Finding the Story in History
Please welcome my guest, Gareth Williams, a contributor to the Historical Writers Forum's anthology, Masterworks. I am thrilled to share his thoughts on his wonderful story, The Watcher on the Wall. My contribution to Masterworks, an anthology of short fiction inspired by works of art, is entitled The Watcher on the Wall. The watcher of... Continue Reading →
A HISTORICAL WRITERS FORUM ANTHOLOGY La Belle Dame Sans Merci by JW Waterhouse: the artwork that inspired the story Over the years of my writing career, Celtic culture and history, and its influence on art and literature, have fascinated me for decades. Consequently, many works of art have inspired or influenced both my fiction and... Continue Reading →
Many of the posts here on this blog have migrated from my old blog on blogspot.com, which has been dormant for several years. In order to restart it, I have taken a few of the old posts, updated them, and reposted them here on my website's blog. Please enjoy!
A fictional character’s name is as important as the story to which the character belongs. The name not only needs to be appropriate to its owner’s personality and actions, but appropriate to the time as well. Little credence would be given to a story about one of King Arthur’s knights if he were called something... Continue Reading →
During the course of researching the Macsen’s Treasure series, I needed to acquire a sense of the spirituality early Celtic people might have practiced before the advent of Christianity. My stories are set in Britain in the second half of the fifth century CE (aka AD for us older folks). In the more remote areas,... Continue Reading →
While moving along with the re-edit (which is turning out to be more like an overhaul) of my first book, Into the Path of Gods, I decided to reassess one of the secrets my main character Marcus discovered. Ok, actually, he stole it from the druids. We know very little about the druids. Mostly, it’s... Continue Reading →
While researching the Macsen’s Treasure series, I’ve spent a lot of time looking for forms of rituals or ceremonies that Celtic British people of the 5th century might have used to celebrate their holidays. Unfortunately, though we have some notion of the existence a few holidays and their meanings, we have no clues to the... Continue Reading →
The what? you say. I know, I can’t pronounce it either. The Massilliote Periplus was a Phoenician sailing manual or sea merchant’s handbook thought to date from c.600 BC. The word periplus comes from the ancient Greek for “circumnavigation.” Massilliot(e) derives from the Greek colony of Massalia, founded around the same time from which the... Continue Reading →
Since the decision came about to re-edit the first book of the Macsen’s Treasure series, Into The Path Of Gods, I knew a number of historical points needed to be corrected as well as some other logistical issues. One scene that originally took place along a roadside needed to be moved to a more logical... Continue Reading →
King Arthur, if he existed, would have lived in the latter part of the 5th century and the early part of the 6th century, with his height of power around the year AD 500. The word 'knight' is a Norman invention, brought to England with the invasion of William the Conquerer in 1066, more than... Continue Reading →
Kathleen Guler 