is this? Senna feels like nothing but an inconvenience at her own wedding.
#2 - 12 Days of Yule. A ruthless magister or a reckless mercenary? Not much of a choice as Senna's mourning year ends.
#3 - 8 Sabbats of the Sun. Why does everyone (including Gaia) keep Cal and Lyrelie apart? Even themselves.
#4 - 13 Esbats of the Moon. Does a fallen woman deserve to find love? Eanje has no time for regrets when she falls pregnant and the father could be any of three men.

Nature's Tribe

A magical, medieval saga featuring “timeless issues of human nature.” Described as “Intense, mysterious and intriguing” with “Well-formed, endearing characters,” and “Clean, interesting story lines,” all four books are now available on Amazon, and free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Set in the times of religious unrest and persecution of “witches,” it follows feisty midwife Senna and her friends through troubling times, fighting off arrogant, patriarchal attitudes and the ravages of the Black Death. But there is a shocking motive behind everything she and her family have to endure at the hands of a corrupt magister – a plot involving Gaia herself.

Oops - I did it again.

Someday soon, I hope I shall release a book without the self-sabotage which inevitably accompanies it. You'd think after following the release process 29 times, I'd have it sussed. Nope - the 30th time was the worst yet!

Couldn't be further from the truth. Finger trouble, network failure and sheer incompetence, that well-known threesome, combined to make this one the worst muck-up yet!
A wee while ago, I thought I was putting up the edited version of 13 Esbats of the Moon. Instead I managed to upload an old story I'd been sprucing up with the possibility of turning it into the final Hengist book. I'd copied and pasted the title page, from my latest, but not altered the title.
Must Check More Than Title Page!

Despite finishing the editing rounds 2 weeks ahead of schedule, I was still getting (really important!) comments from beta readers 2 days before the deadline. Did I upload it then, like a smart author would have done? No, I did not. Because it sometimes takes 3 days for a new version to upload, and 2 betas were close to finishing, I waited, wanting to get every last teeny-tiny-typo.
BIG MISTAKE.
An hour before the deadline, I spotted the last comment in my inbox - literally a "you" should have been a "your" (one of my very frequent offenders!)
So I added that r, pressed save and went to make a celebratory cup of tea.
On my return, the internet had thrown all of its toys out of the pram, and it stayed down for the remaining 55 minutes, each one of which was a combination of angry frustration, pleading promises and "why me?" tears. How many times in an hour can you reboot routers/laptops, connect to "secured, no internet" portals and fail to notice the big yellow cable which had dropped off? Lots. Tons. Stacks.

The result of this worst hour of my life in living memory? All those kind people who pre-ordered got a racy, (unpolished) military thriller with some decidedly unsavoury scenes instead of the sweet, clean medieval romance/cozy mystery they were expecting.
To add insult to injury, my failure to notice the credit-card expiry meant my copy was not delivered on the stroke of midnight and it was several hours before I figured why. Grrr. At this point steam was figuratively pouring from every available orifice. (Ewww - nasty image!)

Any minute now, the lovely Winston will have finished getting the rush-through re-pub finished and I can start telling peeps about this conclusion to one of the most difficult story arcs I've ever tried to write. So many ambitious threads from a cast of jolly-near GoT proportions (relatively speaking - there are over 13 different women all having a crack at the mic in this one).
Did I pull it off? Only smarties know the answer.

Mad GIF from Soangry GIFs