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Saturday, April 14, 2018

More Medieval Magic!



We're excited to feature a guest post hosted by C. Lee Mckenzie and find out more about our good friends Pete and Weasel. 

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Thanks for hosting Pete and Weasel on your amazing blog. We’re excited to be here. I thought I’d tell your readers why I set this story where I did, and what I found out while writing Some Very Messy Medieval Magic (SVMMM). 




I love history, so sending Pete and Weasel off to the past was sheer joy for me. I chose 1173 because I’d been reading about Richard I, and he fascinated me. In SVMMM, he’s still young and not the king yet. In fact, he’s off to France to join his brothers in a plot to overthrow his father, King Henry II.




The more I learned about Richard, the more I had fun writing a “highly fictional” account of Pete and Weasel interacting with him. 




Here are two facts about him: 

1. He didn’t care much for England. He only spoke French and adopted their customs and manners. Well, Eleanor of Aquitaine was his mom and English was the commoner’s language, but since I couldn’t write the book in French, I took the liberty of making Richard bi-lingual. 

2. He loved to hunt and he loved to sing. From all accounts, he had an excellent voice. He became a knight and later a warrior during the Crusades where his volatile nature didn’t show off the supposedly “gentler virtues” of a knight. He did seem to charge into battle a lot, so that’s why he was called Coeur de Lion, the Lion-Hearted. The descriptions I read were that he was “tall, well built and with hair mid-way between red and yellow.” He must have been quite an interesting guy.

Castle Beynac 
I’d just finished this story when friends asked me to go with them to France, and guess what? I wound up in castle Beynac where Richard spent some time. The wall around castle and the fireplace in the main hall were the way I’d imagined. The scullery, too. Then when I found the “toilet” I was so pleased to find it matched my description to a T! 

I love first-hand research so much better than what I do online, and when I see the real thing and it supports all that I’ve read, I jump up and down and clap my hands.

I hope readers will enjoy the time travel back to 1173 and the characters that are very loosely based on people of that time. Of course, I had to have a witch or two, after all without those witches, I would never have started this series. 



Buy the book on Amazon
Visit C. Lee's blog 

Read Lizzy's review of Alligators Overhead, The Great Timelock Disaster, and Some Very Messy Medieval Magic, plus check out an interview with C. Lee Mckenzie


49 comments:

  1. Love that your trip to France affirmed your research.
    And am definitely interested in guzzling yet another of your books.

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    1. The universe aligns sometimes and usually when you're not paying attention. This trip was a happy accident and after the book was written. Thanks for stopping by and mentioning guzzling. :-)

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  2. Wonderful guest post. As always it has been enjoyable learning a bit more about the person behind the book.

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    1. Hi Tracy. Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

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  3. Sure sounds like he was quite the guy indeed. Great when we can learn and write away too.

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  4. Great guest pose and hoe exciting to have visited that castle in France. Hugs, Valerie

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    1. It was exciting. I got to see the rooms he stayed in and looked out over the countryside as he did. Gave me the chills...happy ones.

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  5. That's wonderful you got to visit the castle and see your descriptions in living (and accurate) form. Richard does sound interesting. I wonder if he could swim?

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    1. Ha! Now that is true fiction. I don't have a clue, but I decided he didn't.

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    1. Me too! They're filled with all kinds of magic..real and imagined.

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  7. Some Very Messy Medieval Magic sounds intriguing. I love castles and medieval times, especially King Ludwig and Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany.

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    1. I'll say one thing about castles. They were build to last.

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  8. Hi DMS and Lee - great that you're here for your guesting post ... your tales sound so engaging and SVMMM sounds an ideal medium for bringing lots of stories to life. Well done on finding out your descriptions matched the facts once in France ... excellent to read - cheers to you both - Hilary

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    1. Hi Hilary! Love to verify my facts with first-hand experience. I feel so much more comfortable.

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  9. This is fascinating, Lee. Sounds like another great keeper.

    Hi, Jess and Stephanie.

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    1. Thanks, Sandra. I'll see how kids react next month when I do a workshop and present SVMMM. The true test!

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  10. This is a great story for history lovers and adventure lovers. Plenty of action and delightful characters. The youngsters in your family should love it. Umm, the older folks too. I know I did. Congratulations, Lee, on another winner.

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    1. I think we keep ourselves young by reading books written for young people. I'm still a picture book reader! We're never too old to enjoy any of these stories.

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  11. Fun time period for research and for your story. It sounds wonderful. I will try to get to it soon. Thanks for telling me about it.

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    1. Thank you, Rosi. I hope you enjoy the adventure.

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  12. A huge thank you to my hosts today! You two are the best for letting me hang out here and tell about my book.

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    1. Thanks so much for visit us and talking to our readers, Lee. So happy to help spread the word about this fun series. :)
      ~Stephanie and Jess

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  13. Hi, Jess, Hi, Lee!

    Thanks for featuring Lee today, Jess! What a fun sounding story. I love the medieval times as well, Lee, and this sound like a very fun read! Is this a stand alone, or do I need to read the others first. Never did get around to them when they first came out... bad me. lol

    Been in a terrible state for a while, but that's all over now. Been reading like crazy and WRITING, TOO!

    CONGRATS and all the best, Lee!

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    1. Michael- So glad you are in a wonderful writing place. Sounds like the right story has grabbed you! Thanks for stopping by. We are thrilled to have Lee here visiting with readers. :) ~Stephanie and Jess

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    2. Hi Michael,
      I've been told by reviewers that they didn't have to read the first books to enjoy this one. It's hard for me to judge, so I appreciated their telling me that. Glad to hear your life's smoothing out a bit. It's rotten for a nice guy to have rough times.

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  14. Hello, Lee! Sounds like Pete and Weasel are having fun.

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    1. The Armchair Squid- They are certainly in for an adventure in Some Very Messy Medieval Magic. :) ~Jess and Stephanie

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    2. I love those two boys, so it's fun for me to give them a story.

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  15. I bet visiting a castle would be so much fun.

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    1. Mary- We think so! That would be awesome! :) ~Stephanie and Jess

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    2. It is. And I like to close my eyes and imagine what they were like with the people going about their daily business. Cold though. Can't imagine the winters! Brrrr.

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  16. What an exciting time period to explore, and an excellent choice of protagonist. And how cool that you got to go to a castle he spent time at.

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    1. Kate- We love that Lee got to visit the same castle that Pete and Weasel spent time at too. :) ~Stephanie and Jess

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    2. And it was an accidental visit to that castle. However, I'm staring to believe that nothing is an accident.

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  17. An enjoyable guest post ...

    All the best Jan

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  18. I love hearing about the history! I would love to visit a castle! Wow! A great guest post! Thank you!

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    1. Magic Love Crow- Isn't history fascinating? Visiting a castle would be such fun! :) ~Stephanie and Jess

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    2. Thanks, Magic Love Crow. So glad you stopped by.

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  19. Yay for great guest post :D Thank you for sharing lovelies. <3 You are making me more and more curious about these books :)

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Carina and that you are curious about the books. :)

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    2. These ladies are amazing. I love being here on their blog.

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  20. How much fun that you got to go to France and do some first hand research!

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    1. An accident that was fabulous. I'm questioning accidents these days.

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  21. Sounds like you did a lot a research for this book. It's always fun to visit the place you've written about. Glad you got to go to France and see that toilet! :)

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    1. The medieval period was primitive in the plumbing department, but it wasn't dirty in terms of personal hygiene. That came later when people believed that a good coating of dust on the skin was healthy. Hmm. So interesting, this history business.

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