Thursday, June 30, 2016

The Fantasy Freebooting Tour

I am pleased to be hosting Day 6 of The Fantasy Freebooting Tour. Let's start with an excerpt.











Introducing Janowyn, an Elven rock-chick…?

Now, being an elven bard, whilst being terribly romantic, can also be a little sad most of the time. This is particularly apparent when you’re playing in a true Tolkienesque environment, because the race of elves seemed to have had more than their fair share of tragedy and doom. For my character Janowyn, all her formal performance art was largely concerned with fateful love affairs with mortals (elves are immortal and mate for life, so this was naturally traumatic and bound to end in heartache) and bloody battles and feuds with various adversaries from received canon. 

Luckily in our particular version of the River Kingdom, we had a kind of ‘green room’ tavern where the bards could hang out and practice new material with each other. This was called The Rainbows End and was hugely important to Jano’s character development as, being brought up in a wholly human community for over two hundred years, she sometimes needed to have a few laughs and kick over the traces every now and again. On the forum there was quite a lot of horsing around in these offstage or ‘out of character’ areas, even if we were still technically in character. Some of the roleplay threads could get quite silly and quirky as our characters did things that were totally ‘real world’ – like having a karaoke party for someone’s birthday…

The temptation to take the mickey out of some of the more academic and stuffy canon venues and roleplay re-enactments sometimes became totally wild, so, to show you that being a bard isn’t all about teary-eyed torch songs, here’s an example of a little roleplay fun we had down in Minas Tirith, where Jano’s friend, Miah, a mortal healer in the Houses of Healing, was having a fancy dress birthday party in a local dive. It had a karaoke theme and, as one of Miah’s favourite singers was a lady going by the name of Janus Droplin, Jano decided to do a tribute act set - and this is how she did it!

Being a seasoned performer Jano wasn't too worried, although she hadn't sung a song like this before. In fact, she was quite looking forward to it - very different from elven ballads and laments... She was quite enjoying the outfit too, although the vest was indeed a leetle bit too naughty and she wondered what her beloved would say if he saw her in it... Although maybe he wouldn't mind it too much if it was just them - hmmm, yes that might work... She kept her scruffy long leather patchwork jacket on anyway as she stepped up to the mic and nodded to the musicians. They began and she smiled over at Miah as the intro played and then she was singing, her voice sounding more husky than usual, but somehow raw and vulnerable, coming out strong and passionate and winding itself warmly around the melody...

Another act of online piracy… Here’s the link if you need to hear the music - https://youtu.be/uwZGT-FFTgE - lyrics for Janus Droplin’s Middle Earth version of Take Another Little Piece of My Heart!

Oh, come on, come on, come on, come on!
Didn’t she make you feel like you were the only man – oooo yeah!
When she rolled up nex’ your bed with that big bright house o’ healin’ bed pan!
Honey, you know she did!
An’ ev’ray time she tole ya “Sweets, Ah’m here for ya bed bath scrub!”

An’ Man you KNOW ya loved it - ’cos that Miah she sure can rub!

So tell her to come on, come on, come on, come on an’ TAKE IT!
Take it!
Take another little piece of his heart now, 
Miah!
Oh! Woah! 
BREAK IT!
Break another little bit of his heart, yeah, Miah!
Oh, oh, have a
Have another little piece of his heart now, 
Miah!
She knows she’s got it an’ she’ll make ya feel good!
Oh, yes indeed.

She’s hot on the street! Woah! Looks good
An Miah – deep down in your soul, you know that dress is way too tight!
Never, never, never, never, never, never, can a real man resist the sight
Miah, they just cry all the time!
One look at youse enough to drive all them fine big Guards insane!
An’ when you inspect their shiny blades, they’ll sing for you once again

They’ll sing come on, come on, come on, come on and take it!

TAKE IT!

Take another little piece of their hearts now, Miah!
Woah, oh - slice ’em!
Slice some more little bits of their hearts off, darlin’!
Oh, woah, have a
Have another little piece of their hearts now, Miah!
You know you got ’em, chile, it all makes ’em feel good.

We need you to come on, come on, come on, come on and 
TAKE IT!
Take another little piece of our hearts now, Miah!
Oh, oh, break it!
Break another little chunk off our hearts, now darlin’, c'mon now!
Oh, oh, have a
Have another little valve from his heart now,
 Miah!
He’s got it baaad for ya! An’ you make him feel good!

