Fantasy Novel Release

I am proud to announce the release of Book 1 of my fantasy duo, “Ashes of Dearen,” which was a load of fun to work on. It’s now available free online:

 Download in various ebook formats here:

http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/23709/ashes-of-dearen-book-1

or here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/102432

Dearen is the smallest kingdom of the Three Nations. But thanks to a joy-producing dust called safra, Dearen is also the wealthiest, most powerful, and safest kingdom on the continent. Consumers of safra remain joyful and euphoric for as long as they consume it, and safra can only be found in Dearen. Princess Fayr is about to learn the secret of making safra from her father–the last man alive who knows how—when he is killed by a red-eyed assassin known as a Wolven. Distraught, Princess Fayr must attempt to save her country while watching its safra supply slowly run out.

Meanwhile, the warrior country of Vikand hires another Wolven to succeed where the first failed. Sean Wolven must venture into Dearen and kill the last two members of the royal bloodline: Princess Fayr and her little brother, Kyne. A Vikand politician named Picard, who has been addicted to safra ever since his right arm became mauled in combat, uses cruel wiles to force Sean into an additional agreement: Sean must learn the secret of making safra from the Dearen royalty before he kills them. Sean has little choice but to cover his red eyes and approach Princess Fayr in the guise of a suitor.

King-wife Eleanor of the nation of Yamair worships reason and efficiency. She hates safra and all it stands for, so she visits the vulnerable Princess Fayr and announces her terms. But while she is Dearen, Eleanor tries safra for the first time and the experience changes her life forever.

All four characters soon find themselves in a violent competition for power that brings all Three Nations to the brink of warfare. And little do they know, their scrambling efforts are being carefully watched by a much greater power: the gods behind the beguiling drug that ensnares them all.

***

I first wrote this book several years ago when I was fed up with writing what other people wanted me to write (classes, jobs, agents, Hollywood, etc.). I wrote whatever the hell I wanted, no matter how strange or perverse, and I didn’t worry about what anyone else might think because I didn’t plan to let anyone read it but my husband (this was when I first came up with my pen name, Jayden Woods, in fact). I had so much fun, of course, that when I was finished I loved what I had created and felt tempted to share it. A few rejection letters later, I tucked the novel away and put it out of my mind.

Recently, I’ve been fed up with writing for different but familiar reasons (i.e., trying to please other people). For whatever reason, I was drawn back to this story and still felt as attached to all the characters as if I had just written it yesterday. And just like that, I found myself rewriting it from scratch.

I should also mention that I don’t rewrite much. Ever. Some people would wag their finger at me for admitting such a thing, but it’s true. Usually once I write something, I feel like it already happened. My characters have made their decisions (usually from some part of my subconscious which I dearly trust) or they’ve said their piece, and that’s that. “Ashes of Dearen” is an exception for me. Truly, I didn’t change the plot much at all when I rewrote it. That’s another confirmation for me that my subconscious tends to know what it’s doing. But I made it better. And that has been deeply satisfying so far.

Now go read it for free. And most importantly, enjoy!

Godric the Kingslayer Released

“Godric the Kingslayer” is now available on most online bookstores across the web! Thanks to Medievalists.net for giving me a second interview, available here: http://bit.ly/nkJztZ . They’ll post their full review of the book later today.

Meanwhile, here’s a review by Kay J. Blalock, Ph.D.:

“He understood why people must die.  The death of certain people put the world into balance.”  This understanding comes to Godric, bastard son of the first “son of Mercia,” Eadric the Grasper, at an early age.  Godric the Kingslayer, as he eventually will be known, takes it upon himself to live his life accordingly—as the one destined to “put the world into balance.”

