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Fantasy Romance

Romance Novels

Knights: Code of Chivalry

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The Knights of Valor are a prominent part of my fantasy romance novels. Why? Because I like the good boy, the knight in shining armor, so to speak. While I don’t feel the need to be rescued, thank you very much, I’ve always been drawn to the white knight.

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While the Knights in my stories live by a moral code directly tied to the god they serve, that code wasn’t created in a vacuum. I’ve never detailed all of the vows the Knights of Valor follow because that would bog down the story, but their code is very much based on historical precedent.

Real knights in the days of yore had a code of chivalry that they were supposed to follow. How many did, well, that’s another post. The punishments for not following it, again, another post. For the purposes on my novels, this does differ from historical precedent.

While many parts of our past are lost to us, The Song of Rolland documented the code of chivalry during the time of William the Conqueror, around 1066 AD. This was a large influence on the code I crafted.

1066 AD Code of Chivalry

  • Fear God and maintain His Church
  • Serve the liege lord in valor and faith
  • Protect the weak and defenseless
  • Give succor to widows and orphans
  • Refrain from the wanton giving of offence
  • Live by honor and for glory
  • Despise pecuniary reward
  • Fight for the welfare of all
  • Obey those placed in authority
  • Guard the honor of fellow knights
  • Eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
  • Keep faith
  • At all times to speak the truth
  • Persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
  • Respect the honor of women
  • Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
  • Never to turn the back upon a foe

 

Yes, some seem contradictory to me, too. A few of these seem redundant to me, and a few seem too bravado for my Knights of Valor, but I did think through all of them as I was creating my own code.

The “at all times speak the truth” gives my Knights of Valor a great deal of trouble, and from time to time, they may have even had to interpret that vow a little creatively.

In my fantasy world, being chosen by Dracor, God of Justice, to be one of his Knights and following the code of chivalry imbues certain holy powers, including the ability to channel the god’s power to smite evil. But that’s fantasy. I could see how some of this code could really hamper a medieval knight.

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Maybe.

There are other codes of chivalry, including the one espoused by the Duke of Burgundy in the 14th century, but it’s not really all that different from the list above. The code from King Arthur’s court is perhaps the most famous, though much of this is shrouded in legend. The lack of solid facts makes it fun to write about, but more subject to interpretation.

More interesting to my mind is that such a code had to be written. That many things which seem like basic values had to be spelled out. But then, Dracor, God of Justice, has not always reigned supreme even in our history.

 

How about you? What do you think of knights and codes of chivalry? Ever see any in a book you especially liked? Or maybe you think the whole thing was bunk and prefer the knight that follows no code?

Things I Learned Writing Knight of Valor

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Pending no major calamities, Knight of Valor will be released at the end of this month. I started writing this book in January of 2015, so it’s taken over four years to write, edit, revise, rewrite, edit again… You get the picture.

During that time, I learned a lot about writing, both the craft aspect of it, but also what works for me. Here are a few things I learned.

You Get Better the More You Write

I was just getting back into writing in 2015 after a long sabbatical, and it was a challenge to write even the first draft. While writing may have a degree of talent, see George RR Martin or Nora Roberts, it also has a huge degree of practice. The more I write, the better I get at it. I have to believe this is also a part of why George RR Martin and Nora Roberts are so amazing. Certainly, I need to read, too. Studying craft books helps as well. But none of that replaces the work of sitting down and crafting a story.

Revising is Crucial

I need to revise. My first draft is far from perfect. So very far. It is mostly a sandbox I have shoveled sand into that becomes the rough lump of a story. Revising turns that lump into a sandcastle. Some stories take more drafts than others. Knight of Valor took more than twenty drafts. A big part of the revision process was making up for how rough the first draft really was. I was out of practice when I wrote it. More recent works have required seven or eight revisions. I almost felt bad about it.  Then I came across this.

revision4
Yeah, even he had to rewrite.

Take Only the Advice That Works for You – Ignore the Rest

Part of the reason this book had so many revisions was I took a lot of advice I shouldn’t have. More benign advice was to write in any order than piece those scenes together. Yeaaaah, no. Doesn’t work for me, and it created a lot more work in the revision process.

For example, I was also reading a lot of craft books on romance as I wrote this, and they were all touting the alpha male as really the only hero most romance readers wanted to read about. So I revised and changed the hero and made him a lot more alpha. But then I didn’t like him anymore, and that meant I didn’t like the story Knight of Valor became. So I revised it again, removing most of the edits I had added, then focusing on really showing who he was instead of what a craft book told me he should be.

 

EatMushroomsAdvice
What works for one author doesn’t always work for another.

 

Write Your Story

Which leads me into my last point: learning to trust myself to write my story. The one I want to tell. The one that reflects my characters. That can be a lot harder than it sounds, as I learned writing Knight of Valor. Doubt is a powerful force, especially when you are working on a story for years at a time. When there are so many things going on around you personally, professionally, and in the world. Sometimes it can seem foolish to question those who “know” what they’re doing. In writing Knight of Valor, I’m glad I did. Even though it took me all those revisions to do it.

Writing: June Progress Update

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Here is my progress for the year through the end of June:

JulyProgressUpdate

I hate missing deadlines.

I am going to confess that being so open about how much I have missed this year is a little embarrassing.

But also motivating.

While I am still behind where I had planned to be at the end of June, you can see my Type A over-achiever has been in full swing getting me ahead on the rest of the year’s goals so that I WILL be caught up by the end of the summer.