Take it!
Take it! Take another little piece of their hearts now, Miah!
Woah! Woah! Break it!
Break another little chunk off their hearts, now darlin’, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Oh, woah, HAVE A -
Have another little vein off their hearts now, Miah! HEY!
You know you got ’em, chile, it all makes ’em feel good.
 (many liberties taken with Piece of My Heart written by Jerry Ragovy & Bert Burns)


A Freebooter’s Fantasy Almanac back blurb 

This is poetry, wrapped in fantasy, within a memoir... Or, to put it another way, it's a true tale that might well apply to many fantasy fans and gamers who can't be bothered with keeping their realities separated from their more lurid imaginings.

In my case, this is a sort of 'real' cyberspace profiling, during a phase of my life when roleplay truly did need to be therapy, because what was happening around me for real was not what I wanted to participate in. So, buckle up your swash and prepare to witness a titanic battle played out on the field of sanity - where what happens in your head is the only truth that matters.



Siân Glírdan is the fusion persona of the elven roleplay character, Janowyn (Jano), High Bard of the River Kingdom and her ‘real world’ creator, author, Jan Hawke. Glírdan is the elven word for ‘songsmith’, and Siân is a Welsh variant of Jan (in case you were wondering!).

When it became obvious to Jan that Jano had a far better handle than she could ever have on writing in the fantasy genres, Siân was born, fully formed and raring to go.  A Freebooter’s Fantasy Almanac, which is basically the manual on how Jano was brought into being and developed, is Siân and Jano’s first official collaboration. They’re currently working hard on an epic future fantasy series, Tomes of the Havenlands, loosely based on the ancient Celtic world. The first volume should reach the shelves at the end of 2016.

You can visit A Freebooter's Fantasy Almanac blog by clicking here. You can connect on Facebook & Twitter, and don't forget to follow them on Amazon.


The tour sponsored by 4WillsPublishing.wordpress.com.

30 comments:

  1. Ahar, Beth, me beauty! :-D Thank 'ee very much for letting me sail into your trim little port on the cyber seas today - ye've done me proud, so you have! ;-)

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  2. There were times of our lives, Jan, when we felt just like that, out of our bodies! It is not something that I like to remember myself, because when I felt like that, it was really bad! :(. Thank you Beth for hosting.

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    1. Ah well - this was all done on purpose so I was in charge the whole time (mostly!) :-P

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  3. This sounds like a fantastic book. Just bought my copy and I can't wait to read it!

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    1. Happy reading, Patricia. :)

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    2. Thank 'ee kindly, Miz Patricia. Much obliged for your patronage! :-D

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  4. Very entertaining tour, Jan! I am truly enjoying each stop.

    Beth, thank you for being so supportive and hosting!

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  5. Thank you, Jan. "Poetry, wrapped in fantasy, within a memoir..." makes it a must read for me. I'm so impressed by your approach and your spirit. Thank you for being you..... and thank you Beth, for hosting Jan on your beautiful site.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I love the description of the book. :)

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    2. Much obliged, Miz Gwendolyn - 'tis deep and dark in places, but plenty to ponder on, and wonder at too! ;-)

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  6. Jan, what a FUN post!I loved reading it, & the song was awesome! I hope you're having a lot of fun with your tour. I'll try to pop in again before it's done. Beth, thank you so much for hosting today.

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    1. Ahoy there Miz Rhani! :-D This is the only way you'll get me to do Karaoke! ;-)

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  7. Jan, what a wonderfully imaginative post. I so regret that I have missed most of your tour (my fault entirely) but I am here now! You are a talented writer and I look forward to reading your book.
    And, Beth thank you for being such a gracious hostess.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Karen. :)

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    2. Glad to see 'ee, Miz Karen! :-D There's no need to miss out on the earlier ports calls - just sail over to the 4Wills port (https://4willspublishing.wordpress.com/upcoming-events/blog-tour-author-jan-hawke-rrbc/ ) and they can give ye the charts for the voyage so far! ;-)

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  8. Jan, I can tell you are enjoying this tour. Excellent except of your book. All the very best.

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    1. Ahoy, Master Bickerstaff! It has been a grand time, wi' plenty o' rum an' good company, that's for sure!
      I'm being told by Miz Sian to tell 'ee that we've had some scribblings from the book, but this is more of a 'masterclass' on what can be done when you follow the freebooter's wake on the cyber seas with other mad... fanatics, bent on makin' sport of proper writer's worlds! ;-)

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  9. You give a whole new meaning to take a little piece of my heart. :)

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    1. I like her version of the song. :) Thanks for stopping by.

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    2. Why thank 'ee, Miz Rebecca and Miz Beth! :-D 'Miz Miah, the lady that the strumpet Jano was singin' for is a heartbreaker, that's for sure!

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  10. Love your version of the song, Jan! Thanks for providing us with such an entertaining tour! Beth, thank you for hosting.

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