NaNoWriMo, for those who don’t know, is National Novel Writing Month,  a period of insanity when writers all over the world commit to producing a completed novel of 50,000 words in 30 days (1667 words/day). NaNo has been going on every November since 1999, when only 21 writers participated. This year, over 130,000 writers have signed up.

I’m one of them.

But I’m not exactly playing by the rules. See, you’re supposed to start a new book, from scratch, at the beginning of NaNo. The idea is that if you don’t have anything on paper already, you’re free to let yourself go, tap new depths, reach new levels of writerly freedom. Or something like that.

But to start an entirely new piece, I’d have to stop working on Immortal Defender for a month, and  I don’t want to leave Torvald hanging that long. Besides, I’m on deadline and I simply can’t. Can. Not. So I’m going to use NaNo for my own purposes. My goal is to finish Immortal Defender during the next 30 days, leaving myself the whole month of December to edit and (here’s a concept) enjoy Christmas. I’m not writing a new book, but I will be doing the 50,000 words, at least, so I’m still meeting that part of the challenge.

I’ll be posting a NaNoWriMo widget in the sidebar that will reflect only the words I write during November, so  you and I can both keep track of my progress. I’m using the new NaNo version of Scrivener to do the drafting, and that counts daily words to keep me honest.

If any of you want to join in, it’s not too late. You can sign up on the NaNoWriMo site and jump in any time. You may have to do a little catching up next weekend, but that’s okay. I’d love it if you’d post your commitment below (I’d tell you to make me a Buddy on  the NaNo site, but I won’t be there except to log words).

If you’ve ever told yourself “Someday, I’m going to write a novel,” this is the time. Maybe it won’t be that lyrical bestseller that you dream of, but you will prove something to yourself: that you can finish a book. And that, my friends, is half the battle.

I ran into this lovely video from the Theater Department at the University of Kansas (coincidentally where my birth father went to college, and my husband’s father worked — although we didn’t meet until 30 years later, some 3000 miles away).  It’s a scene from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, performed in Original Pronunciation. This is, more or less, how the audience at Wilton House would have heard the play in 1603, just 20 years after the time of my current work in progress, Immortal Defender. Defender is set in 1583, and features a cameo appearance by my heroine’s distant cousin, one William Shakeshafte of Stratford upon Avon. I hope you enjoy this little snippet of the past.

Everything, for me. As I’ve written before, I fuss and fume until I have the perfect name for my hero, heroine, secondary characters, the heroine’s lady’s maid…All those who speak must have the right name, or I don’t hear their true voices.

Unfortunately, that’s giving me fits in this series. First, I’m using characters from myth or history (or both), and for better or worse, those folks already have their names.

And a lot of them overlap. The Henrys, for instance. In writing Immortal Champion, which is the most history-based of the books so far, I had to deal with two Kings Henry (IV and V), and three Henrys Percy (grandfather, father, and son—and believe me, the Percys didn’t stop using the name there). There were also two Ralphs Neville (father and half-brother to my heroine), plus the family re-used a couple of names between the set of children from Ralph Sr.’s first wife and his second. Keeping them straight was a struggle, but by making up nicknames and calling folks by titles or last names, I think it all ended up clear.

Now I’m working on Immortal Defender, which takes place in the reign of Elizabeth I, where we bump up against the second part of the problem:  a tiny pool of historically correct names.

In the years right after the Conquest, there was a wide base of names to draw from. While Norman-French names quickly became popular, old Anglo-Saxon names like Godric, Tostig, Leofric, Waltheof, Godiva, Eadburgha, and Cynwise held on for generations, especially in the lower classes.  But by the time Elizabeth came along, most of those old English names had vanished. According to Janelle Lovelace, who compiled information provided by the Ashmolean Museum, there were only about forty names in common use for each gender, with another hundred or so in occasional use.

In fact, from 1530 to about 1700, 70% of men had one of five names (John, Thomas, William, Richard, Robert) — and a full 29% of all men (about 1 in 3.5!) were named John.  Women had it a little better, with nine names making up 70% of the population (Elizabeth, Joan, Margaret, Anne, Alice, Agnes, Mary, Jane, Katherine). And you thought Jacob and Emily were overdone…

The third problem arises from the number of characters I’m dealing with. Three books in, and I know I’ve already duplicated at least one name — I named a bad guy “Neville” in Immortal Warrior, not realizing Gunnar’s heroine in Immortal Champion, Eleanor, would be from a real family with the surname Neville. And with the quantity of secondary characters that appear in each book. I suspect there are several others. Some writers keep huge “bibles” of their series to ensure they never reuse a name. I figure that readers know that names recur and can keep everyone straight with a little help — just like in real life.

So I’m digging deep, looking for those one hundred less common names in use in Elizabeth’s England, and when I run into a truly unique name from that time during my research, I glom onto it. Still, I can hardly wait for my guys to live until an era when I have more names to choose from.

Every time I turn around, I see yet another Viking in a horned helmet. Movies, books, graphic novels, anime, football games, even Society for Creative Anachronism events and Renaissance Faire events, where the people should know better.  And every time I see one, I want to explode. So let me be clear.

Vikings did not wear horned helmets. Ever.  

