Arthur Everywhere

I like how Margaret Finnegan has been including her blog readers in the creation and promotion of her wonderful novel, The Goddess Lounge. We'll do some fun stuff like that here, too, when the time comes.

In my novel Camelot & Vine, a Hollywood actress with a penchant for dishonesty loses her job, her married boyfriend and perhaps a modicum of sanity at the approach of her 40th birthday--though she's never told anyone her real age, not even the IRS. She has a romantic fantasy about King Arthur, so in a fit of pique (or panic) she flies to England to take a vacation and visit Arthurian sites. When a car accident sends her flying into the night, she lands in the sixth century and accidentally saves King Arthur's life.

It's not exactly what she'd planned for her vacation. Arthur is not the handsome romancer she'd imagined. The Dark Ages are dangerous. And dark.

The king's helmet, by the way, looks nothing like this one. And this blog is not about my novel, it's about Pasadena. So what does all this have to do with Mr. Teeth here?

Maybe it's because I've got knights on the brain, but I find stuff like this everywhere. There's a suit of armor in a barber shop in Altadena. Another one stands outside Pink Plum Antiques in Pasadena, and a half suit perches at an auto mechanic shop at Orange Grove and Lincoln. Over in Studio City, the Psychic Eye Book Shop has long been guarded by armored sentries. Knights--not to mention castles, swords, shields and all things medieval--advertise all kinds of businesses. We love these things because they appeal to our romantic side.

What that has to do with Mr. Teeth (and Margaret Finnegan) is this: I'm collecting pictures for my website and blog. Please let me know what you see in and around Pasadena and I'll head out to photograph it for the blog. Or if you'd like to send in a photo, please do. I'll post it on the website and give you credit.

There was no historical person named King Arthur, though he's probably based on a real person or persons (historians debate this). Whoever he was (or whoever they were) predates the medieval period by a few hundred years. That means my king is a Dark Ages guy, post-Roman and before the British kings (the first being the eighth century king Offa). When so few people in Britain knew how to write, little is left to us but the archaeological record.

Although he probably would have dressed more like a Roman soldier, it's fun to imagine Arthur stomping through the forests of ancient Britain wearing a scary-looking helmet, wielding Excalibur and making the world right.

A Day of One's Own

Today's the last day of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire so if you're going, read this later. Mornings are best. Afternoons get crowded. Though I admit, the crowds can be the best part.

I went again yesterday. You could say I like it a lot, and I'm just beginning to understand it. Many of the performers, if not most of them, are not paid. They rely on tips and the passing of the hat. They dress up and go out to Irwindale every weekend to participate in the atmosphere--to live in it--because they love to immerse themselves in another culture. It's not really the culture of the Renaissance. It's something else entirely.

What I wanted to do this time was experience it on my own terms, at my own pace. Sometimes when I'm with others, I know I'm holding them up so I don't take my time with the camera. I don't try different angles or settings, I don't watch for the right moment or search for the light or wait for the most interesting person to walk through a shot.

So yesterday I took my camera to the Faire, and no one else. The two of us had a wonderful time. There is an awful lot of smiling going on there.

As a younger woman I was much too self-conscious to do such a thing by myself, and even now I rarely get to spend a day wandering alone and taking photos. But I turned out to be pretty good company, and although I wasn't much of a conversationalist I had a wonderful time.

That and much, much dust up my nose.

Zen Monday: #195

I took a lot of fun pictures at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, so why not? Why not Ren Zen?

What Ho!

Yes, witches, warlocks, faeries, wenches, knights, lords and ladies, I visited the Renaissance Pleasure Faire yesterday and had a jolly good time. I enjoyed the jousting, the falconry, the pageantry, the meat pies and more. This party is wild.

RenFaire is very much up my alley, or rather, up my tiny, dark, piss-rank Elizabethan street. I love the costumes, the noise (well, not the noise), the bawdy jokes and the mead (I adore the mead). And here's the best part: I had a pre-paid ticket which I forgot to take with me, so I have to go again!

