Elizabeth Wein

the extended rant

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For anyone who missed the Historical Fiction Q&A with me and Sherri L. Smith the other night, @rhymeswithcapri has posted an awesome recap on her "Research in the Real World" trip to Japan while she was writing The Blossom and the Firefly, available here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZJ9Sx9m7hz/

I too, have a recap - all about World War II underwear! You can follow up on my blog - https://ewein2412.dreamwidth.org/110713.html

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Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Historical Fiction Q&A with Sherri L. Smith & Elizabeth Wein. After registering, you will receiv

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It's Old May Day, and as promised, here's the Four of Pentacles from the never-completed Tarot deck, Mordred at the end of the Battle of Camlann (he is described at the end of Malory, Le Morte D'Arthur, as "leaning on his sword among a great heap of dead men"). Discerning readers of The Lion Hunters will recognize his physical depiction here as matching that of Medraut, and the VERY discerning among you will guess, or be entertained to know, that he is intentionally standing here among a great heap of dead Lleus. I am struggling a bit to remember who they all are. I *think* the one with his arm over the rock is Gwyn from Alan Garner's The Owl Service. The one with the flowing golden locks is certainly Lleu Llaw Gyffes of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion. I *think* that the one on the right is an early gender-fluid boy-magician character of mine named Lleu Enle, and the shiny-haired guy in the lower left is Lleu ap Artos. I also have always felt that they might not actually be dead, but posing. Lleu Llaw Gyffes just doesn't look like he's taking this seriously. Happy birthday, my marksman!

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with Sherri L. Smith & Elizabeth Wein, October 11 – 17, 2026

Do you write historical fiction, but feel like something’s missing? Do you love reading historical fiction, but dream of adventure? Stop daydreaming! Join us for a week of writing workshops, tours, and books at the heart of the Dunkirk Evacuation and the Battle of Britain, with accommodation in historic Canterbury.

Visit our Readers & Writers Historical Fiction Tour web page to find out all the details and how to apply!

Readers & Writers Tour: WWII Kent

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Hello!! I've been super curious about this ever since I noticed, but was there a chance your Medraut from The Winter Prince was based partially on the other arthuriana knight Sir Aglovale De Galis? I realized they share a ton of traits with Aglovale's most well known medieval literature having him as father of Morien and husband to a princess from Africa so I've just been wondering since I'm very fond of both of them :)

No, he wasn't! More on Rosemary Sutcliff's Medraut in Sword at Sunset, which is where I picked up the Celtic version of his name, but he's pretty much my own invention. Priamos, however, is one of the Arthurian knights mentioned in Morte d'Arthur.

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hello, i love your writing ♡

if you had to cast julie or maddie or louisa or ellen with actresses from the 40s, who would you choose?

have a lovely day!

I confess to imagining Julie as being played by Grace Kelly I haven't really pinned Maddie or Louisa or Ellen! I did wish that Kathryn Drysdale had been able to narrate Louisa for The Enigma Game, but unfortunately the audiobook was made during the COVID pandemic in 2020 and we went with a Scottish actress who had her own recording equipment and voiced all three narrators herself. Do you have any ideas?

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Is Edwin from Fire based on Edwin of Northumbria?

No he is not, but Ida of Bernicia does make an appearance in The Sword Dance which is set a great deal in Northumberland. I am so sorry I can't tell you more and I really, really want to make this book available to readers like yourself sooner rather than later! warmly, Elizabeth

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I hope it's alright to ask, but seeing that you tried making a tarot deck, are there any other cards you made other than the ones of Lleu and Gowein? I'm super curious especially since I really, really love how they're illustrated :) Lleu and Gowein look super gorgeous!

I made about two dozen of them. They are mostly not from The Lion Hunters and cover a range of literature and made-up stuff with my high school friends, most of which would be pretty baffling to the majority of the global community! However there is a Mordred one I am planning to post on May Day... there are also a BUNCH of cards loosely based on the medieval Welsh "Mabionogion," which is what I was obsessed over while I was writing The Winter Prince. Thank you for the lovely compliments!

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Happy birthday Goewin & Lleu, arbitrarily 7 April. The pictures are from a never-finished hand-drawn tarot deck, circa 1985. I know I neglect my fanbase terribly so I hope you enjoy these!

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Jamie and Louisa

my favourite devious flight lieutenant and my favourite devious codebreaker

i think i did this in early 2020

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By my favourite devious fangirl, from The Enigma Game

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Stumbled on your tumblr by chance and saw to my utter delight that you mentioned self-publishing the Sword Dance (the book I have been craving since reading the Winter Prince, crying over the beginning of ACOL, devouring Fire after you graciously sent to to me, all many many years ago). Is there any chance you have an update on timing of this publication?

I don't have a timeline - I am so sorry! I can tell you that it HAS now been professionally edited, and we have a series of different options to take from here. Believe me, NOBODY wants this out there more than I do, and I am not entirely sure why it's such a trip to the outer solar system! Thank you for staying interested - tumblr will be the first place that hears when there's news, lol.

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Since both Medraut and Goewin have partners, what kind of lover would you imagine Lleu to have? Or would he be the type of be single by choice? Either option is good

I couldn’t possibly say, lol I hope that some day I will be able to answer, but at the moment I have to keep silent!

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My first novel, The Winter Prince (1994), is on sale as an ebook at $1.99 for ONE DAY throughout a whole lot of the English speaking world (USA/Canada/UK/Australia) on Sunday, 23 Feb. 2025. It is an Arthurian psychological thriller about sibling rivalry, set in a Dark Ages Britain in the spirit of Rosemary Sutcliff. It was written as a standalone, but became the first in a loosely connected series called The Lion Hunters. Give it a try if you haven't already!

The Winter Prince

<div><b>Brave Medraut is a fitting heir to the throne—but he can never be king—</b><b>in this fantasy retelling of the legend of Mordred fro

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This is what happens when you sort stuff... you keep finding stuff. It's Medraut circa A Coalition of Lions. It's actually sketched this lightly in the notebook.

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Found this from 25 years ago and thought some people here would enjoy it

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OK I found another one. This I believe is the frontispiece illustration to a friend's copy of The Sunbird.

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hi! is there any chance there will be another side story that accompanies the sword dance?

probably not - I'm working on trying to self-pub Sword Dance so not writing other related stuff at the moment. I would LOVE to get this book available to devotees of The Lion Hunters!