Life for Medieval Women

     My historical romance series is set in the 830s, just after Charlemagne’s reign, during the Middle Ages or medieval period of history that most historians consider to span 500 -1500AD. Comparing the Middle Ages to present day is a wide-open topic because things are so different now. I’ll limit myself to the Carolingian Empire in the 800s.

     I chose to write about Charlemagne’s empire because it has the strong societal structure that many of us enjoy in historical romance, but is not England or Scotland, which are heavily used in the genre already.

     The three books in the series feature very different women as heroines. In each, I created a woman who represents the female reality at the time. None are warriors, none are formally educated, none escape society's expectations of her, though each, in her way, exert her influence to make her life suit her.

     In Vain, my heroine is from the merchant class. Her life in her parents’ weaving and tailoring shop is very simple. They have a front room where they work and sell, and a back room where they live. The home has one open hearth with a small hole in the roof to release smoke. Fabric is woven on a rough frame of wood. Metal pins and needles exist but are too precious for her to buy. Hers are made from bone or thorn. She eats bread, cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables grown or gathered nearby, and meat rarely. She drinks watered wine or ale. It sounds dismal, but Lily loves her life, and she fights to maintain herself when she is unexpectedly left alone.

     Theophilus, the hero in Vain, is a nobleman. (Don’t worry, his name is often shortened to Theo, so you won’t be reading that eyeful for an entire book.) When he is forced to marry Lily, her transition to life in his great house is challenging because she has crossed a societal boundary, and he is pretty angry at having marry her.

     Life as a noblewoman is still rustic by our standards. She has an outside wells and latrine, her kitchens walls are black with soot from an open cookfire, and only she and her husband enjoy much privacy. Most of the nobility can’t read or write, entrusting such work to clerks, though I found it hard to stick to that with my heroes. In addition to clerks, there are servants to do the less pleasant physical work, a much better selection of food from the countryside around town, and social diversions.

     The Evolution Series fits into the medieval historical romance category because it is more rustic and gritty than, say, a regency. In my recent release, Vain, I say that in this time period “lives were, for the most part, everlasting struggles for survival.” Though those struggles are not the main focus of my stories, suffice it to say that none of my heroines gets the vapors because an earl steals a kiss on the veranda. Each of them has a life path she is trying to follow, and I do my best to show her story while respecting the reality of the time period.

    Now you just have to pick which one to read! The stories stand on their own, so you can start anywhere. The titles describe the hero of each book. I list them here in order, with a short description, and they are available on most online book vendors.

    Unbidden - When the emperor chooses a husband for Rochelle, she tries to drive her betrothed away, but by the time she realizes she might want to keep him, she has been too successful and other forces are dividing them as well. Unbidden is only $0.99 and since it is the first book, I am providing a few buy links here. Amazon    Barnes & Noble    Smashwords

    Redeemed - Can a quiet widow help a damaged, secretive man find redemption? This book features the villain from Unbidden and if available in the Evolution Series bundle with that book.

    Vain - A tailor’s abandoned daughter fashions a vain nobleman’s tunic, finding passion between the neckline and hem as misfortune forces her into his precarious aristocratic world.

If you'd like to follow Jill Hughey's activities, please visit her blog at http://jillhughey.blogspot.com, her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jillhugheyromance, or follow her tweets @jillhughey.

Thanks for visiting today!

Top Ten Actors to Play Theo

A blogger I visited asked me to pick the top ten actors I would like to see play Theophilus (Theo) in a movie. I had so much fun I thought I'd share it again here!

Many authors find pictures of half-naked men to “flesh out” the physical appearance of their male characters. I don’t. My new release is Vain, and it is the first book for which I even sought headshots of characters. These I gleaned randomly off the internet. No celebrities included. So, needless to say, the request to pick, not one, but TEN actors who could play my hero was a little tough but ended up being surprisingly fun!

The hero in Vain is named Theophilus, though it is often shortened to Theo. He is a nobleman in Charlemagne’s Empire. The important characteristics an actor would need are the ability to portray both authority and sympathy, soulful eyes, a tidy beard around the mouth only, and a strong but not overly bulky physical build. He must be aristocratic, and I found myself drawn to English and Irish actors.

I had to use the IMDB website to make sure I was choosing men the right age. Scrolling through the “Best-looking and Talented Male Actors Under 40” list is not a bad way to kill a half hour of your life, I’ll tell you that. Here’s the link if you want to look up these handsome gentlemen.

1.                    Rupert Penry-Jones – he’d have to dye his hair a little darker, but his hazel eye color, ability to play both cool detachment and sympathetic tenderness, and overall gorgeousness would overcome any other obstacles. Solid body without steroidal overtones = perfect. If you haven’t seen the version of “Persuasion” where he looks deeply into Anne’s eyes and says A man does not forget such a passion with such a woman…. OMG, he rocks Jane Austen.

