It’s a pleasure to welcome author
Pamela Taylor here today as part of her WOW! Women on Writing Tour for her
latest release, PESTILENCE.
Pamela will be joining us to talk
about deriving details for your setting from historical maps. First, a brief
synopsis of her book.
PESTILENCE
By Pamela Taylor
* Print Length: 234
Pages
* Genre: Historical
Fiction
* Publisher: Black Rose
Writing
* ASIN: B08563V87C
* ISBN-10: 1684334810
* ISBN-13:
9781684334810
At the dawn of the
Renaissance, Alfred - the eponymous second son - must discover the special
destiny foreseen for him by his grandfather. Now, the unthinkable has happened:
Alfred’s brother is king. And it isn’t long before everyone’s worst fears are
realized.
Traditional allegiances
are shattered under a style of rule unknown since the grand bargain that formed
the kingdom was struck over two hundred years ago. These will be the most
dangerous years of Alfred’s life, forcing him to re-examine his duty to
personal honor and to the kingdom, while the threats posed by his brother
constantly remind him of his father’s final words of advice.
What
choices will he have to make to try to protect the things he holds most dear?
PESTILENCE
is available to purchase as a print copy and as an
e-book at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. Be sure to
add this to your GoodReads reading list too!
Now please join me in
giving a warm welcome to Pamela. Welcome, Pamela.
Maps as a window to the past
I’ve always loved maps. I
remember the fold-up paper maps we got at the gas station to plan our route for
a summer vacation when I was a kid. Later, as an adult planning a driving tour
in Europe, I found the Michelin maps, and when I discovered the British
Ordnance Survey maps and the amazing variety of scale, detail, topography, and
so on in the various series, it was like I’d struck gold.
So, it’s probably no
surprise that maps figure in the creation of my novels. The Second Son
Chronicles are set in a fictional location that has some similarities to
northern Europe, so it was entirely up to me to create the world of the story.
That said, I still drew on information from maps.
I was very fortunate,
several years ago, to stumble across some very old maps in an antique book
shop, some dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One gets a real
sense from these maps of how people at that time perceived coastlines, the
topography of the land, and even features like rivers and lakes. These maps
also provide a real sense of what was important to a traveler in those days.
One of the most
fascinating maps in my small collection is what’s called a ribbon map – it’s
like you took a big paper map and cut it into strips that contain the route you
want to travel – and threw everything else away. It shows details of the
landmarks the traveler will encounter along the journey. Leaving from the
bottom left, the traveler would pass through an area with common fields on both
sides. At two miles, the road goes uphill with common fields and buildings on
the left and barns on the right. At
three miles, there are hedges on both sides.
About mile six, you’d come to a crossroads, but since the side roads
don’t figure in your journey, the map maker treats them only as a landmark and
truncates them on either side of your route.
The compass roses provide an indication of the direction of travel.
This
particular map dates from a couple of centuries after the era of my stories,
but I found it useful nonetheless for a sense of what a traveler would find
important and how they would know they were on the proper route. Even a main
road between big towns would have tracks leading off toward small villages or
farmsteads. Signposts as we think of them today would have been non-existent.
Perhaps there was the occasional stone marker or well-known landmark. When my
protagonist Alfred’s family traveled from the royal castle to the country
manor, they would start out on a road heading southwest toward the market town
of Great Woolston. But what identified
the turn on the narrower track toward the manor? Perhaps it was something as
simple as a barn on the left side of the road at the bottom of a small hill.
Pamela, thanks for joining
us today and sharing this insight into how maps played a role in creating your
story. Maps are quite intriguing.
 |
| Author Pamela Taylor |
Pamela Taylor brings
her love of history to the art of storytelling in the Second Son Chronicles. An
avid reader of historical fact and fiction, she finds the past offers rich
sources for character, ambiance, and plot that allow readers to escape into a
world totally unlike their daily lives.
She shares her home
with two Corgis who frequently reminder her that a dog walk is the best way to
find inspiration for that next chapter.
