Edward III and His Sweetheart Philippa: Hearts through History Blog H-O-P

All next week I'm participating in the Valentine’s Hearts Through History Blog Hop! Hop from site to site and enjoy lovey-dovey anecdotes from history to celebrate Valentine's Day. Each stop is also offering a giveaway, so be sure to click over to the rest of the sites through the links at the end of this post.

The story I want to share with you is about Edward III and his wife Philippa. Edward III was one of England's most martial kings, famous for initiating the Hundred Years' War with France. But he had a softer side too, and that side was reserved for his wife Philippa.

Edward married Philippa of Hainault when he was just sixteen years old. She was just fourteen. The marriage was arranged by Edward's mother Isabella who wanted to secure an alliance with Hainault, a county near Flanders on the continent. But although it was an arranged marriage, that does not preclude romance--out of all the available daughters of the count, Edward specifically requested that Philippa be the one for him.

Edward and Philippa had a very felicitous marriage which produced thirteen children--enough sons to later cause the inheritance problems which led to the Wars of the Roses. Edward is reputed to have been faithful to his wife until near to the end. (He took a mistress while his wife was terminally ill with dropsy, or a similar disease).

Froissart, a historian who served in Queen Philippa's court, records this story about Edward and Philippa during the siege of Calais. The year was 1348. The city had just capitulated after a year-long siege. And Edward was hopping mad that he had wasted twelve whole months trying to subdue it. He decided, at first, that he would offer the town no terms--meaning, that the citizens would likely be put to the sword. When his nobles remonstrated with him, begging him to be a merciful conqueror, he ameliorated his demands to this: that six of the leading citizens come out of the city and kneel before him with halters around their necks. Edward's nobles pleaded for mercy again, but this time he would not budge. He would have his revenge on the city of Calais--those six burghers would pay the price for their city's obstinacy. Froissart writes:

The king looked cruelly on them, for greatly he hated the people of Calais for the great damages and displeasures they had done him on the sea before. Then he commanded their heads to be stricken off: then every man entreated the king for mercy, but he would hear no man in that behalf….  

Then the queen, being great with child, kneeled down and sore weeping said: “Ah, gentle sir, since I passed the sea in great peril, I have desired nothing of you; therefore now I humbly require you in the honour of the Son of the Virgin Mary and for the love of me that ye will take mercy of these six burgesses.”  

The king beheld the queen and stood still in a study a space, and then said: “Ah dame, I would ye had been as now in some other place; ye make such request to me that I cannot deny you. Wherefore I give them to you, to do your pleasure with them.”

This story is perhaps not the usual one that comes to mind when you think of a lovey-dovey historical anecdote, but what shows greater love than this--that a king, unused to being crossed, would give up his revenge for the sake of the love that he bore to his wife? That, my friends, is a love story worth telling. 

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And now, one lucky person will win a copy of my book I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince. Edward, Black Prince of Wales, was one of those thirteen children that Philippa bore to Edward III. He crossed the Channel with his father to wage war against France, and he was there that fateful day at Calais when his mother entreated his father's clemency. A tale of arms, of death, of love, and of honor--leave a comment on this post and fill out the form below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Don't forget to visit the other sites in the Hearts through History Blog Hop!

1. Random Bits of Fascination (Maria Grace)
2. Pillings Writing Corner (David Pilling)
3. Sally Smith O’Rourke
4. Darcyholic Diversions (Barbara Tiller Cole)
5. Faith, Hope and Cherry Tea
6. Rosanne Lortz
7. Sharon Lathan
8. Debra Brown
9. Heyerwood   (Lauren Gilbert)
10. Regina Jeffers
11. Ginger Myrick
12. Anna Belfrage
13. Fall in love with history (Grace Elliot)
14. Nancy Bilyeau
15. Wendy Dunn
16. E.M. Powell
17. Georgie Lee
18. The Riddle of Writing (Deborah Swift)
19. Outtakes from a Historical Novelist (Kim Rendfeld)
20. The heart of romance (Sherry Gloag)
21. A day in the life of patootie (Lori Crane)
22. Karen Aminadra
23. Dunhaven Place (Heidi Ashworth)
24. Stephanie Renee dos Santos

A Grim and Bloody Time: The Fourteenth Century World of I Serve

Today I have a guest post up at Fly High about the fourteenth century setting of my first book, I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince.