2.                    Jonathan Rhys Meyers – hair would have to be longer and darker, and too bad about the addiction issues, but he can play the tender aristocrat. I love him in “August Rush”.

3.                    Ryan McPartlin – anyone watch the TV series “Chuck?” I always liked Ryan’s voice.

4.                    Matt Bomer – another “Chuck” actor, currently on “White Collar” and cute as a button. Love that strong jaw.

5.                    Adam Brody – perfect hair, good eyes, and if you haven’t seen “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” his fifteen minutes are wonderful.

6.                    A young Richard Gere (if I had a time machine), because of the hair and the shape of his eyes. Lily, the heroine, describes Theo’s eyes as soulful and a little droopy at the outer corners, and I often thought about Richard Gere’s eyes as I was writing. He definitely has the authority with sympathy thing down, too.

7.                    Hayden Christensen – nothing like going from “Star Wars: Episode III” to the Middle Ages!

8.                    James Franco – he wouldn’t be my first choice – a little too popular and sort of odd, if one believes the tabloids. His looks would work, though.

9.                    Joseph Gordon-Levitt – that’s a stretch, but maybe….

10.                 Max Thierot – no idea if he can act, but the looks are right on.

Theo can be found in Vain available from most online book vendors including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and Kobo.

Jill Hughey writes a blog, is on Facebook, and tweets from @jillhughey.

Meet Lily

Today I am interviewing Lily, the heroine of Vain. Her gray eyes are lively, and topped by thin, angled eyebrows. A delicate blue veil covers her hair, though the color of her brows would suggest her locks are dark, perhaps even black.

We are visiting in the cavernous hall of the Lord of Ribeauville’s home. We sit in wooden armchairs with comfortable pads on the seats. A small table between us holds our silver goblets of watered wine. Smoke rises from the central hearth nearby, the low fire warming the chilly spring air.

Lily has been welcoming to me, but tentative, not yet completely comfortable in her role as mistress of such a great house since her marriage to Theophilus last fall, in the year 839. She smiles expectantly as she awaits my questions, revealing tiny dimples in her cheeks.

What do you do to relax?

“This will sound odd. Designing a garment relaxes me. By designing, I mean those first moments when the fabric is spread on the worktable and I have the image of the tunic in my mind but I have yet to place it on the fabric.” She nods, reliving the memory of such a moment. “Perfection is possible then. The pursuit of it diverts me so much that I do not worry about other things.”

I think maybe I can guess, but as a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Lily brushes at the fabric of the cornflower blue tunic that seems simple yet flows around her legs with the perfect drape. “The only thing I ever wanted to be was a tailor, just like my parents.”

Tell me about your family.

“The beginning of my answer is very difficult for me to talk about.” Lily frowns and repositions her arms so that her fingers can caress a needlecase hanging from her simple gold girdle. “My mother died about eighteen months ago. My father abandoned me very soon after her death, leaving me to fend for myself in my parents’ weaving and tailoring shop here in Ribeauville.” Lily smiles faintly. “If not for Theophilus — his friends and your readers would know him as Theo — if not for him, I do not know what would have happened to me, but now he is my husband and the most important part of my family. We have Nox, our orphaned house servant, and my father is trying to get back into my good graces.” She shrugs. “That is my family.”

If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?

Lily looks away to a point near the door to the master chamber. “There is a young noblewoman who thought she would marry Theo. She was very mean to me when I was a lowly tailor, and she tried to…interfere…with Theo and me after he was forced to marry me.” Lily frowns as she looks back at me. “I was sharp with her, without really understanding the trouble she was in. I am not proud of that moment, even though Theo and my friends assure me she was more in the wrong than I.”

Is there a piece of advice that you have received that has really stuck with you? If so, what was it?

Lily smiles. “Marian is an older woman who did her best to advise me in the early days of my marriage. I was miserable. I did not know what to do about my equally unhappy, angry husband. She told me to begin as you mean to continue. It was good advice because she taught me to not accept behavior in myself or Theo that I did not want to persist through the rest of my life.”

Do you have any special routines or rituals?

“Oh, this is embarrassing.” A blush stains Lily’s cheeks and she shakes her head. “To get me to stay in bed when I was little, my father told me to sleep tight against the wall so the monsters could not reach me. Now I find it hard to fall asleep without something solid against my back.” What does your husband think of it? She blushes even more. “He is even better than a wall, so we have both learned to cope.”

Vain, Book Three in the Evolution Series, can be purchased at most online book vendors, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and Kobo.

Author Jill Hughey can be found at her blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter @jillhughey.

Historical Titles on Book Lover's Buffet!

