To kick things off, I am starting to look at an old TV show idea I had back when I was an animator. History returns to a young girl, not as an object or a memory, but as an animal. A crow specifically. More to come in the near future. ;)
This is amazing! I love how you explore the role of history as more than just past events. It's a living, evolving concept that has real ramifications on the present and future.
And of course, thank you so much for the shout-out! I loved that excerpt you chose from one of my D'veen Tales!
I've been slowly reading through all of them, and I think this one was my favourite so far because of that thematic wedge. It really inspired me how this character who had been a footnote in a previous story, suddenly had a whole moment to himself, to be unpacked, and to have empathy gifted to him.
The whole, lets play with history thing was a great reveal too for the Bard character (whose origin I shall not type for fear of spoilers)
I am glad you liked the choice! I have really enjoyed both sides of your work, but I have an opinion along the lines of, 'people forget non-fiction can often be just as captivating and wonderful as anything fictional'. Your writing really captures that for me. I am glad to have stumbled upon it.
As someone whose main character is a conflict archaeology lecturer, I'm right with you on the idea of history as a living, breathing thing.
Sometimes I think people go to re-enactments (no, I will not share photos of me in kit) and think "it's just funny people dressed up, be something to see" and then you teach someone how to make a bit of fingerloop braid, or they smell Tudor herbs, and suddenly it becomes "Real", it becomes about human beings who had the same hopes and dreams and wants as we do: they just expressed them differently. Maslow's hierarchy is universal.
I couldn't agree more. One of my favourite things growing up was going to these country fairs and steam rallies you sometimes get in the UK during the summer. They were places where the past became tangible. Not just through dress up, but in every sense. Hearing the sound of a lathe as someone carves a piece of wood with pedal power and string. The smell of coal being burnt to power a great goliath of a machine. The nostalgia inducing colours present in vintage fairground rides. It all lives and breathes right here with us.
haha, I have never been to a re-enactment myself. But I have on occasion dressed up as a life drawing model when teaching drawing classes. There is something about wearing Roman get-up that is very empowering.
I now want to go smell tudor herbs. What plants would they have used more commonly. I am imagining things like loveage, mugwort, thyme?
Lovage is always a good one - feverfew is one of my favourites, it’s like a minty, medicinal smell. Also costmary, bible-leaf or alecost, leaves like small dock leaves that used to be used as bookmarks for people’s Bibles because the scent is quite invigorating - keep you awake through all those long, dull sermons. Also useful as a flavouring for ale.
When we were doing 1640s events I used to like to make up little nosegays of my herbs for people to take away - rosa mundi roses, the big floppy striped ones with old-fashioned scent, rosemary for your memory and to keep you young, mint to stir up a greedy desire for meat, costmary because it’s lovely..
Oh wow, I thought I was a pretty keen gardener, but I havent heard of most of these. I am going to get my research hat on and see if any of these can be grown in my raised bed. I love the thought of a tudor garden.
The Rosa Mundi parcels sound absolutely wonderful. I am a big fan of anything that has that quite old school floral rose aroma.
Also a great use for a leaf, to keep you awake when you are working through a tedious book. I have a textbook I am studying wine from currently, and this would be a great aid.
Rosemary is the one you want as an aid to study - Ophelia, "Here's rosemary, that's for remembrance: I pray you, love, remember."
Most of all though I liked the idea that people would come and talk to me at events and go away with a "thing", something that was an actual sensory experience. This is what people smelt, or touched, or felt, in history - they liked things that were pretty, too.
It's one of my pet hates, the assumption that folks "before" just wore brown and ate brown food and their whole lives were just bland and featureless.
There are many odd assumptions like that. That the world was mud coloured. I think if people compared their churches now, to back in the past when things like statues were brightly painted, we are more often commiting the sin of dreariness.
One of the others that bugs me is that assumption that people were less intelligent. They perhaps did not have as many shoulders to stand on in terms of collected knowledge. But that doesn't make them any less sharp. I imagine in many cases they were probably sharper and wittier than us, given their lack of mind numbing distractions.
Re: wine, at the moment, all of it is being studied. I am taking my WSET diplomas final exam next may, and it literally is titled, the world of wine. It covers most countries, most styles. Its all rather intense. I sometimes think I write, partly just as an excuse to not have to think too much about it.
I love the idea of a diploma in wine, though. I’m conflicted between the idea of being able to study the subjects that spark you just for the fun of it, and the idea that education ought to be “sensible”…. it really shouldn’t, should it?
I think past-people would be horrified that we don’t use all this colour - “but you glorify God in other ways, right? I mean, we do colour and beauty and joy as an outpouring of praise and thanksgiving, that’s what you do, right?”
Ummmm…. no….. it just…. is? Background noise really?
Ahh, it was a no brainer. I have loved how steeped in history all your work is. It was simply a case of finding in amongst your stories an example from the modern perspective. :)
To kick things off, I am starting to look at an old TV show idea I had back when I was an animator. History returns to a young girl, not as an object or a memory, but as an animal. A crow specifically. More to come in the near future. ;)
This is amazing! I love how you explore the role of history as more than just past events. It's a living, evolving concept that has real ramifications on the present and future.
And of course, thank you so much for the shout-out! I loved that excerpt you chose from one of my D'veen Tales!
