Happy New Year!

Wow. How did I get so lucky as to have the first post of 2008? Lots happened last year and I know this next year will be even better! So here's a little graphical wish...

Bianca

www.biancadarc.com

On the Second Blog of Christmas

The Fantasy & Enchantment Blog gives you two little mysteries in a single package.

Once a year in Abbots Bromley, a little village in England's West Midlands, twelve dancers set out from the St. Nicholas Church. Six of them carry reindeer antlers--three racks of black horns and three racks of white. The other six are stock figures from pantomime--Maid Marion (always played by a man in a dress), Hobby Horse, Fool, a boy with a bow and arrow (Cupid?), a boy with a triangle and a musician.


The twelve follow a fourteen-mile circuit from the church to Blithfield Hall and back again. At various sites along the way they stop to perform a winding circle dance. Finally, around 8 p.m., the dancers return the horns to the church and stay for Compline.


Mystery One is the is the origin of the dance. One theory says it originated in 1226 when the local lord granted certain villagers the right to hunt on his land. (This was a very big deal in the Middle Ages, as any fan of any version of Robin Hood can tell you.) But the year and the date of the original performance is subject to dispute. One group associates it with Barthelmy Fair (aka Bartholomew Fair), held in late August or early September, depending on your choice of calendar. Another tradition says it was originally performed at Christmas, which makes a lot of sense if St. Nicholas and reindeer equals Yule.


Mystery Two concerns the horns themselves. Radiocarbon dating puts their age at around 1065 A.D., about two hundred years before the grant but long after reindeer had disappeared from the England. They were probably imported from Scandanavia, but that doesn't explain why.


And if that doesn't get your plot bunnies hopping, you might try feeding them a couple of these links:


Wikipedia


Abbots Bromley Web Site


Abbots Bromley Horn Dance (created by one of the dancers)


Happy writing!

Update on the Magical Worlds of Bianca D'Arc

I've been very busy since my trip South. First, I caught a nasty flu bug and have been sick for about two weeks, but getting better every day. Second, I've been writing some new stuff in a couple of different worlds - my contemporary paranormal world and a new contemporary urban fantasy setting that I hope to pitch to one of the larger "New York" publishers this Fall.

I've also been dabbling with fairies. Well, editing in the fey realm at least. I'm happy to report that everything's on track for a pre-Christmas release of a short story I wrote last year about this time called Solstice Dreams. It's the tale of a High Court Sidhe Knight and his forbidden love for a Dark Fey Sorceress. They're both on a quest to find the jolly old elf who lives near the North Pole, but neither can find him until they find love.

It's a short, sweet, hot tale about forbidden fey love and a shared quest that becomes not-so-important in the face of passion. It will be coming out from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid - my first publication with them - in December. We're editing it now. It'll be Volume 7 of their Celtic Love Knots series and my story will be in with one by Barri Bryan.

Aside from my fey folk, my dragons are doing very well indeed. I came back from my trip to find that Prince of Spies had been released in paperback and was bopping around the Fantasy, Futuristic and Ghost Top 100 Best Seller List on Amazon.com. Yay! For some odd reason, it's also listed on the Contemporary Top 100 Best Seller List, which is great, but kinda weird too, since this book is set in a medieval-ish fantasy world. LOL.

In other dragon news, Wings of Change tops the MBAM Best Seller List and I couldn't be happier! Thanks to everyone who's already bought the novella and especially to those who've let me know how they liked it! I'm working feverishly on FireDrake, the next Dragon Knights novel, which should be out in ebook formats next May.

So I've been kept really busy with dragons, fey and other magical creatures. I hope some of you will come see me at the booksignings I have lined up for every weekend this month. I'll be signing at the New Jersey Romance Writers Conference book fair on October 6th at the Woodbridge Sheraton. The following weekend, I'll be signging at the Borders in Middletown, NY, and the weekend after that, I'll be at the Borders in Marlborough, MA. Details are on my website, so please come out and see me if you're in the area!