Which brings me to the contest we're having here on the blog today. One of the many Faire vendors gave me some discount admission coupons. I don't know why he did it but I LOVE him for it so I'll give him a plug even though he didn't ask for it. He's Jeff Price, a glass blower who makes the most beautiful things, including the Witch Balls above. (Faire vendors sell gorgeous, high-quality, hand-made items.) Thanks to Jeff, I'm sharing these discount coupons with you. The regular Faire gate price is $25 but you can get in for $15 with one of these babies. (Parking is an additional $10.) Since Faire ends on May 20th and it's only on weekends, I'm giving away all ten coupons today. That gives them time to get to you when I mail them on Monday.

So: please answer this question: In my novel, Camelot & Vine, what is the name of the character Casey Clemens plays in her TV commercials for the Gone! company?

Email the correct answer to me (the link is in my profile at top left). Please include your mailing address; that'll save us some time. I will not add you to a mailing list. (If you want to be on my mailing list I'd love to have you, just go to my website and opt in at the top right of any page under "Let's connect.") Anyone can enter. If by midnight Pacific time I receive more than ten correct answers, I'll put them all into a hat tomorrow and draw ten winners at random. If we have fewer, I'll give the extra coupons to my unsuspecting friends and neighbors.

By the way, I did touch the witch balls. So far, I'm good.

A Fantasy Novel

My favorite sights at last year's Renaissance Pleasure Faire were the behind-the-scenes campsites. Many Faire workers live in these tents (maybe only on weekends?), living out a mediaeval fantasy.

I have my own fantasies. One has become a completed novel called Camelot & Vine. It's about Casey Clemens, a minor Hollywood actress who falls through a gap in time, accidentally saves King Arthur's life, lies to him about magical powers she doesn't have and must face death and forgiveness to redeem herself.

I loved the process of writing the book. Now it's time to get it published. I'm not going to post about it every day (how many suits of armor and Avalon Funeral Homes can there be in the Dena, anyway?) but I might ask your indulgence from time to time and of course I'll update you when there's news. Today's post is by way of warning: next Thursday, May 3rd, my blog post will be a contest entry. I'll be posting my query letter (a sales pitch to potential literary agents) and the first 250 words of my novel as part of "The Writer's Voice" contest. There won't be any other explanation, so I hope you'll play along and not just say, "WTF?"

The contest is sponsored by four different book bloggers. Have a look:
Cupid's Literary Connection
Brenda Drake Writes
Love YA
Mother. Write. (Repeat.)
Nose around their fine blogs and see what's what. They've all got a lot going on. Maybe you've got a potential contest entry, too.

So this is a heads up. Next Thursday I'll be my own Guest Author. Feel free to comment and we'll see how it goes. And wish me luck! Some fantasies do become reality.

A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion

I've always had a desire to travel back in time. I've even written a novel about it called Camelot & Vine.

I'm not the only one with this desire. We want to go back and take a look—safely, of course—with plenty of food and decent sanitation and toilet paper. And beer.

Renaissance Faire! That's the way you do it. You can go, have lunch, and be back in time to feed the dog.

Friends of ours spend their spring weekends working at Faire. The mom is a serving wench. The older daughter dances. The younger—I'm not sure, she's cute enough to sell anything and she'd make a fine pick-pocket (she'd fit right in with these kids). The dad is a Poxy Boggard. (Don't click that link unless you enjoy sublime harmonies and profanity as much as I do. Click this one if you want to skip the profanity.)

My only regret is that we waited until the last day of this year's Faire, and a massive crowd of other time-travelers did the same. But the weather was cool, the mead flowed (very good and very strong but not very cheap! huzzah!) and we had a good time.

I realize this post doesn't help you one bit, as it's too late for you to time-travel to the Renaissance Faire this year. But I couldn't time-travel to the future to post it, so I've done my best. 


The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.
--Albert Einstein