lol Tess! I think a death by jousting might be just what Nia needs to thrust her into stepping forward and taking on leadership of Third Barn. hmmmm I'll have to set it up..... ooooh now my brain is rumbling!

Oh, yeah, that's good, Susan. hmmmm

Ann, I'm LOVING the rewrites!

Two new chapters are up...watch out though. I changed Nia's name to Alanna, and her horse, Arianrhod, to Eira. Pretty bad when you get tired of names before you have more than a few chapters up!

On thing to consider is is that how boring the Welsh could be. Or at least my family was! Thomas, John, John Eric, Robert (last name Roberts), Elizabeth, Elizabeth Ann, Jane have popped up in my family tree since the 1600's. They may be more English, but still were pretty common.

Saw your response about 14  of your students having an A name and the same thing happened to me this past year! I had 9 out of 21 with A names in my homeroom, and the year before I had 5 students in my reading class with the initials A.W.

So here is what Uncle and cousin responded about the spelling of Rhita Mawr:

Rhita Mawr is correct, "Mawr" means BIG! Frequently added to a man's first name if he is tall, as a nickname. She was a giant (Cawr pl Cewri) Don't know much about the legend. Try googling King Arthur or Mabinogion.

Ha! just Googled it! Both could be correct! Mawr is BIG as I said but Gawr means GIANT except it is really Cawr but Welsh cunningly mutates the first letter(s) of a noun to make it flow so in this case C has mutated to G.

Think Rhitta Gawr was a giant and when he died his grave became a mountain. I could be totally wrong on that one though lol

I'd keep it, otherwise the joust in the first chapter seem pointless. I think it also adds another layer to the whole story.

Definitely some maiming in order I think!

I admire those of you who write with children underfoot. When mine were that age I was barely SANE! Mine still live at home, but they are 23 and 25, not underfoot!

Hi Ann, I thought I would add to my latest review after seeing your response. You mentioned that you wanted to convey nerves/fear of Evan - I think this came over loud and clear, that is exactly what I felt from Nia.

I didn't think there was enough surface control though and I understand that she was putting on a simper, rather than actually simpering, but it felt wrong to me. I would have preferred her to have remained strong. In my head, simpering is reserved for the slimier more underhand characters and she seems like someone who would be more straightforward - even if it was sometimes to her detriment.

The first tension I felt between the two of them was sexual not aggressive and I think is was purely down to the mention of his unlaced tunic revealing his tanned throat that smelled of man and hay.

Anyway, please ignore if you think I'm talking out my rear!

Thanks, Sammy! I understand what you mean and I'll go back. Nia would never simper.

Haha Tess! Remember, all of Owain's chapters were already written, I had to write Nia's. So for every chapter I wrote I could put up two. From here on out, though, I only have partial chapters written so it'll get slower.

Hey Ann,
So I just read your response to my review and the time different definitely makes more sense now. I think there had been a reference of 4 years previously (probably meaning in High Meadow) and that was stuck in my head.

Knowing Bree was 7 though does make me wonder how she so easily recognizes Owain, yet he doesn't even see a bit of the sister he remembers in her. Would she really have been able to remember what he looked like, and be able to match it to him? Maybe when he asks her if she knew it was him right away, she can say something about not until he told her about his missing sister.

I also think that part of my seeing Owain as being attracted to her before he knows she's Bree, is because he goes on and on about how she looks and how beautiful she is (he even does this after he knows she's his sister which seemed kind of weird). Maybe some kind of thought about how she reminds him of his sister or their mother. Just a suggestion.

I have not read the new edit of this chapter, but after reading the first draft I had the same two issues, Ann. I always thought the way Bree knew just like that was odd- it would have been more exciting if they both eased into figuring it out.  And I absolutely got more of a sexual attraction for Bree from Owain.  I remember I was disappointed because I had someone else in mind for him to fall in love with. (smile)