Despite his age, or perhaps because of it, Godric finds himself again and again caught up in the rivalries for the throne of Engla-lond.  Woods reintroduces us to such historic figures as Edmund Ironside, Canute, Queen Emma, and Edward, as well as the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian warriors whose bids for survival and power enrich not only the eleventh century but this work of historical fiction.  The introduction of Godric to this mix provides a quick-paced and fascinating journey of the outsider on the inside through a critical period in history.  Sweeping the reader along with him, Godric serves, more often than not, as an unwilling participant at the center of the intrigue and danger that comprise the story of the past and the narrative of the novel.

Throughout his and our journey, the author guides us by developing sympathetic characters, such as Osgifu, the eldest red-headed daughter of Lindsey, boon companion of Godric’s father.  It is to her that Godric will turn, either in thought or in deed, during various traumatic times in his own emergence from a boy to manhood.  The effeminate minstrel, Sigurd, offers a friendship that informs and shapes the man that Godric is and will become.  One can only wonder if Godric would have survived his coming of age without such a friend.  More likely than not, however, the reader, like the title character, must come to grips with several individuals who seem hell-bent on injuring or destroying the young man, although a few, in-the-end, offer more good than harm for Godric’s growth to manhood.  His evil, or at least so he believes, stepmother is one such example.  With her death, we see this young battle-scarred man seriously grieving and crying over her grave.

Once again, Jayden Woods creates a contextually factual and colorful narrative that will enlighten as well as entertain the reader.  Her fictional characters, as in the first Sons of Mercia volume, become real people in the reader’s mind, adding to rather than taking away from the historic possibilities she creates.  I once heard an academic historian refer to scholarship as educated guessing.  The historian works with the resources available.  The historical novelist enhances those resources with an imagination that suggests the aforementioned historical possibilities.  As an historian, I highly recommend Godric the Kingslayer.

**

Get it for the Barnes & Noble Nook

Download it for the computer or other mobile devices

Thanks to everyone for your support. I hope you enjoy Godric’s story!

Vagabonds

This is a piece of writing from a fantasy project I probably won’t finish. It turned out to be more like a writing exercise, fun but exhausting. I just thought I’d share a little for fun. Warning: it’s trippy!

Vagabonds

Chapter 1

The horizon had long since vanished, or flipped itself over, or become something else entirely. Aeryn could not tell one way or the other. Nor could he remember when the change occurred, or whether it had always been that way. There was no more up, or down, or eastward, which had been the direction he traveled, sometime long ago. There was only a wall of sea foam in the distance, or at least something akin to one. Whatever it was, it undulated with a hundred colors, and it was always moving, but never going anywhere. If he looked at it for too long his head began to ache.

“We should turn back,” said Aeryn. “I don’t think we’ll find it there.”

“If not, it won’t matter,” said Perceval. “Maybe it’s the end.”

FYI: The Chronology and Rating of the Lost Tales

People don’t often ask me directly, but I’ve seen it searched and asked online enough to find two common questions about the Lost Tales. I have heard you and I shall answer.

Chronology

I intentionally wrote the Lost Tales of Mercia out of order. However, if you’d like to read the Lost Tales (and Eadric the Grasper, for that matter) in chronological sequence, that’s fine too. Here’s how you would do it:

1. The Second Lost Tale of Mercia: Ethelred the King (978 A.D.)

2. The First Lost Tale of Mercia: Golde the Mother (993 A.D.)

3. The Fourth Lost Tale of Mercia: Athelward the Historian (993 A.D.)

4. The Third Lost Tale of Mercia: Aydith the Aetheling (1001 A.D.)

5. The Ninth Lost Tale of Mercia: Runa the Wife (1001-1006 A.D.)

6. The Tenth Lost Tale of Mercia: Edmund the Aetheling (1002 A.D.)

– Eadric the Grasper (begins 1002 A.D. and goes to 1017 A.D. Therefore, the following stories actually take place during/in between the events of the novel)