It was a grim time—one of the greatest disasters imaginable overtook the Western world, with nearly half the European population perishing in the Black Plague. It was a bloody time—France and England became locked in the interminable struggle known as the Hundred Years’ War, with the Scots, the Spaniards, and the Germans participating intermittently. 

But despite these harsh realities, the fourteenth century was also a seminal time—an era of change, courage, and determination.... (read more)

Maria over at Fly High is also doing a giveaway of I Serve. It's a paperback copy available internationally, and the entry deadline is September 10. Head on over there if you'd like to win a tale of arms, of death, of love, and of honor.

I Serve Awarded "Indie Book of the Day"

This was a nice surprise to wake up to. Apparently, a fan nominated I Serve for Indie Book of the Day and the editorial staff selected it as today's winner. I even get a certificate and a badge and everything. Thanks to whoever nominated me. This really put a smile on my face.

Thanks to My Readers, Another Milestone!

A year and a half ago I posted about an important milestone in my authorial career--one thousand Kindle copies of I Serve sold. Now I have another milestone to share, a milestone I never even dreamed of when I self-published three years ago. Tallying up all electronic and print copies, I have now sold ten thousand copies of I Serve. I feel like I'm giving an acceptance speech at the Oscars, and I don't have much to say except thank you, thank you, thank you to all my readers, and God bless Amazon!

The Black Prince and Joan of Kent: A Love Story

English Historical Fiction Authors is a great blog featuring a daily historical essay written by historical novelists whose work is primarily set in England. It also has a weekly giveaway of a historical novel by one of the participating authors. Today I have a blog post over at EHFA entitled "How Joan of Kent Became Princess of Wales."

Edward, the Black Prince, and Joan of Kent: a pair of star cross’d lovers that eventually came together in one of history’s true love matches. It took three marriages and over thirty years before Joan finally became the Princess of Wales, but if the chroniclers are to be believed, it was worth the wait.... (read more)

The Man Who Did Not Keep His Word

Have you ever promised something that was not yours to promise? What did you do then? Did you keep your word or did you break it? At that point, which is the worse option?

At the Council of Clarendon in 1164, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was bullied into making some concessions to Henry II that allowed the king undue power over the Church. Later, Becket regretted and rescinded his words. When he was reproached with oath breaking, Becket answered this: “If we lapsed at Clarendon (for the flesh is weak), we ought to regain our spirit, and in the strength of the Holy Spirit rise up against the ancient enemy, who tries to make the one who stands also fall, and prevent the one who falls from getting up again. If under a guarantee in the word of truth there we conceded there or swore unjustly, you know that by no law are we obliged to that which was unlawfully sworn.”

I have always admired Thomas Becket for these words, for admitting that he had been wrong and then trying to correct his error as best he could--even though such backpaddling could only tarnish his reputation further. An oath, according to Becket, is not a thing that is holy in and of itself. An oath may be sinful, a work of the devil. And when an oath is sinful in its conception, it is an even greater sin in its completion. Better, says Becket, to be forsworn than to commit a second sin for the purposes of honoring the first.

It's been nearly ten years since I first befriended Thomas Becket. I attended a small liberal arts college in Northern Idaho named New Saint Andrews College where students were required, to obtain their bachelor's degree, to write a senior thesis on a subject of their choosing. Thomas Becket and I had met early in my junior year during a class on saints and hagiography. I knew, with hardly any hesitation, that this man was my choice for a senior thesis. I spent a year exploring his life through the primary sources of medieval chroniclers and his own letters. I watched him turn from chancellor to archbishop, from a man of the king's coin to a man of the true cloth. And I had the pleasure to write about his transformation, his trials, and his martyrdom in one-hundred-and-ten pages that I then defended before a panel of faculty members.

If you have not become acquainted with this remarkable man, I urge you to take the opportunity to do so. The Life and Death of Saint Thomas Becket: Type of Paul, Type of Peter, Type of Christ is now available for FREE on Amazon Kindle from February 25 to February 29. This copy of my college thesis also contains a free three-chapter sample of my debut novel I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince.

