About
I'm an artist, a writer, and I live in an old farmhouse on top of a windswept hill with my Fred, our son, four cats, and one dog named Max. I'm an independent author, my novels, Dusty Waters: A Ghost Story (2009) and The Fractured Hues of White Light (2010) are published by Field Stone Press.
A King Under Siege: Book One of The Plantagenet Legacy
Description
<p>Richard II found himself under siege not once, but twice in his minority. Crowned king at age ten, he was only fourteen when the Peasants' Revolt terrorized London. But he proved himself every bit the Plantagenet successor, facing Wat Tyler and the rebels when all seemed lost. Alas, his triumph was short-lived, and for the next ten years he struggled to assert himself against his uncles and increasingly hostile nobles. Just like in the days of his great-grandfather Edward II, vengeful magnates strove to separate him from his friends and advisors, and even threatened to depose him if he refused to do their bidding. The Lords Appellant, as they came to be known, purged the royal household with the help of the Merciless Parliament. They murdered his closest allies, leaving the King alone and defenseless. He would never forget his humiliation at the hands of his subjects. Richard's inability to protect his adherents would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he vowed that next time, retribution would be his.</p>
Story Behind The Book
The main character, Samantha Ryder, really fascinated me for a very long time (before she even had a name). She came from no one I ever knew... she's autistic, I never met anyone who is autistic, but... I first "met" the idea of her when I was taking a child psychology class in college (1980-1982) and I wrote a paper about autism. The mysterious condition interested me very much on a personal level that inspired me to write about it beyond that class paper. I was also taking a creative writing class that semester and I wrote a poem based on the ideas that came to me while I pieced together my paper (the poem was included in the paper, and the prof loved it!) The notion of color and emotions, art theory and art history, savants and autism continued to gather in my mind for years...I always knew I'd do something with it someday...ten years ago I started writing these things down for the first time, and this young woman with dark button eyes came into being as if she was always there, her stream-of-consciousness drawings and peculiar ways were almost second nature to me as if I have always known her...she could be me in some form since she's been with me for so long, but I'd like to think of her as her own character, created over time...no different from any other idea that inspires me to write books or paint pictures.