7. The Sixth Lost Tale of Mercia: Hastings the Hearth Companion (1004 A.D.)

8. The Seventh Lost Tale of Mercia: Hildred the Maid (1005 A.D.)

9. The Eighth Lost Tale of Mercia: Canute the Viking (1012 A.D.)

10. The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia: Alfgifu the Orphan (1014 A.D.)

People also ask me whether to read the Lost Tales of Mercia or Eadric the Grasper first. I mean it when I say you can read in whatever order you want. There are bound to be little spoilers here and there but nothing too drastic; I intended it that way. However, if I’m pushed for an opinion, I say read Eadric the Grasper first, probably because I wrote it first so it feels most natural to me. Or just read Eadric the Grasper on its own, because the Lost Tales are altogether supplemental. Seriously, do whatever strikes your fancy.

Rating / Maturity Level

People are also curious whether the Lost Tales of Mercia are suitable for kids. I’m probably not qualified to say, because if I had kids, I think I’d let them read whatever they wanted. But I imagine most people would reply “no,” the Lost Tales of Mercia are not for young kids. Young adults–maybe. If they were movies, the Lost Tales of Mercia in general and Eadric the Grasper would probably be PG-13; Godric the Kingslayer and Edric the Wild would most definitely be R.

There is sex, there is violence, there is language, and a splash of homosexuality in just about everything I write. What can I say? I love drama, and I follow the story where it leads me.

Cover for “Godric the Kingslayer”

Cover by Del Melchionda for “Godric the Kingslayer” now released!

Cover art by Del Melchionda

The book still releases September 27, 2011 until further notice!

See the book’s new webpage here: http://www.jaydenwoods.com/Kingslayer.html

‘Tis a Season of Changes

Well, my horoscope isn’t usually correct. I just read it to get a good sense of purpose. But this month, my birthday month, it was right on the money. The predictions for May told me I’d feel the ripple of big changes–good changes–coming towards me. And next month I’ll feel the splash.

I’m proud to say that after a long time of searching, a good literary agent and I have found one another. I also finished that book I thought I was stuck on. Tomorrow I have an interview I feel good about.

Changes are on the horizon, indeed. Stay tuned!

England Trip Days 5 and 6

Now, at last, I conclude the posts about my trip to England. I apologize for the delay. I have been busy working at the day-job even though they’re about to lay me off, getting “Godric the Kingslayer” ready for publication, continuing the search for an agent (something I have reason to feel hopeful about!), and–as always–writing. I need to pick up the pace of my publishing if it’s ever going to catch up with me!

For now, it is my pleasure to tell you about my last two days in England.

First we took a trip from Tamworth to Birmingham. Because Birmingham is such a large city, we decided to ride the rail to it, rather than test my left-lane driving skills in a thick urban area. Boy, am I glad! Birmingham was even bigger and denser than I expected it to be.

Birmingham is the second-largest city in England next to London, and its urban economy is the 72nd largest in the world. I could not believe how many malls were all together in walking distance, nor how many people were out shopping in the middle of a Monday! It felt like Christmas season at the St Louis Galleria.

We made our way to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which was the focal point of our journey.

This would be our first glimpse of the renowned Staffordshire Hoard.

Sadly, we were not allowed to take pictures. However, there are plenty on the internet that I can share.

If you’ve never heard of the Staffordshire Hoard, I should remedy that quickly for you. The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold metalwork ever found. A man discovered it in 2009 while searching a hill near a highway with a metal detector. The little tiny scraps of ancient craftsmanship he pulled from the dirt, piece by piece, would soon be valued at more than 3 million pounds.

The next few images are from http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/, which I encourage you to visit.

Glancing at this pectoral cross (don’t peek at the next picture yet), how large would you suppose it was? I mean, look at those tiny spirals, or the intricate little ridges around the edges. Then remember that this all would have been hand-made–there were no technical gadgets to help the Anglo-Saxons create something like this. Do you have an image in your mind of how big this would be?

Good. Now you can look below.

A little smaller than you imagined, eh?

