Christina Duncan Stewarts Blog

Somebody asked me where I got the reference books and notes about Merlin because many of the points in the Origins book appeared to be historically accurate and that meant some studying or reading about ancient or medieval history.

It’s difficult to list all the books I have in my collection dealing with the Celts as a general population and more specifically Scotland and Ireland.? I’m a compulsive reader and go through a great many books in a year.? But what follows are some of the books I have on which I base much of my dreaming.

The four most interesting ones to date are:

[Read more…] about My Reference Books and Sources

I’m told some readers enjoy reading author reports -? about the “back end” of the writer’s working life.? I’m told it’s like peering into the writer’s mind by some readers.

Well, good luck if you peer into mine and get lost in there. I have a hard enough time some days figuring out what’s going on and if you wander in on one of those days?

Oh wait, that’s not what they mean?

Here’s an update on what’s happening with the site and books. [Read more…] about Authors Report For December 2017

I received an email from a reader indicating she thought the short novella about Merlin was “dark”.

I’ve thought about that for some time, and I invite you to consider some of these things:

• What if you had lived for over 14,000 years?
• What if the only way you could have survived in those early years was to fight for your life? Would you have done so to protect your family and friends?
• What if you had seen your loved ones slaughtered and you couldn’t do anything about it?
• What if your entire world was being eliminated one small bit at a time?
• What if you might be able to turn that around?
• What if by turning it around, you’d create a better world for both your family and that of others?
• And what if your history and experiences sometimes got in the way?
• What if you’re a human being with all the flaws of that person we all see in the mirror every morning but somehow you became different? You were given what some would call a gift, but some days you consider a curse?
• What if you still believed in the light instead of the dark?

What if?

[Read more…] about Could You See Yourself In the Dark or Light Like Merlin?

I’ve been consistently asked two questions over the years. 1) Where do you get your ideas and 2) how do you organize your books.? Let’s deal with the first in this post.

Where Do I Get My ideas?

I could give you a mystical answer – something like… [Read more…] about Where Do You Get Your Ideas As A Writer?

I’ll add an author report every month or so – mostly whenever the spirit strikes – to give you some sense of how things are going or what I’m reading/thinking. You’ll be able to find them under the “blog” section of the menu.

New Page of Definitions

Let me draw your attention to the new page I’ve just posted called “A Compendium of Useful Words”. ?As I add words to the story that may be new to you, I’ll do my best to add them to this list. ?Like all ongoing projects, the page has begun with only a few words.? And even though each only appears once (so far) in Book One, you never know when they will show up again.

Be warned though – one or two may tug at your heart when they appear in the story. [Read more…] about Author Report For October 2017

I know a lot of writers will tell you about their latest software or website plugin and claim it’s the best tool since the bread knife was invented, but I beg to disagree.? Or, to be more precise my best writer’s tool is different.
Please don’t misunderstand, I use many software systems – and I’ll share those someday – but this is the one tool I wouldn’t do without. [Read more…] about My Most Important Writer’s Tool