Look what I made! I’ve been sorting out a pic for the new story for Royal Road and I managed to do this! I’m speaking to someone incredibly talented who will do the proper one as things work out, but I think that this will do for a place holder. I’m still surprised that I managed anything like this! I fail at pictures.
Going forward, fiction will be posted here and on Royal Road. You can see where I’ve started here. I hope you feel able to have a look around the site. There’s a lot of interesting stuff on there, and some great stories. I’ll put chat and news on here and Substack, so that you can get a notification if you want one.
I’m looking forward to the Coronation. Yes, I am a loyal subject of King Charles III, and my ancestors would turn in their various graves and resting places if I didn’t show respect, but I also admit that I’ll be watching it as a writer. I’ll want to know what happens and when and there’s a chance that it will suggest ideas for scenes in books later on.
And I keep wondering about the coronation of Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor. He’d gone into Italy and down to Rome to help out the pope at the time, Pope Leo III. Apparently the Pope crowned him Holy Roman Emperor in a sort of ambush, without warning Charlemagne before hand. And apparently Charlemagne tried to refuse it. It’s hard to believe that a wily operator like Charlemagne wouldn’t know what was coming, and that he wouldn’t spot a large, shiny crown hanging around as he knelt to pray. On the other hand, being crowned the Holy Roman Emperor meant that Charlemagne and his successors kept getting dragged into Italy’s very complicated and fragmented diplomacy and regular warfare. And what the pope bestowed, the pope could take away and the struggle for authority didn’t encourage peace. The conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV, for example, was epic.
Saturday will mark a change, a point in British history, a moment when it is officially done and seen to be done. I’m looking forward to it immensely (and I’ll be taking notes)