The most incredible thing about the hoard was tiny and intricate every little piece was. Most pieces were displayed in glass cases with magnifying glasses so that you could study each piece more clearly.

See more incredible images here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birminghammag/sets/72157622327837525/

News of the Staffordshire Hoard became public around the same time I was writing “Eadric the Grasper.” It was amazing timing for me. Call it narcissistic, but the fact that this great discovery of the Anglo-Saxon era happened while I was writing my first historical fiction felt like a divine indication that what I was working on was important, profound, and unwilling to be forgotten.

In any case, there’s a glimpse at the Staffordshire Hoard, which we saw more of the next day, at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent.

I skip ahead a little, but in truth, I near the summation of the story of my England trip. The last two days were a blur of walking, riding the train, driving, and then touring museums. Here are a couple more images from the Birmingham museum and city:

During our last full day, we took a walk through the Tamworth morning market:

And then made our way through an incredible fog to Stoke-on-Trent. I must confess, I was not a big fan of that town, and in fact the only picture we took other than a picture of the museum was this one:

And that pretty much sums up my impression of that town. Sorry. Might have been my mood.

In any case, I leave you now with an image of the fog we drove in, an image that lingered in my mind long after I left. I felt as if on my last day, England was telling me that I had seen a great deal, but there is still so much more to learn and discover about this magical, majestic nation.

England Trip Day 4

The fourth day of our trip was a Sunday, at which point we discovered that there is not a great deal to do in Shrewsbury on a Sunday morning, for the streets looked like this:

Empty.

Nonetheless we took our last stroll through the town, enjoying it to the fullest, and checked out of our lovely bed and breakfast. It was time to move on to Tamworth.

Don’t quote me on this but I *believe* those are the Pennine Hills we saw in the distance as we drove out of Shrewsbury. They looked quite gigantic as we got closer.

The road we took most of the way was the A5, which long ago was the ancient Roman road called Watling Street, and would have been a popular highway in Eadric’s time, as well.

We settled into Tamworth as quickly as we could and made our way to Tamworth Castle. Long ago, in the time of King Offa, Tamworth was the capital city of Mercia. Because of this it was later the target of Viking raids who burned down the timber fortress. In 913, Ethelfleda, Lady of the Mercians, rebuilt the fort, and for this reason I make it the home of Eadric Streona and his wife Aydith in “Eadric the Grasper.”

Whereas the museum of Shrewsbury Castle was rather disappointing, Tamworth Castle was a lot of fun, complete with rooms decorated in the Tudor style and lots of old artifacts.

After the castle we continued to roam around the Tamworth Castle Pleasure Grounds and the nearby shops.

Here is a statue of Ethelfleda standing just next to the castle:

We didn’t do much else that day because there was a rugby game going on, and that filled up the pub of our hotel so tightly that I could barely squeeze my way inside. From the comfort of our room we enjoyed listening to the intense yells and cheers concerning the ongoing game below, but best of all, the rather well-coordinated eruptions of song.

England Trip Day 3

The third day of our trip, like most the others, started with a full English breakfast. I do love the full English breakfast: a piece of toast, beans, a sunny-side egg, sausage, bacon, and a pickled tomato sauce. I did miss a good cup of brewed coffee, however; all the coffee I drank in England was instant!

In any case, the first item on our agenda met with some difficulty. We wanted to see the Stiperstones, which involved walking part of the 49-mile path called Wild Edric’s Way. Walking at least a small portion of Wild Edric’s Way had been a highly anticipated goal for me, considering the fact I just wrote a book about Edric the Wild. This path wraps through the lands Wild Edric probably frequented, with such highlights as the Long Mynd, a medieval drovers’ road, the peaceful hills of Clun, Offa’s Dyke Path, and of course the Stiperstones.

Unfortunately, we could not find where the path to the Stiperstones started.