Religious Hysteria and the Black Plague

Lovely bones make a lovely face, and underneath the fictional flesh of each historical novel lie the lovely bones of history. The English Historical Fiction Authors (EHFA) blog gives historical novelists a chance to share their historical work and reach out to their readers. Each day the site features a nonfiction post by a historical novelist, usually related to some historical topic they have researched for their novel.

Today, I have a post over at the EHFA blog that ties in with the research for my book I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince. It's titled, "Scourge of Europe: The Religious Hysteria Created by the Black Plague."

Death has always been one of the most frightening prospects faced by mankind. The fear of death even has its own word to describe it—thanotophobia. In a society where a third to a half of the people around you have succumbed to death within the past year, the terror of knowing that you might be next can become overwhelming. It can drive a person to bizarre and unthinkable acts as he tries to ward off death’s icy grip from descending on his own shoulder. This is what happened in the mid-fourteenth century, during the years of the Black Plague. The world went wild with thanotophobia, and the country of England was no exception.... (read more)

Desultory Remarks III

There are quite a few exciting tidbits in the publicity front. Yesterday I had a featured interview on the Kindle Author blog discussing I Serve and my journey as a writer. You can read the interview here and learn fascinating things like "how I develop my characters" and "which authors have inspired me."

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Goodreads is currently running a giveaway of FOUR Advanced Reading Copies of Road from the West. 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Road from the West

by Rosanne E. Lortz

Giveaway ends August 15, 2011.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

And if the odds for the Goodreads giveaway are too daunting, the giveaway for one ARC from this blog is still running until August 8. Click here to fill out the form and enter.

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I mailed out dozens of Advanced Review Copies a week and a half ago, and it's fun to see ARC's arriving in the Mailbox Monday posts by several HF book bloggers. I'm looking forward to the Road from the West Blog Tour, put together by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and running from September 2 to October 20. There are twenty-six blogs participating with reviews, interviews, and guest posts--which reminds me, I have seven guest posts to write up for the tour and less than seven weeks to do it in. I better get working on those....

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Cynthia Robertson has an excellent post against "The Cult of the Short Sentence" on her blog. Some writers feel that any sentence with more than ten or twelve words is too complex for the modern reader and must be broken into smaller sentences, but Cynthia feels otherwise and provides example after example of powerful prose using extended clauses, creative punctuation, and multiple conjunctions, including one excerpt from Hemingway that lasts 424 words before reaching a full stop.  

Desultory Remarks II

Today we reached a landmark 5000 sales for I Serve. This includes Kindle sales (nearly 90%), other e-reader sales, and paperback sales. Thanks to all the readers who helped make this possible.

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This past Tuesday night was full of weeping and gnashing of teeth and the burning of the midnight oil. It was my self-imposed deadline for finishing the rough draft of Road from the West. It was also the day my laptop decided to go on the fritz. Despite technical difficulties of a most irritating nature, the manuscript came to a conclusion at around 110,000 words. It is now in the hands of three beta readers. We are looking forward to launching Road from the West on September 2.

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I recently obtained a Twitter account and have been enjoying the ability it gives me to network with other writers and book bloggers. Reading other people's tweets is fun. Writing my own tweets takes more brain power than writing a book chapter. I don't think I'm cut out for a 140-character limit kind of world.


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Starting today Miss Pickwickian at The Erratic Muse is hosting a week long Les Miserables Event. She will be posting essays submitted by readers and handing out some fabulous prizes such as the Les Miz 25th Anniversary Concert DVD and Les Miz themed jewelry, artwork, books, and posters. Let the miserableness begin! (Her joke, not mine.)

Black Prince of Darkness?

It's been a busy week for I Serve. Not only did we update the Kindle cover to make it more eye-catching and set up a new printing account with Create Space -- we also received another five star review and some free advertising.

In January, make that last January, my husband contacted Red Adept Reviews to see if they would be interested in reviewing I Serve. We went them a review copy, waited a long time, and then forgot about the whole thing. Early this week I received an e-mail saying that Red Adept Reviews was finally ready to feature the book. The good news about the review is that I Serve garnered five stars from a tough critic. The other good news about the review is that it made me laugh -- a lot.

Why the laughter? The reviewer spends a paragraph explaining why it took so long for her to review I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince.