I've been slowly reading through all of them, and I think this one was my favourite so far because of that thematic wedge. It really inspired me how this character who had been a footnote in a previous story, suddenly had a whole moment to himself, to be unpacked, and to have empathy gifted to him.
The whole, lets play with history thing was a great reveal too for the Bard character (whose origin I shall not type for fear of spoilers)
The algorithm is fighting me, so I got notified only now. But wow. This was such an interesting cut through all our different works.
As you can imagine I love history, especially the 'story' part.
When you cannot tell for certain what happened, and maybe you want to believe in the most fantastical version of events-just a bit.
And I love that you went for my non-fiction. This is exactly what I hoped it would be for someone reading it. So thank you.
I am glad you liked the choice! I have really enjoyed both sides of your work, but I have an opinion along the lines of, 'people forget non-fiction can often be just as captivating and wonderful as anything fictional'. Your writing really captures that for me. I am glad to have stumbled upon it.
Thank you.
I agree with you, and I have actually noticed more pieces of the 'narrative non-fic' variety around lately.
Personally, I try to toe the line between research and entertainment.
(Is that just a documentary though? 🤣 Who knows 😅)
The hardest thing is getting feedback on it though.
Non-fiction doesn't really prompt comments like fiction does. At least, not my kind of non-fiction.
I should have just written articles on how to write articles about how to write articles to transform into notes though, if I wanted comments.
As someone whose main character is a conflict archaeology lecturer, I'm right with you on the idea of history as a living, breathing thing.
Sometimes I think people go to re-enactments (no, I will not share photos of me in kit) and think "it's just funny people dressed up, be something to see" and then you teach someone how to make a bit of fingerloop braid, or they smell Tudor herbs, and suddenly it becomes "Real", it becomes about human beings who had the same hopes and dreams and wants as we do: they just expressed them differently. Maslow's hierarchy is universal.
I couldn't agree more. One of my favourite things growing up was going to these country fairs and steam rallies you sometimes get in the UK during the summer. They were places where the past became tangible. Not just through dress up, but in every sense. Hearing the sound of a lathe as someone carves a piece of wood with pedal power and string. The smell of coal being burnt to power a great goliath of a machine. The nostalgia inducing colours present in vintage fairground rides. It all lives and breathes right here with us.
haha, I have never been to a re-enactment myself. But I have on occasion dressed up as a life drawing model when teaching drawing classes. There is something about wearing Roman get-up that is very empowering.
I now want to go smell tudor herbs. What plants would they have used more commonly. I am imagining things like loveage, mugwort, thyme?
Lovage is always a good one - feverfew is one of my favourites, it’s like a minty, medicinal smell. Also costmary, bible-leaf or alecost, leaves like small dock leaves that used to be used as bookmarks for people’s Bibles because the scent is quite invigorating - keep you awake through all those long, dull sermons. Also useful as a flavouring for ale.
When we were doing 1640s events I used to like to make up little nosegays of my herbs for people to take away - rosa mundi roses, the big floppy striped ones with old-fashioned scent, rosemary for your memory and to keep you young, mint to stir up a greedy desire for meat, costmary because it’s lovely..
Oh wow, I thought I was a pretty keen gardener, but I havent heard of most of these. I am going to get my research hat on and see if any of these can be grown in my raised bed. I love the thought of a tudor garden.
The Rosa Mundi parcels sound absolutely wonderful. I am a big fan of anything that has that quite old school floral rose aroma.
Also a great use for a leaf, to keep you awake when you are working through a tedious book. I have a textbook I am studying wine from currently, and this would be a great aid.
Rosemary is the one you want as an aid to study - Ophelia, "Here's rosemary, that's for remembrance: I pray you, love, remember."
Most of all though I liked the idea that people would come and talk to me at events and go away with a "thing", something that was an actual sensory experience. This is what people smelt, or touched, or felt, in history - they liked things that were pretty, too.
It's one of my pet hates, the assumption that folks "before" just wore brown and ate brown food and their whole lives were just bland and featureless.
Anyway that's my rant over!
Studying wine? What are you studying?
There are many odd assumptions like that. That the world was mud coloured. I think if people compared their churches now, to back in the past when things like statues were brightly painted, we are more often commiting the sin of dreariness.
One of the others that bugs me is that assumption that people were less intelligent. They perhaps did not have as many shoulders to stand on in terms of collected knowledge. But that doesn't make them any less sharp. I imagine in many cases they were probably sharper and wittier than us, given their lack of mind numbing distractions.
Re: wine, at the moment, all of it is being studied. I am taking my WSET diplomas final exam next may, and it literally is titled, the world of wine. It covers most countries, most styles. Its all rather intense. I sometimes think I write, partly just as an excuse to not have to think too much about it.
I love the idea of a diploma in wine, though. I’m conflicted between the idea of being able to study the subjects that spark you just for the fun of it, and the idea that education ought to be “sensible”…. it really shouldn’t, should it?
I think past-people would be horrified that we don’t use all this colour - “but you glorify God in other ways, right? I mean, we do colour and beauty and joy as an outpouring of praise and thanksgiving, that’s what you do, right?”
Ummmm…. no….. it just…. is? Background noise really?
I'm going to scrub myself with rosemary next chance I get.
I promise nothing mind, I’m just your friendly local Early Modern herbalist….
Wow!!! I am honored to have been included!
Ahh, it was a no brainer. I have loved how steeped in history all your work is. It was simply a case of finding in amongst your stories an example from the modern perspective. :)