Authorpreneur Dashboard – Paula Stiles
Fraterfamilias
Science Fiction & Fantasy
After a French artist and killer commits suicide-by-cop at JFK, a Russian history professor steals the body, sparking a centuries-old manhunt on both sides of the Atlantic.
Book Bubbles from Fraterfamilias
Ayanke curses out his brother
I had fun with this one. Lots of colorful words, from different languages and dialects, in this character introduction of the intrepid Alan Kedward. He thoroughly curses out his brother for stupidly putting himself in peril--right before trying to save him. That's Ayanke in a nutshell.
Where's the Key?
We wrote the rough draft of "Fraterfamilias" and the other two books in the trilogy the summer of 2001, and the story is set in the spring of that year. I had previously been through JFK a few times, so I remembered there being the lockers that are now a major part of this scene. Later, when I researched incoming flights, the terminal's map and the lockers' position for the book's revision, I found a lost-and-found help number for them. However, when I called it, it turned out the number had been disconnected. It seems that the lockers were removed post-9/11 due to the possibility of foreign terrorists using them to place bombs.
Fraterfamilias
Science Fiction & Fantasy
French artist Paul Farrell kills four people in Paris and walks into a hail of police fire at JFK Airport. A Russian history professor and shaman with a dark secret steals the body. Police on both sides of the Atlantic are on the case, but they each have secrets of their own. And a powerful enemy watches from the shadows, one who could destroy them all.
Book Bubbles from Fraterfamilias
Bobby in the ER
Bobby Corazon is an affectionate tribute to my grad school days. I realized when I was doing my PhD that a lot of people who go through grad school, especially to a doctorate, come from academic families. If you're breaking into the process for the first time, especially if you are a woman or person of color (or both), you don't have the support of that network or those expectations. It makes things very hard. Which partly explains Bobby's prickliness and extreme loyalty to someone who is willing to give her a hand up the ladder. Loyal enough to help him steal a body from the ER.
Subway Spirits
In this scene, I wanted to look at how someone trained in Siberian-style shamanism might adapt his skills to the modern world. I wanted to ground it in reality. What would he use for tools? What kind of spirits would he encounter? What would he need to do about them in going about his day? In this case, the ghost is just a distraction, but others down the line will prove more dangerous - and harder to banish.
TEMPLAR CONVIVENCIA
History
"Templar Convivencia: Templars and Their Associates in 12th and 13th Century Iberia" explores the people behind the legendary medieval warriors: the Order of the Temple of Solomon. Contrary to popular myth, most Templars were neither knights nor nobles. Many were not even monks. Spanish Templars in the Crown of Aragon included in their ranks women, Jews and even Muslims. Illustrated with 47 photos of sites in Spain.
Book Bubbles from TEMPLAR CONVIVENCIA
Who were the Templars?
A major inspiration for my PhD thesis was discovering early on in my master that the Templars were far more complex and fascinating than the popular stereotype of xenophobic, woman-hating, snobbish monks who fought as knights. They could also be peasants, women, people of mixed race, and even Jews or Muslims, since those who helped the Templars also regarded themselves as Templars. It wasn't just the monks who had taken vows.
Novillas, the first Templar convent in Spain
Novillas is one of the most important Templar houses in Western Europe because it's also one of the earliest. Yet, it's also very obscure. Little is published in English about it and even the documents about it remain relatively unstudied. In this chapter, I discuss the history of Novillas and how it shaped the history of the Templars in the West.
Will the real Knights Templar please stand up?
This is a major point in my thesis that I make over and over again. The popular view of the Templars is that they were an elitist, bigoted, murderous group, but the documents showing their simple, daily transactions demonstrate that they were anything but.
