K.E. Skedgell

I haven't done a historical post in a while, so I thought since the start of book two in my Draculești series begins here, I will talk a little about Visegrád, a town in northern Hungary that holds one of King Mátyás Corvin's palaces. Visegrád Coat-of-Arms. Visegrád (Veesh-ay-grahd) is located about twenty miles (32 kilometers) north of Budapest on the east bank on the bend of the Danube River. The area is filled with dense forests and rolling hills and mountains, and from the top of the great hill shadowing the town one can take in the beautiful views from the partially reconstructed ruins of the thirteenth century fortress. Visegrád was first settled as a Roman military camp in the 4th century in a place called Sibrik Hill, located a little north of the current upper castle. The camp was later abandoned in the 5th century and a castle was built in its place, and thus the town had formed. In 1009, Visegrád was first mentioned as a county town and the chief town of an...

S o I took a break from writing yesterday because I had the itch to draw something, but when I got pencil in hand and paper on desk, I couldn't get my hand to draw what my mind was seeing. Hate that! I wanted to draw this image of my character Izsák, servant boy to my main character Vlad, sitting in a window seat gazing through the window with a leg bent upon the seat of the bench and his foot tucked beneath his other leg, holding onto a pillow. I can still see it in my mind, but I'm so out of practice with drawing the human form, which used to come so easily, that I couldn't get the position right. I drew comic book characters back in the day, all the time, and that was how I got used to drawing the human form in many positions. Nope, couldn't do it today. I made several sketches trying to get it right but I gave up and went to trying to draw his face. Key word, trying . Eventually, though, I hit the jackpot, sort of, and came up with this profile sketch: Izsák, ...

I n my previous post I mentioned an art project I was working on. Well, today I finally finished it. Woo hoo! I was getting antsy to have it done and over with by the time I got about 3/4 of the way through, which isn't anything out of the ordinary for me. Behold, my latest graphite drawing entitled: All That Remains -- Ruined church of Zelemér, Hungary Click for larger view. The photo reference came from a search on Google Earth, which you can see here . From what I've read, the ruins of this church are the last remains of a medieval town that had once existed around it. I did take liberty in changing a few things from the original photo, like the removal of the footprints in the snow and the poles for the power lines in the background. The original drawing has far more finer details than what the photo shows and isn't grey. I did draw it on white paper. I need to invest in a light box (or have the boyfriend build me one) so I can take better photos of my drawing...

D raw draw draw! No! Write write write! Draw! Write! It's a rather nice predicament to have, since so rarely do either of the muses come around at the same time. In my teen years the writing and drawing muses were close pals of mine. Nowadays, not so much. And I miss that. The writing muse has been coming around a lot the last few years, which is really nice. The art muse is like that friend who lives far away that you rarely get to see, and when she does stop by, you make the most of it while she's there, because she ain't a stayin' for long. Right now the two muses are vying for my attention, and it's great, especially since I'm not working I have the time to share part of the day with both. Currently I'm working on a graphite drawing of a ruined medieval Hungarian church, it's remains the only thing left of a village that had once surrounded it. After that I really want to start on a portrait of Oscar Wilde  because I think he is just...

Kocs Coat-Of-Arms K ocs is a village in Hungary from which the word "coach" is derived, and are pronounced the same. The village is the birthplace of the horse-drawn vehicle called a coach in the 15th century. To be more precise, the name is kocsi szekér and means 'wagon from Kocs'. It was built with one main thing in mind--speed. That, and it needed to carry several people and their supplies, in comfort for both the passengers and the horses. Built entirely of wood, no iron wheels or parts with the exception of fasteners, chains, and springs, the vehicle was light and easy for the team of horses that pulled it, usually two with a third on the side for when extra speed or strength was needed. Kocs, with its meaning of "ram", has a population of about 2700 people, lies about 40 miles (65 km) west of Budapest and is located in NW Hungary in the county of Komárom-Esztergom. The coat-of-arms above depicts the ram on a green field representing the first...

János Hunyadi N o, I'm not about to blog about the novel by Ernest Hemingway , or the song from Metallica of the same name. I'm speaking of the church bells that chime at noon. I never had any thought as to why church bells chime at noon, it was always a thing that just was. One day, I couldn't tell you when, during one of my researchscapades for my novel, I came across some interesting bit of info. Yeah, it has to do with the church bells chiming at noon. Some of you reading this may already know why and the importance of why they chime at noon, some of you may not. They chime in commemoration of two men, but primarily for one: János (John) Hunyadi , and for the other, Giovanni (John) da Capistrano . Giovanni da Capistrano   I've written a scene where the son of János Hunyadi, the king of Hungary Mátyás (Matthias, or Matthew) Corvin, is telling the tale of his father's brave fight in Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) to my main character, Vlad, over-looking t...

I have been working on my novel that I have long titled (subject to change, of course) Draculești, which has the meaning of "house" or "family of the dragon/devil", for quite some time. In the last few years I have been rewriting the novel from the previous draft, because quite frankly, it was dreadful. I've been using this story as practice to learn to write, and so far I can see how I have improved. It is one reason why it is taking me so long to finish it. Another reason I just need to sit down and write it. Order Of The Dragon My infatuation with 15th century Eastern Europe and the historical people of the era started way back when I was thirteen or fourteen, when I had first discovered my love of vampires, thanks to a friend of mine. Playing the Castlevania games on the Nintendo also contributed to my curiosity of the vampire/Dracula lore, and, if that weren't geeky enough, I started making crappily drawn and even more crappily written Captain...

I've been contemplating starting a blog for some time, and now I have finally decided to take the plunge. The purpose of this blog is to share with you my thoughts and musings of my writings, and I may occasionally slip in pieces of my life here or there. I am currently working on a Historical Fantasy novel series set in the time of Vlad the Impaler in Eastern Europe in what is now predominately Hungary and Romania. The story begins when Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) escapes his brother Radu's assault upon his castle above the Argeș River, his son in tow, through a secret passageway into the mountain of which his castle stood to the river a mile away. Only, when they prepare to ride off on horses that were waiting for he and his party, Vlad's horse shies from the noise of cannon fire and bucks off his son, losing him in the reeds, and leaves him behind. From there the story continues with Vlad's son, whose name is also Vlad, and we join him on his journey through ...