According to contemporary artwork and archeological findings, they went into battle either bareheaded or with the simple dome or cone helms that were common at the time (with or without nasal). Even their great chieftains/kings were buried with the same kind of simple helmets — some highly decorated and trimmed with precious metal. The helmet in the photo is that of a lesser chieftain, but shows the common shape (Photo credit:  John Erling Blad, from Wikipedia Commons)

However, back in the 1800s, a thousand years after the fact, some fellow in Sweden illustrated a translation of an Icelandic saga and decorated the characters’ helmets with cow horns.  And at about the same time, the image really took off in productions of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Der Ring des Nibelungen.  At least the image is justified for those operas: there is good evidence that pre-Viking era* Germanic and Celtic peoples used winged or horned helmets in rituals, and since Tristan is based on an ancient Celtic legend and Der Ring comes from equally ancient Germanic legends, wings or horns are fine.  They belong there. Unfortunately, the combination of illustrations + operatic Valkyries fused horned helmets and Vikings in European and  American imaginations

Horns do not belong on the Immortal Brotherhood or on any other Viking. Ever.

No horned Vikings.

Horny Vikings, though? Now that’s an entirely different matter….

* The Viking era runs 793-1066 A.D., or Lindisfarne to Hastings (when they conquered England — Norman = Northmen = Vikings — and settled down forever)

For more photos of Viking helmets, visit Hurstwic Viking Reenactors. There’s other terrific info in their history section, accessible from the bottom of their Home page.

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It’s contest time again! Check out the Books page to read about Immortal Champion and learn the name of Gunnar’s lady, then zip over to my contest page at Fresh Fiction to enter to win one of five prizes. First prize is Immortal Warrior and Immortal Outlaw, plus a box of delicious Harry & David truffles. Plus four more lucky folks will get their choice of either  Warrior or Outlaw (Winners may substitute another of my backlist books if they already have both Immortal Brotherhood books).

Enter Contest Here

Be sure to spread the word – the more the merrier!

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I give you Gunnar the Red…

January 4, 2011

Preorder from

Amazon, B&N.com, Borders, Chapters,  or Books-a-Million

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He faces a future of cold uncertainty, until her warm embrace…

Part of a Viking crew of warriors cursed by an evil sorceress, Gunnar the Red must toil through eternity as half-man, half-beast, living out his days as a great bull, while his nights are spent in human form. And though he keeps mostly to the wilds, his heart yearns for the simple comforts of man—and the chance to redeem a tragic past…

Seeking refuge from a bitter winter in the welcoming hall of Richmond Castle, Gunnar rescues two maidens when a blaze erupts—and his destiny is forever altered. For one of the young women is Lady Eleanor de Neville, who is immediately entranced by her rescuer. Her kiss of gratitude—the brief touch of her lips against his cheek—awakens a longing in her soul. And even when she is betrothed to another, Eleanor never forgets her courageous knight.

When Gunnar rides back into Eleanor’s life, she is consumed by undeniable passion. And though his body surrenders to her every touch, Gunnar’s heart remains imprisoned by the curse—and only the magic of the truest love can save him…

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Or does he see you?

Looks like the winner was Gunnar’s eyes. Or rather, eye. One really intense eye…

Yes, he has both. Just not here.

On the other hand, several people wanted a peek at that little Y of hip/6-pack, so check it out after the jump and let me know what you think in comments.  (And be sure to come back tomorrow for the whole delicious package.) Read the rest of this entry »

Hello?  <jumps at echo> Anyone here? <looks around>

Well, I understand if you wandered off. After all, I haven’t shown up here since, well, since forever.

But that’s because I have been showing up where it really counts—at my desk. I’ve been writing like a madwoman and (ta-dah!) IMMORTAL CHAMPION is  finished. Yep, Gunnar has his story at last — thanks to four all-nighters in the last 9 days of work, two of them *during* the RWA National Conference. (And I’ll take this opportunity to apologize again to Barb Samuels for dozing off during her workshop…)

But the work paid off, my editor loves it (says the characters are “fabulous” and “so romantic”), the book is in production, and I’ve now recovered enough to start the next book (Torvald’s story, if you’re curious).

Oh, and I got the cover.  Oh my, the cover. It’s…amazing. In the same vein as the others, but a little different. A little sharper. A lot hotter. I keep hoping somehow it will come out in full 3D so Gunnar will be touchable.

Come back tomorrow for a teaser.  In fact, I’ll let you choose…

Do you want the curve of brawny arm and shoulder, a glimpse of his incredibly intense stare, or a snip above his belt, where his hipbone meets his six-pack in an enchanting little Y of rippling muscle? (Answer in Comments)

I apologize for being so delinquent about posting here. I have an excuse that’s both good and bad.

The good part:  I’m writing my brains out on the third Immortal Brotherhood book, IMMORTAL CHAMPION, which will be hitting the shelves in January 2011. It’s the story of Gunnar the Red, who was briefly mentioned in Immortal Outlaw.

The bad part:  I’m overdue getting the manuscript in. I got way behind last fall when the whole family fell victim to H1N1 and haven’t every managed to catch up. That’s bad news, because I have the fourth book due soon too.  That’s really why I haven’t been posting here, because I have trouble justifying time spent blogging when I need to be doing my paid writing.

To help make it up to you and tide you over, here are a couple of pics of the lovely Steven Waddington, my major model for Gunnar.

I am closing in on the final chapters, so I’ll be back here on a more regular basis soon.

Hang in there, Viking lovers.

As you know (or should, as much as I’ve been talking about it <g>), IMMORTAL OUTLAW is a finalist for the 2009 RT Reviewers Choice Award for “Best Historical Vampire/Werewolf/Shapeshifter Romance.”  Other finalists in that category include THE TREASURE KEEPER (Shana Abé), LORD OF LEGENDS (Susan Krinard), SO STILL THE NIGHT (Kim Lenox), and NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (Kathryn Smith). I feel honored to be in the company of such grand, talented women.

I’d love to list all the other categories and nominees, but it would take me all day to type them up. Fortunately, there’s a pdf:  RIGHT HERE.  Pay especial attention to the Career Achievement Award nominees; they’re some of the best and brightest in the romance game.

Congratulations to all my fellow nominees.