Maybe.

What is holding up the release of Knight of Valor?

Interesting that you should ask. I am struggling with the book cover. Again.

After all of the work that goes into writing, editing, editing, editing.

 

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And this was the fourth round of edits

The book deserves a professional cover. We’ve all seen books that don’t have them and cringed.

As a matter-of-fact, the first edition of George RR Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice (also known as Game of Thrones) had an “experimental” cover and almost tanked the entire series.

Covers are important, so I am working toward getting a professional looking one.

I know some authors create their own. I laud them for that, but I don’t have years of graphic design experience. I am not afraid of learning, but I would rather spend that time on writing and improving my abilities as a storyteller. Some authors hire professional accountants to do their books and prepare their taxes. That is something I can do myself.

A few things about cover artists:

  • Most have more work than they can handle, and you must put your name down for a slot based on when you think your book will be complete
  • I can’t order a cover until I have a page count.
  • I don’t have a page count until I complete the final draft.
  • I missed my target date to complete the final draft

So, yes, I missed my slot. The person I am working with thought she would get to it back in May. Then she pushed it out to mid-June. Now I am hoping mid-July.

In the meantime, I have not stopped working on new stories or revising existing stories.

I am hoping this is going to work like buffer stock. Once I have worked ahead a bit, I can better absorb variables without disrupting my end release date to readers.

Fingers crossed.

And the Cats Watch

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I fear spiders. Note, there will be no pictures of spiders in this post. You will have to Google them if you want to see them.

I didn’t always fear spiders. When I was a child, I would play with them. Yeah. I know. I had a deprived childhood. But I would hold them in the palm of my hand and giggle as they ran across my forearm. Or I would build little labyrinths for them, which they mostly just climbed over the walls.

All of that changes when we moved to Seattle, and spiders went from being a run-of-the-mill insects (okay, arachnids), to creatures that could necrotize flesh.

FoundSpiderDealt
Exactly what you need to do if you find brown recluses nesting in your vents.

Seriously.

My sister was bitten by a spider. I won’t describe how awful it was, how painful, or the scars the bite left.

If you want an idea, go look up brown recluse bites. Yeah. They are awful.

That completely changed my view on spiders, and I went from playing with them to smooshing them. Or fleeing from them, as the case may be.

Then I moved to New Orleans.

In addition to brown recluses, they have black widows. And brown widows. And a slew of other really nasty and unpleasant things.

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And the basement, too.

So, yes, my fear was solidified.

These days, I have two cats. One is a former barn cat. These boys should be able to take out a mere spider, right? Especially now that we live in the frozen tundra, and there are no brown recluses or wolf spiders here.

Yeaaaaah, about that. Apparently, we didn’t set expectations properly.

As I was getting out of the shower the other night, both cats had managed to get into the bathroom. If you don’t close and lock the door just right, they can jiggle it open. And both cats love to join me in the shower.

Whoever said cats hate water don’t know my two.

As anyone who owns cats knows, cats love to get their hair all over you. And one of my cats is a 26 pound long-haired Maine Coon. What better way for him to get hair all over me than to rub up against my bare wet leg?

CatHair
And the sofa, and the floor…

As I was about to step out of the shower, I noticed a spider on my floor roughly the size of my palm.

I managed not to scream.

But I am in the shower. I don’t have shoes on.

So, I do what anyone else in my situation would do and call for my husband without trying to scare the kids.

He must have heard he urgency in my voice, as he came before I called for the third time.

During this entire process, both cats are simply watching the spider crawl across the bathmat as I stand in the shower waiting to be rescued.

KillSpider
Might do the trick. Maybe.

Fortunately, my husband arrived and squished the spider. At which point, both cats had the nerve to be disappointed that the thing was gone!

I swear, those little beasts aren’t worth the cat food we feed them!

 

 

Maybe I Can’t

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No, this is not a de-motivational poster.

i-cant-do-it-captain-i-dont-have-the-power.jpg
But he *always* pulls through.

I discuss time management a lot, and I realized something important.

I just can’t “do it all”. No matter what society tells me. No matter what society expects of me.

Sure Sheryl Sandberg wants us to “Lean In”, but I can almost guarantee she has never had to figure out how to pick up her child from dance class, get laundry done, and make sure dinner is on the table.

I guess this really hit home as I was looking at the list of writing projects I want to achieve, what I have achieved this year, and even where I have failed.

CelebrateSuccess
Except a writer is never done.

 

Successes

  • I will publish Knight of Valor this year.
  • I will publish A Knight’s Redemption within 6 months of Knight of Valor
  • I finished Leikar and Annabelle’s first draft
  • I will finish Rohan and Makayla’s first draft
  • I completed a third revision of A Knight’s Second Chance
  • I will complete a fourth revision of A Knight’s Second Chance

There will still be a few months left in the year for me to complete my other goals of:

  • Writing a third first draft novel
  • The really hard first-second draft revision of Rita (name may change) and Logan

Misses

Deadlines. They seem to go whooshing by.

DeadlinesWhoosh

 

Areas to Focus on

  • Accepting that creative endeavors are not the same as corporate finance. I am understanding a little better why we’re still waiting for Winds of Winter.
  • Accepting that I might have had unrealistic expectations for myself. Because that never happens…

All in, I am happy with the way the first half of this year went, but writing down goals put a little more stress on me than I was anticipating. Still, I think it has really helped me to focus and shown me how much I do accomplish.