You can follow her
online at the following sites:
Author Website: https://pamela-taylor.com
Series Website: https://www.SecondSonChronicles.com
Twitter: @PJTAuthor
Instagram: PJTAuthor
You can also follow her
along on her book tour by visiting these following sites:
·
June 22nd @ The Muffin
What goes better in the
morning than a muffin? Join us as we celebrate the launch of Pamela Taylor's
blog tour for her book Pestilence. You can read an interview with the author
and enter to win the first three books in her series "The Second Son
Chronicles."
·
June 23rd @ Lisa
Haselton's Review and Interviews
Stop by Lisa's blog
today where she interviews author Pamela Taylor about her book Pestilence.
·
June 24th @ Rebecca
Whitman's Blog
Visit Rebecca's blog
today and you can read Pamela Taylor's guest post discussing the allegory
(themes) embedded in the narrative of Pestilence specifically
and the Chronicles generally.
·
June 25th @ A.J.
Sefton's Blog
Visit A.J. Sefton's
blog and read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
June 26th @ Jill
Sheet's Blog
Visit Jill's blog today
and read Pamela Taylor's guest post about getting historical details accurate.
·
June 27th @ Storeybook
Reviews
Join Leslie today as
she shares Pamela Taylor's guest post about her life with corgis.
·
June 28th @ Reading is
My Remedy
Visit Chelsie's blog
today and you can read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
June 29th @ Author
Anthony Avina's Blog
Visit Anthony's blog
today and you can read Pamela Taylor's guest post about the authors and books
that inspired the creation of the Chronicles.
·
June 30th @ The
Burgeoning Bookshelf
Visit Veronica's blog
today and you can read a guest post by Pamela Taylor about the trap of
linguistic anachronism – getting the language and word usage right for
historical narratives.
·
July 1st @ Rebecca
Whitman's Blog
Visit Rebecca's blog
again and you can read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 2nd @ 12 Books
Visit Louise's blog
today and read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 3rd @ What is that
Book About?
Visit Michelle's blog
today and you can check out a spotlight of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 5th @ The New
England Book Critic
Visit Vickie's blog
today and read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 6th @ Author
Anthony Avina's Blog
Visit Anthony's blog
today and read his review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 7th @ Fiona
Ingram's Blog
Join Fiona Ingram today
when she shares Pamela Taylor's guest post about data encryption in ancient
times.
·
July 8th @ Bev A. Baird
Visit Bev's blog today
and read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 9th @ To Write or
Not to Write
Visit Sreevarsha's blog
and read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 11th @ Books &
Plants
Visit Ashley's blog and
read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 11th @ A Darn Good
Read
Join Yvonne as she
reviews Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 14th @ Knotty
Needle
Visit Judy's blog and
read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 15th @ World of My
Imagination
Visit Nicole's blog and
read Pamela Taylor's guest post about period-appropriate names for characters.
·
July 17th @ Books &
Plants
Visit Ashley's blog and
read Pamela Taylor's guest post about ways to do historical research.
·
July 18th @ Bookworm
Blog
Stop by Anjanette's
blog today where you can read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
Plus you can read an interview with the author!
·
July 20th @ Coffee with
Lacey
Visit Lacey's blog
where you can read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 24th @
Medievalists
Stop by Medievalists
where you can check out a spotlight of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
·
July 25th @ Boots,
Shoes, and Fashion
Stop by Linda's blog
today and read her extensive interview with author Pamela Taylor about her
book Pestilence.
·
July 25th @ Reading in
the Wildwood
Join Megan today and
read her review of Pamela Taylor's book Pestilence.
Thanks so much for
stopping by today. Do you find maps fascinating? I had not heard of ribbon maps
before, had you? Do you have any old maps?
Congratulations Pamela.
ReplyDeleteI am also a huge map fan - the older the better. Some of the first early maps of the world are fascinating both in their accuracy and their inaccuracy. And I am awed at the people who made it their life's work (and sometimes gave their lives) to bring them to us.
How interesting to use maps for research! I think that's fascinating! The book sounds really interesting, too, and I do like a solid historical novel. Thanks for sharing, both.
ReplyDelete