I received this novel well over a year ago; it languished on my Kindle until recently when I decided to make an attempt at reading my ‘backlist.’ I’m certain that when I received it, I must have read the description. Not being a big fan of historical novels, I put it on a back burner. Later, I can remember coming across it on my Kindle, but upon reading the title, I thought it was some novel about devil worshipping or something similar. I guess that will teach me to judge a book by its title, huh?

I never thought that anyone would take the title in that way! But I guess there is a certain amount of logic behind the misunderstanding.

After overcoming her initial reluctance to begin reading I Serve, the reviewer ended up enjoying it.

[T]his novel was an absorbing read that immersed me in the world of knights and ladies. I was thoroughly engrossed as I followed the life of John Potenhale. Intriguing me with a book of this type was no mean feat as I am far from a history buff.... This was not your usual “knight in shining armor” tale. Potenhale, while a more than adequate knight, did not rescue any damsels in distress. (Although, there was a quaint romantic side plot that I truly enjoyed.) I think the novel’s charm lay in its realism.

I Serve earned top marks (five stars) from Red Adept Reviews, proving that sometimes good things are worth the wait.

In other news, Daily Cheap Reads promoted I Serve as one of its featured titles today. This website tries to provide Kindle readers with smokin' deals on excellent e-books. Anything under five dollars is fair game to be featured, and at $2.99, I Serve is definitely a cheap read that won't break your budget.

Time to Create Space

Yesterday I read a very compelling article on "Why Create Space is better than Lightning Source." My husband and I had already determined that we should switch printers for the paperback copies of I Serve, and the financial data in this article was the cherry on the sundae.

When I independently published I Serve a year and a half ago, I will confess that I had very little idea what I was doing. In the last eighteen months, however, I have become much more familiar with the publishing world, and thanks to my husband's unflagging interest in the subject, have been able to stay abreast of the continual changes within it.

I originally went with a company called Lightning Source to print the paperback copies of I Serve. This printer is associated with Ingram, a book distributor who will make your book available in its catalog to all major book stores. With a retail price of $16.95 and a 372 page book, I receive $1.89 in royalties for each book sold. Throughout the past year and a half, I've sold approximately 300 paperback copies of I Serve, and it's been interesting to note that ALL the copies have been sold through Amazon.com.

Another quirky fact about I Serve is that since July of last year, I actually make more money on each Kindle sale than I do on a paperback sale. With a retail price of $2.99, a Kindle copy of I Serve gives me a royalty of $2.03 per book (except for copies sold outside the U.S. or U.K. which garner $1.04). I had never thought much before about how low the paperback royalty from Lightning Source was, but when the Kindle royalty climbed above it, I began to wonder if there were a cheaper way to get the paperback printed.

As the publishing arm of Amazon.com, Create Space looks like it will be a much better printing avenue for us to use. Create Space offers high royalties for books sold through Amazon and low royalties for books sold elsewhere in the "Expanded Distribution Channel." Since all of our paperback sales are through Amazon, choosing Create Space seems like a no-brainer. To better serve our readers, we are planning to lower the retail price to $13.95, and even with that price drop, the per-book royalty will still be $3.06 (which, in case you don't want to do the math yourself, is $1.17 more per book than we were getting from Lightning Source).

Tomorrow I'm meeting with our technical expert Masha Shubin (who designed the cover and layout for I Serve) to get the files reformatted for submission to Create Space. Since she has the know-how and the software to create the PDF's according to Create Space's specifications, it is FREE to begin printing the book on Create Space. (Well, OK, there is a $39 fee to join the optional Create Space Pro Program, but that's peanuts, right?)

If you have published a book on Create Space, I'd love to hear some feedback from you. It seems like a great way to go, and as long as it delivers what it promises, I think we'll be happy with it.

Making a Racket

Today I Serve was featured on Spalding's Racket, a blog "dedicated to promoting the best in independent authors and their books on the Internet." Spalding promotes the electronic versions of indie books with links to their purchase on Amazon and Smashwords.

Giveaway Winner!

Well, it's happened. Today we sold our 500th copy of I Serve on Amazon's Kindle, and that means that the book giveaway has come to an end.

The lucky winner of a signed, paperback copy of I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince is....

Bercik & Agatka

I will be contacting the winner via e-mail. Thanks to all of you who participated in the giveaway!

