Spring Cleaning

We're trying to clean out lots of things this spring, inventorywise. We have a room full of non-literary products as well as thousands of books that we need to put on clearance, so if you're interested in one of our t-shirts or our VIRGINIANA books, just go to our www.RebelKing.com website and you can navigate through all of our products. Most have greatly reduced prices so that we can move them out to make room for (1) Rebel King, Book Four, High King of Ireland (see previous posting), and (2) new designs on our tees. Besides, I want my family room back!

Just a quick note to our wee bonny lass in Florida, who's been in rehab lately. Alice, we're sorry to hear that you've been down, but we're happy to hear that you'll be "sprung" ere long.

We recently vowed to spend four hours every day working on the book, but of course that's pie in the sky. No sooner does one make such a pledge than other things come in "over the transom"*, making it all but impossible to follow through with the pledge. Let it be known, however, that we are not merely frittering away our time, but actually tending to business. "He" has been signing us up to be vendors at myriad games this season, including some new ones. (Check our "Appearances" page at www.rebelking.com to see where we expect to be throughout the year. We hope you drop by our tent when we're at an event near you.) I'll try to let you know ahead of our "next" appearance... but don't hold me to it!

Also, if you have bought our books through some other means than from our website, shame on you! ;~) No, seriously, if you have purchased or been given our book(s) and they haven't been signed by us, bring it/them with you when you attend one of our scheduled events. We'll be happy to sign them. No extra charge!

Now, if I could just hold a great big yard sale and get rid of old toys, clothes, odds and ends, and such things as the perfectly good charger for the cell phone I washed in someone's jeans pocket (no names will be mentioned). Interestingly enough, that was the second consecutive cell phone we drowned. The first was placed in a store bag for ease of carrying, the bag was absentmindedly put into our ice chest, and as the ice melted the poor phone was immersed and drowned.

Thanks for visiting. I hope to have another posting up, soon! Won't that be a surprise! CDHB

*This is one of those idioms that most young folks won't understand because they have no ken of what a "transom" is. So I'll tell you... a transom is a board above a door (or window) that separates the door opening from a small window or fanlight above it. As can be seen in some older apartment and office buildings, the windows above the transom were often openable and closeable for purposes of controlling ventilation (early air conditioning). It was also possible to toss items, i.e. letters, newspapers, etc., through the open window and "over the transom". -C.

Winter Travel

Bookkeeping, paperwork, and other mundane "at home" chores keep us with our noses to the grindstone when we're traveling a lot, which we have been recently. After Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, we broke one of "his" cardinal rules... we went north in winter! It was a necessary trip to retrieve books from a warehouse in Ohio, and required renting a Chevy Cobalt (very compact and easy to drive, though we're used to tooling around the country in a Dodge Grand Caravan) in which to drive up, and a 14-foot rental truck to come back.

Then we went north a second time(!) to the Greater Philadelphia Mid-Winter Scottish & Irish Music Festival on the 16th & 17th of February. We set up our wares at Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia, PA, with our friends Bob Davis and Jeanne Treat. Jeanne is an author and husband Bob acts as her "roadie". Jeanne's first book is selling well; Dark Birthright is adventure/fantasy/romance and history, all set in 17th Century Scotland. She is in the same boat we are, trying to write and travel and promote and advertise while maintaining a full-time job and sanity at home. Bob is an apiarist as a sideline.

At the music festival we also met up with other friends, including Rob Piland, who designed and cast the silver pendant I wear at almost all times. It's called Bruce's Axe, and Rob's about to "retire" the design from his collection. It's also available in gold so he said. He's a very talented designer.

Jeannie and Bob Rider were there with Jeannie's new business called Pixie Treasures. This was the first time they had been to this event, too. Last Fall we ran into them at the Williamsburg Highland Festival , which, if I'm remembering correctly, was their first such event?

Albannach was among the great Scottish and Irish bands who played at the Philly show, and boy! Do they ever attract a crowd. People can't resist their music, and so many stopped to watch and hear them that the crowd was bumping against our table, the only time that happened. It's always good to see the guys and Jackie perform their primitive, rousing down to your toes, Scottish music. If you have the chance to see them in person, I recommend that you do. They are the only band I've ever seen in our travels who have gotten a cheer for just walking onto the stage, drawing people to them from all over the field like a sugar cube draws ants. It's amazing.

Well, that's it for right now, but I hope you'll keep up with us. I've got to write more often! CDHB

The Fourth Rebel King

At left is one reason that we've been so not here, lately. At left is the cover design for book four, Rebel King, High King of Ireland. I wish I could say that it is well on its way to being published, but it isn't. "He" is running far ahead of "her" in writing, though we have 'leventy-'leven things we've been trying to get accomplished since the last post. (I can't believe it's been a month!)

This book picks up right where its predecessor left off on June 24, 1314, with Sir James "The Black" Douglas hieing after King Edward II with such determination, it is said, that the king complained because he and his guard could not even stop to "make water" as they fled. Douglas does not relent, even though his force is less than a fourth of the size of Edward's half-thousand barded knights. Makes one wonder why the English didn't turn on the smaller Scottish force.

At what point "High King" will end is anybody's guess, but we can hardly wait to get back into the story when we've been away from it a while. We hope you feel the same way when you read it. More about the book will appear as we progress. Meanwhile, what do you think of the cover? CDHB