At that point I’m not sure who or what to blame for our difficulty: my inability to find a good address to plug into the GPS, or the GPS’s inability to give us a proper path to wherever we wanted to go, or the plethora of small unnamed roads, or my unwillingness to drive them. In any case, we drove around for some time looking for the Stiperstones, going down such roads as the one below …

We ended up in the East Ridge woods, and stretched our legs with a brief walk. Unfortunately, by then we were convinced the Stiperstone trail was not in our destiny.

It all turned out for the best, for while the day was still young, we decided to get back in the Ford Galaxy and drive further south to Clun, which we might not have done otherwise. Clun turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip.

The town is incredibly small, with a population of less than 700 people, and according to Wikipedia it’s one of the most tranquil places in England. I will readily attest that it’s one of the most tranquil places I’ve ever been.

After a short hike (on Wild Edric’s Way, at that) we made our way to the ruins of an old Norman castle.  It was built by a Norman knight named Robert de Say who seized these lands from–of course–Edric the Wild circa 1066. Robert did not make it into my novel about Wild Edric, but after seeing these ruins, I kind of wish that he had …

After a little walk around the castle we went into the town for some scones, cream, and tea. Those were probably another reason I loved Clun so much. DELICIOUS!

That night was going to be our last in Shrewsbury, and we still had not been able to tour the Shrewsbury Castle Museum because of its limited open hours. Therefore we picked up and made our way hastily back to Shrewsbury and its lovely castle.

The museum was a bit disappointing, for me at least, as its focus was far from the stronghold’s ancient roots. Still, it was great to walk about inside one of my favorite castles. Afterward, we kept walking through town towards areas we had not yet visited. An important site for me was Shrewsbury Abbey, another remnant of one of my characters, Roger de Montgomery.

On the side, you can see the ruins of its most ancient section:

What I did not expect, however, was to come upon the sarcophagus of Roger de Montgomery himself!!

"Sir Roger de Montgomery" -- Second in Command of the army of his kinsman, William the Conqueror, at the Battle of Hastings. The first of the family of Montgomery in England, he was advanced to high honor as the over-lord of many counties, and created Earl of Shrewsbury. He founded this Church and Abbey wherein he as a brother of the Benedictine Order died, the first of August MXCV."

I can hardly describe how awesome it was to find this. So I won’t even try.

An ancient pulpit

We continued walking around town, and treated ourselves that night to fish and chips. Oh my goodness, they exceeded my expectations to an incredible degree. Sooo good!

On that note, I forgot to mention that on our second day of the trip, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary at a hotel/restaurant called the Golden Cross within Shrewsbury. The Golden Cross!! Totally a coincidence, but in that case, all the more wonderful …

 

England Trip Day 2

My second day in England, I’m happy to say, was much more pleasant than my first. We had quite the adventure.

The first item on our agenda was to travel out of Shrewsbury to see Wenlock Priory. The town of Much Wenlock is a beautiful place, as well as the surrounding countryside. These rolling green slopes form the setting of a lot of events that might have happened just outside of Shrewsbury in my Mercia tales, especially Sons of Mercia Vol. 3 about Edric the Wild. Eadric Streona’s descendant, Wild Edric, most certainly held lands around this area.

A quick shot through the car of the lands around Much Wenlock

(I apologize ahead of time for the largeness of some of these images. When I get the chance I will scale them down a bit)

We parked near old Wenlock Priory, which began as a religious house in 680 AD founded by Merewalh, King of Mercia. At first it housed both men and women, and for awhile Milburge governed as abbess (she later became a saint). Earl Leofric of Mercia and his wife Godiva transformed the abbey around 1040 AD into a college for priests. Later a Norman Marcher lord, Roger de Montgomerie (an important character in Vol. 3 of Sons of Mercia, Edric the Wild), acquired the abbey as part of his lands from William the Conqueror. Being Norman, Roger originally filled this place with Norman monks and made the locals angry. Skip to the year 1504, when the monastery was destroyed in the midst of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. Not much of the monastery remains now.