Our First Ever Giveaway

Kin·dle – verb 

1. to set fire to or ignite 

2. to excite; stir up or set going

3. to light up, illuminate, or make bright

 

Kin·dle – noun 

 1. an e-reader first put out by Amazon.com in 2007, now owned by over 2 million book-lovers

 

It's only been three years since Amazon first launched the Kindle, and already it has made a huge impact on traditional publishing. In July of this year the New York Times reported that Amazon was now selling almost twice as many Kindle copies as regular books, "180 digital books for every 100 hardcover copies."

 

For independent authors, the Kindle is a huge boon. To sell your work on Kindle, all you have to do is upload a cover picture and a formatted Word document. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. In the last two months Amazon has also made it possible for authors to receive a 70% royalty from Kindle sales, a far higher profit percentage than authors have ever received from the sales of hard copies.

 

In recent months, Kindle readers have been enthusiastic in their reception of I Serve, and a steady stream of electronic copies have been downloaded from Amazon's website onto the sleek e-readers of historical fiction lovers. Sales projections show that we will sell our 500th Kindle copy of I Serve sometime in the next two or three weeks.

To celebrate our ongoing success with Kindle sales, we are giving away a signed, paperback copy of I Serve (because, let's face it, the paperback is feeling a little left out with all of this hype about its electronic counterpart).


If you want to be entered in the giveaway for a paperback copy of I Serve, do any (or all) of the following:

• Comment on this post (include your e-mail address).
• Become a follower of this blog and tell me about it in a comment (include your e-mail address). If you are already a follower, you can still do this.
• Post about this giveaway on your own blog and give the link to your post in a comment (include your e-mail address).

This gives you the chance to submit up to three entries to win your own signed, paperback copy of I Serve.  Once the 500th Kindle copy of I Serve finds a home, this giveaway opportunity will end and I will contact the winner.

Art and the Everyday Interview

Dream Tree, by Rebecca Wood

Rebecca Wood, one of Rosanne's friends from college, has published an interview with Rosanne on her blog Art and the Everyday. Check out the interview, and while you're there, look at some of Rebecca's own art from her portfolio.

Positive Review from Medievalists.net

I Serve receives another positive review, this one from Medievalists.net. The reviewer makes an interesting comment about tennis being an anachronistic reference in the book that should be removed. See here for more information on the history of the sport. If it's an anachronism, it's one that William Shakespeare committed too when he had the Dauphin send Henry V a case of tennis balls.

Thumbs Up Review from Black 'n Gold Girl's Book Spot

Another book blog, this one titled Black 'n Gold Girl's Book Spot gives a favorable review to I Serve. The reviewer writes:

"This author seems to know her stuff! Not only is the book rich in detail it also has a bit of romance, faith and incredible battle scenes! While reading I Serve I felt as if I were immersed in the French country side or participating in a joust or right in the thick of the Black Plague (ewww). This is really a great book for readers of historical fiction, I hope you enjoy it if you decide to check it out!"

Historically Obsessed is Obsessed with I Serve

The book blog Historically Obsessed writes a glowing review of I Serve. The reviewer says:

"This was a unique read; it covered so many events of the Hundred Years War that I cannot even begin to get into the details here. It had it all from disguises, unsatisfied love, fights for honor, and most compelling of all the torments of a man's conscience.... Romantic YES, and YES an interesting tale of a knight who is tormented by the gritty details of war. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something a bit off the mainstream."

Favorable Review from Rundpinne

I Serve continues its blog tour with a favorable review from Rundpinne. The reviewer writes:

"Lortz writes a superb novel with vivid imagery, wonderful characters, as well as descriptive and distinct time period prose. The inner struggle of the characters, especially that of John Potenhale, are masterfully written and one can understand and sympathise with his inner turmoil. I highly recommend I Serve to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or who is new to historical fiction."

5 out of 5 from Historical Tapestry

Historical Tapestry, one of the best historical fiction book blogs on the web, gives a great review to I Serve. The reviewer writes:

"This is a story about following a code of honour, the code of chivalry, about being virtuous, being true to God and to their Lady. Rosanne E. Lortz wrote an intelligent and engaging tale based on real characters and events that made this reading journey one of the most exhilarating of this year. Historical fiction doesn't get much better than this. Grade: 5/5"