On the Way to Camelot

What is it about Camelot and King Arthur that captures our imagination? Why is the legend in all of its incarnations so durable? Why do we dream of the pageantry and ideals of the legend of the Round Table?

I think it's because deep in our hearts we long for order and security. Though the time period that King Arthur would have lived was actually marred by constant warfare and invasions, lack of hygiene, little medical knowledge, and poverty, that's not the part of the legend we remember. What we remember is the shining Camelot where truth and justice prevailed because Arthur was King and Merlin stood by his side.

The legend of Arthur has everything--treachery, love, power, magic, betrayal, foolishness, idealism, and sacrifice. Centuries later we still mourn this King who maybe, just maybe existed in the dark, dark centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire. Scholars vehemently argue the case for and against his existence. But whether he lived or not, it takes nothing away from the bright ideals that show us the way to a better future.

Fifteen hundred years later writers are still adding new twists to the legend that has endured all this time. A few months ago, I wrote a very tongue-in-cheek story about a young lady named Chrysanthemum and her time at King Arthur's court. Oddly enough, I called the story Chrysanthemum. She had two sisters who accompanied her to Camelot--Honeysuckle and Daffodil. I called the series the Flowers of Camelot. Today, the second in the series will be released. Let's see now, what did I call it? Oh, yes. Honeysuckle. On March 28th, the third in the series will be released and yes, you guessed it! It's title is Daffodil.

Now, I admit that my take on Camelot, Arthur, and the rest of the legend is a bit different, but I invite you to check it out. There's no telling what you might find out about Arthur and his rowdy bunch of Knights. No telling...

Need more information? Stop by my website at http://www.annycook.com/ or at the Ellora's Cave website at http://www.ellorascave.com/ for excerpts or blurbs.

Yesterday in the Saga Amarinda left us in San Franscisco with Emmeline playing with her food...

“Sometimes you cannot choose you destiny,” Beryl responded mystically.

“And sometimes you can.” Emmeline upended that plate on the table, picked up a fork and smushed the potato around.

“That’s cheating!” Beryl stamped her foot in anger.

“Whinge, bitch moan,” Emmeline muttered. She saw the needle - nasty. What did the answer look like? “Oh it can’t be.” She picked the small item up on the fork and looked at it closely.

Of course, I had to decided what it was!

“Well?” Beryl stood impatiently tapping her foot.

Pursing her lips, Emmeline stood contemplating the small item on the fork while she considered her limited options. It should be safe to return. Rinalda and the twins are dead. Zoltan is off in Nebraska with Pete. Surely, it will be safe?

Just then the door slammed open with such force that the hinges bent. Dr Garth Flugelheimer-Watts and his assistant Miss Primrose Grimly stood in the doorway.

“Halt!” Dr. Garth pointed an imperious finger at Emmeline. “Give me the chalice!”

Prim hung her head in disgust. Even she could see that Emmeline wasn’t in possession of the chalice. Nitwit! She trotted over to Emmeline and studied the object on the fork for a brief moment before jumping back. “No!”

“Yes.” Emmeline nodded her head sagely. “It’s true.”

“What will you do?” Prim demanded harshly.

“I will return it to its home. It must be done. You know that, don’t you, Prim?”
Prim shuddered in fear. “How will you get there?”

“I believe that I will take your space ship. Dr. Flugelheimer-Watts won’t mind, I’m sure. Especially if you come along to navigate. We will be back, oh… say we’ll be back sometime this century. It’s not that far.”

Dr. Garth shook himself as though suddenly waking and shouted, “What? You’re taking my ship? No, no, no!”

Emmeline merely nodded. “Of course, you’ll know best. In that case, I’ll need to find a garden center and take care of this.”

Primrose rounded to face the doctor and declared, “You fool! Give her the ship!”

“Eh? Why would I do that?”

“Because she has a zucchini zuuker seed!”

Hmmm. I wonder what Kelly will do with this?

Don't forget to stop by Amarinda's Place for your daily dose of Aussie vocabulary at www.amarindajones.blogspot.com and then pop over to Kelly's Blog to find out what she's up to today at www.kkirch.blogspot.com Blessings on your day!

Oops! I almost forgot! Next week the Eternally Yours Contest begins!

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books
Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love

Anny Cook Honeysuckle

Yummy good reading!