my journey as a civil war novel writer

Had a very nice weekend break in Limburg with some friends and Nina the dog. We went to at tend the Elf fantasy fair in Arcen. It 's the second year it's been held in Arcen as well, before it only used to be in April in Haarzuilen. We arrived at the cottage Friday evening, rented in Landal green parc Roekenbosch which was close to Arcen. It is indeed a very nice location. T he castle gardens are well worth a visit ev en when there is no festival going on, I can really recommend th em. The reason that we went all this way were the lectures of Prof. Rotherham . This time the lecture was on woodland creatures. Very entertaining as always and learned some new things as well. Then for a few hours we wandered around the terrain , taking in the beautifull surroundings and of course admiring all the beautifull costumes. Some people come up with something new and wonderful for every fair, and by now there are a few around the year in the Netherlands. The grounds were so large that we b...

One of the interresting things in Lithuania was meeting the local people and seeing life not as a tourist. A lot of people living in the flats in Vilnius have a small summr cottage in what they call the garden. It is outside Vilnius and the last part to getting there is a very bad dirt road. One reason you don't want to be go ing there in the winter. On there are mostly small houses with a garden for vegetables, f ruit and flowers and often a small outside sauna. On the saturday evening we went to meet my friend's mother there. She is a very nice lady, does not speak anything but Lithuanian and Russian so direct communication was impossible. And yet she made me feel so welco me! I was fed homemade cake and tea from leaves in the garden and it was wonderful tea! Prett y soon the arcordeon came out and I was treated to her playing and singing traditio nal music. These are the things you just don't get to see when you stay on the tourist track. The generosity and kindness of ...

Two days of the trip to Lithuania were spend in Latvia. Now they are in the European union there are no bordercontrols anymore. But the roads are pretty bad, so it took us 4 hours to travel the 300 km from Vilnius to Riga. Riga has a very different feel from Vilnius. As it is situated on the coast it was one of the medieval hanse cities. With a lot of German influence, therefor the medieva l houses have much more of a west european feel to it. A very beautifull city, but not as different as Vilnius is. We did spend a lovely day there going into a few of the houses and looking at it all from the outside. Amongst the highlights were the cats house famous for two cat castiron statues on the roof and in the new part of town the very big russian church. Unfortunately I could not take pictures in there as it was fascinating . And very busy as well. We drove back to just over the border were we spend the night in Lithuania. Getting to Birzai was an adven ture as well, we had to travel ove...

I am back from Lithuania and now I don't even know why I was worried to go. It was a brilliant holiday! Lithuania is not that well known as a holiday destination here despite Vilnius being cultural capital last year. It is really a pity not many people do know about it as it is well worth the visit. In this blog entry I will be talking about that capital Vilnius. It does not have the feel of most old European towns I know. As it is not situation at the seaside but a few hours inland it does not have the feel we are used to here in Western Europe. The feature that stands out in Vilnius are it's many churches. Most of those are catholic, the most beautiful of those is without a doubt the St Paul and St Peter church a little outside of the centre. The white inside filled with statues and ornaments takes my breath away. Outside it has more Eastern europe an influences. On the other hand the Cathedral looks more like a Greek temple on the outside. Inside it is more like a church and...

I am going to go quiet for a little while again. Leaving for Lithuania early tomorrow morning. [and no the house is not empty] My first time flying in over 2 years and not looking forward to that. Am looking forward very much to the trip and seeing my friends again. It is also my first time on holiday without a pile of books along but a sleek little ereader. I will let you know how I liked it after I get back.

There are those places in Belgium, Holland and France were you can be upon British, Canadian, American and Polish ground without leaving the country. These are the cemetaries dedicated to those who gave their live for us during WWII. Last month I visited the landing beaches in Normandy. I had never been there before and during this tour we took them all in. When I stood there overlooking pointe du hoc I had to think of the young men on the ships who saw those cliffs an d knew they would have to climb them. It was madness and yet they went. For many of them it was not their own country they came to f ree, but they went. And many of them died down there on the early morning of June the 6th so that I can now write this blog in freedom. We went to those fields were they lie forever now. There is collevil le sur mer. The graveyard lies overlooking the beaches, it is a lovely spot. Here the American fallen lay. They lay in neat rows of white crosses. On the stones there is a name and the...

The king Arthur stories are my passion, have been for 30 years. I think it started with my mother reading them to me when I was very young.Then later I read the prince Valiant comics and that is when I became hooked on Gawain. For me he is the ultimate hero. He went against the wishes of his parents to serve his uncle were he could have been king of Lothian in his own right. As Arthur's nephew he held a high position in court and was known to be chivelrous. It is his end that had me in tears every time. When Lancelot was finally fo und out with Guinevere, Arthur had to sentence his wife to death. He asked Gawain to escort her to her death, but he could not do it and asked his brothers Gareth and Gaheris to do it. Lancelot rode in to save his love and in the confusion he killed the Orkney brothers. Filled with guilt and hatred Gawain urged Arthur to sail for France and to confront Lancelot. Arthur did so and every day Gawain called Lancelot out to fight him. The equally guilt ridden...