The Scaldic Maide

To me, character development has got to be one of the most fascinating and rewarding aspects of writing. I used to really struggle with that; my characters always felt rather cardboardy or two dimensional, their voices lacking in individuality. It was only when I started to study screenwriting that things really started to click for me. For the first time, I felt I had some tools with which to enrich my written world. When you're writing a screenplay, you don't have 500 pages to spend describing someone's innermost psyche or even their physical appearance. At best, you have a couple sentences, but by and large, the description takes place in the action itself, in the dialogue. I decided to take the same approach with my prose writing and returned to the manuscript of my novel to go over the characterizations and beef them up.

I just saw on Facebook today an article on how Viking women have been misrepresented as housekeepers etc. and neglected in literature. While I agree with the last point, I'd like to mention the fact that women did feature in sagas and poems, and not just as the trope warrior maiden. Take Auður in Gísla saga or Guðrún in Laxdæla saga - the whole book revolves around her and her love life. But the reason imo that women didn't feature as frequently is based more on what people expected of literature in the Middle Ages when these sagas were written. People wanted to hear about towering feuds, family crises, and fighting warriors, not about the kind of "quiet" action that would define most women's lives. I say quiet, as women's stories were not generally considered interesting or exciting enough to the general populace. There was no concept of a novel, nor of writing about day to day life. It was all about preserving or embellishing events. You don't hear about the cotter in the woods, either. But I do agree, there is an overall sexist bias there.

Well to me, a lot. I am the kind of person who appreciates being exposed to a variety of different names from different cultures, and I prefer to see them transliterated as accurately as possible. If the two languages are compatible in terms of sounds etc, why not show the name as it is instead of anglicize it needlessly. For example, drawing from my book, why show Vermund when I could write Vermundr? We don't write Juli for Julius or Drus for Drusus, why? Because we're familiar with Latin names. 

I´m excited to announce that my Welsh myth, The Tale of Gwawl, Son of LLwybyr, should be finished by May 2024. Here´s a little sneak peek for you - I'm hoping I captured some of the vagueness, humor, and general vibe of the Mabinogi.

Yay! The article I was invited to write for Readers' Magnet magazine went live! Below is a copy of the article.

So, I have finally come to the end of The Vow, the second and last part of Oddný Einarsdóttir. It's so hard to let go of characters that you have worked with intensively for six years! I can't envision writing anything that doesn't feature them. Still, I have to write something, I feel the urge, and I'm wondering what to pick up next (I always have a handful of ideas/projects going at the same time). There is my fantasy series, The Isle of The Mighty, which is a reconstruction of the four main stories of the Mabinogi in that I hope to create a version of the tale that may possibly have existed. Tales back then were pretty fluid, and while adhering to the same main plot etc., they could have many different versions. Hence the frequent confusion and vagueness of the fragments we have left today. I intend this series for a general audience but particularly for fantasy-loving young people, as I want to make the magic and treasure of the Mabinogi more accessible to modern kids - something they would never otherwise give time of day. 

Hi, just alerting everyone that I'm currently seeking reviewers for my book. Here is the link if you're interested in leaving some honest feedback:

Anybody want some free reading this winter? In exchange for signing up for my email newsletter, I'll send you a free ebook copy of The Sword. Don't miss out:)

I was hoping to get my Tale of Gwawl out on March 25, but due to some unforeseen health concerns I will have to delay the big day till May 25-- same date, just two months later.