Medieval Mental Health. What mental health issues affected my villain? I had a fun week, doing what I love… research. To build believable worlds, I have to immerse myself in my characters’ minds and see what they see and feel what they feel. We are a few weeks away from the launch of The Fire Within the Storm. I offered my launch team a free psychological profile on my villain, King Radolf. So I wanted my profile to feel like the real thing. The launch team will read the review copy and will post reviews on Amazon, Good Reads, and their blogs. I wanted to produce something that will be worthy of their time and better help them understand this character. I have hinted at some of King Radolf’s traumas in book 1, The Last of the Silver Wings, but in the Fire Within the Storm (Book 2 of the Chronicles of Nadine) he makes several bold moves that seem counterintuitive to his goals. King Radolf’s advisers become concerned with his obsession with Lady Christine. He seems to be diverted from hi...

This past week I interviewed two authors for my YouTube channel. One of them once wrote 30 000 words in one weekend and he has 11 published books. It was a jaw-dropping moment for me. My immediate reaction was that I felt such an underachiever. I just finished the last chapter of my third book on Friday and on my most productive day ever, I can manage 5000 words. But then I realised that while we should have mentors and people who challenge us to live to a higher standard, everyone has to run in their own lane. When you are in a race, you can’t cross over into someone else’s lane. You need to stay focused on who you are and what your purpose is. While I can learn from this author, I can’t compare my journey to a writer who published his first book four years ahead of me and whose life is very different from mine. In my series, the Chronicles of Nadine, Lady Christine has a different battle to fight to her companion Beatrice. King Radolf murdered Lady Christine’s parents, and so she mus...

Choosing your tribe is critical. You may be tempted to believe that your friends have to fulfil all your emotional needs.  But that is not true. They may be an excellent friend in one area, but not able to support you in another.   Choosing the wrong people for your tribe can kill your dream. So treat it like a fragile baby. When I had children, I stopped spending time with certain people. Not because they were awful friends, but because I was going through a season where worrying about my baby touching their glass table with their sticky fingers would fill me with anxiety.     Once I had a babysitter then, I could reintroduce that friendship into my life. When you are reaching for a goal, you may need to take a break from some people, or only speak to certain people about your dream. Choose your tribe carefully when building your dream. You want a group who had got your back, the ones you can trust.  The Chronicles of Nadine is in the medieval period where powe...

Feudalism flourished in Medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. It was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. Although the Chronicles of Nadine takes place around 800 AD, we used a range of medieval concepts that spanned across many centuries to create a world for the series.Under the feudal system, there were different groups with varying degrees of power and status. A king or queen owned all the land, which they broke up and gave out in exchange for military service. The Lord or knight who received the land was called a vassal and was legally obligated to provide services in exchange for that land.  In the Chronicles of Nadine, Nadine’s father, Nicolaus received Land from Lord Logan and had to resume his Knightly services.Knight service was military duties performed in exchange for the lands.  A King or Lord might require the military service for wars or expeditions or for riding and e...