I'm so excited that Redeemed is part of the BOOK LOVER'S BUFFET, featuring 175 books for $0.99, with buy links to many online vendors. Some wonderful historical romances are included that you can find here. I'm providing a brief overview of each in the list below. Check them out! I'm sure you'll see some delicious reads you can't resist. And why should you, when they are all 99 cents and calorie-free!??

Rogue's Hostage by Linda McLaughlin
His hostage.  Her destiny.  In the midst of a war that threatens the fabric of her life, Mara finds herself torn between love and loyalty.

An Improper Situation by Sydney Jane Baily
From dusty Colorado to civilized Boston, Charlotte and Reed encounter sinister forces and scorned women. With passions ablaze yet often at odds, they find themselves in a very Improper Situation. 

Wear Black by Eilis Flynn and Heather Hiestand

Death did not end his service to the British Empire. Death is only the beginning...Wear Black 

Regency Romance: To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield - Book #1 Wicked Wagers Trilogy

Spirited heroine, rakish duke, and three wagers that will change their lives…

Tame a Wild Wind by Cynthia Woolf

He’s looking for work not love. She’s looking for a ranch foreman not the love of a lifetime.

To Wed The Earl - Regency Novella

Miss Miranda Price detests her neighbor Edward Havens, the rakish Earl of Edgerton - but when he catches her breaking into his library at midnight, secrets are revealed that will change the course of their lives... forever.

The Escort  by Gina Robinson True love runs deep.

Storm on the Horizon: Kit thinks he’s helping Tatiana to hide her powerful magic from Georgian society, but he’s about to find out her secret’s much bigger than he ever imagined.

An Exotic Heir: Warning--dangerous to your heart: love and revenge in Regency Calcutta.

Ventre a Terre
Rosamund Hilliard, singing for her supper at the grand houses of England, must flee her suitors when her scheming is discovered. 

And, last but not least, Redeemed by Jill Hughey. Can a quiet widow help a damaged, secretive man find redemption?

I hope you'll visit the BOOK LOVER'S BUFFET where you can find a wide assortment of romances across all genres for just 99 cents, plus enter to win prizes!

WHAT IF THE LEGENDS WERE TRUE? by Vijaya Schartz

CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE an edgy, Medieval Fantasy Romantic series, featuring a family of immortal Pagan ladies, descended from angels and humans.

Find this series in kindle HERE

I love to suspend the reader's beliefs. What if? What if there were angels walking among us? What if the immortals described in legends actually existed? What if angels did mate with human females in the faraway past, as the Bible says, and produced long-lived hybrid beings who look like us and walk this earth, some fighting for good, others for evil? What then?

I like to think I could recognize one in the street. Could you? What would make them different from us? A glowing aura of goodness? A disturbing sense of evil? Probably none of the above.

Still, there should be a way to recognize an immortal, an angel, or a Fae walking among us. Here are a few pointers:

Real angels do not have wings:

Only in the tenth century did Western Christianity start representing angels with wings. But in the ancient biblical texts, they never had any, except for a specific category of angels described with three pairs of wings and four heads. According to ancient texts, the divine messengers we call angels looked human. How else would they have passed for humans when they visited Loth in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? They are described in the scriptures as beautiful young men. So beautiful that the debauched inhabitants of the ancient city wanted to purchase them for sexual favors.

Immortal are very beautiful:

That's a given. Angels are always gorgeous according to the scriptures. Besides, if you don't age and have supernatural genes, then you should be flawless and irresistible. This is especially convenient in romantic novels. We love our gorgeous immortals. Even the evil ones, like Lucifer, or the bloodiest of vampires, are said to have an irresistible charm.

There is a special light in their eyes:

If eyes are the windows of the soul, then much of their good or evil nature should filter through the eyes of immortals, angels, Fae and other supernatural beings. Movies have gone so far as to represent evil beings with blazing red eyes. That would be a hoot and a half... and very scary, late at night on a street corner.

Immortals can be killed:

That's why witches and sorcerers were burned at the stake. In Highlander, they can only be killed when you sever their head. In the Curse of the Lost Isle, my immortal ladies fear holy water and death by fire. Many methods are used to kill vampires. I've never heard of a way to kill an angel, but I'm sure there is somewhere a secret demonic book of spells that teaches exactly that. Shame on them.

I hope that you meet one of these extraordinary angels, a good one, mind you. And I hope you recognize him or her and feel blessed for having seen an immortal.

I also have two twin Archangel novels:

CRUSADER and CHECKMATE. They are more of a contemporary paranormal futuristic nature, but my hero is an archangel nevertheless. 

 

Vijaya Schartz

Swords, Blasters, Romance with a Kick

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Find my books at:

AMAZON - BARNES&NOBLE - ARE

and everywhere books and eBooks are sold