In my fantasy worlds, the Lover’s Moon ushers in the ripeness of summer. Fiddleheads unfurl on the mountain paths and the high meadow blooms with fireweed, toadflax, and pearl everlasting. In the villages, the lanes bake and the heat rises in liquid ribbons. It’s a moon of full-bellies, bare feet and water warm enough for swimming, of golden hay and long lazy days. On the sea, it’s a time of genial winds, promises of love, and sails billowing with sunshine.
For anyone romantic at heart, the full Lover’s Moon smiles tonight.
Jan Steen Revelry at an Inn – en.wikimedia.org
Excerpt from the Lover’s Moon, Eye of Sun
(Percy is going to create a little diversion)
The Crow’s Nest bustled with seamen, yardsmen, and scurrying serving maids. Caron crowded them into a corner, sharing a long table with men from the Gale Breaker and Seabourne. A few crewmen hoisted their tankards in a boisterous greeting. Edin had never patronized such a chaotic and raucous place. Seamen sloshed well beyond their cups, and he couldn’t tell whether they were getting along or apt to throw punches. Caron suggested the mash for supper, and he took the recommendation, barely able to think straight with all the noise.
The food hearty, he ate like a starved man. One of the crewmen sharing the long table leaned toward him. The skinny seaman sported a crooked nose and hair that might have been trimmed by a blind man in a stiff wind. “How’s yer mash? Good ain’t it?”
Edin pushed away his empty plate. “We’ve been living on old bread and watered oats, complements of your governors.”
“It weren’t fish, anyway,” the young man said.
“Percy got fish nigh up his gills,” a flaxen-haired man explained. “Name’s Hywel and that’s me brother, Malven.” He pointed to the beardless version of himself sitting across the table.
“Fish mornin’, noon, and evenin’,” Percy muttered. “Can’t tolerate it no more.”
“Quit cookin’ fish then,” Malven said. “Yer the blame cook.”
“Pull up somethin’ aside fish and I will.”
“Mutton would be good,” the bearded older brother said. “Hook us a good shank of sheep off Ramsey.”
Percy thought that worth a laugh and ordered more ale.
“Don’t mind the fish stew,” Hywel said. “Like it with potatoes. Good when they come in again.”
“Still fish,” Percy muttered.
“Good crab off Ross and Whitnee,” Hywel said. “Crab’s worth the work.”
“Still fish.”
“Crab’s not fish,” Malven said. “It’s crab.”
“It’s a sort of fish,” the skinny cook insisted.
“It don’t got fins, Perce.”
“Neither do a clam, ya idiot.”
“A clam ain’t a fish neither.”
Eyeing Malven, Percy downed his ale. “If it’s from the sea, it’s fish.”
“Lot’s from the sea that ain’t fish,” Hywel said. “Rocks and weed. Sand.”
“We’re talkin’ about fish, not sand!” Percy shouted with a grin.
“Just sayin’ not everything in the sea is fish,” Hywel said.
“If it come from the sea, looks like fish, tastes like fish, is fish.” Percy pushed back his chair, thumping into a bald warrior at the next table who growled and gave him a shove. Percy bolted up and faced the shiny-headed hulk. “Now, that weren’t necessary. We was just talkin’ about what’s fish.”
“And I’ve heard enough,” the man snarled. “Fish have gills. That’s how you know they’re fish.”
Percy’s face turned scarlet. He lifted the edge of the warriors’ table and spilled every tankard the length of it. Before Malven could stop him, he took an off-balance swing at the warrior who popped him in his crooked nose. Percy howled, grabbed a tankard, and smashed it into a bearded warrior’s cheek. The man shoved Percy so hard he flew off his feet, landing on the suppers of the Gale Breaker’s crew.
“He pushed me on ya!” Percy shouted, his arms protecting his face. “Blame warriors, wreckin’ yer supper.” The Gale Breaker’s crew tossed Percy back toward the warriors, but Hywel caught his arm and yanked him out of the path of a right hook that would have lopped off his head. A man from the Gale Breaker spun around and thundered a punch into the bald warrior’s belly and head-butted him in the face, breaking his nose. Another warrior with a puckered scar on his chin picked up a chair and hurled it at the Gale Breaker’s crew. The seamen erupted, climbing over tables and throwing fists at any warrior in range. The proprietor roared from the end of the room, but he was far too late.
(Coming in August!)
An excerpt rich in detail and humor. I really admire your prolific imagination.
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Thanks for reading, Julie. My imagination is on the rampage. I have to remind myself to step into the real world now and then 🙂 Have a great weekend. Happy adventures!
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Fantastic excerpt. Loved: “Pull up somethin’ aside fish and I will.” LOL. I could picture the whole scene.
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Thanks, Mary. It was a fun scene to write – a little comic relief. Have a great weekend and happy writing 🙂
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That was such an entertaining excerpt! Wow, Diana. And I agree that crabs aren’t fish! LOL!
Love your thoughts on that romantic moon as well. Send me some toadflax and pearl everlasting seeds when you get a chance, okay? 🙂
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I’ll collect them at the next full moon and ship them off to you. 🙂 Thanks for reading. Happy Summer to you!
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Can’t wait! Happy Summer as well! 🙂
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Oh that’s so funny 🙂 I can picture the scene in my mind 🙂
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Thank you, Inese. I have a special place in my heart for Percy and his fellow sailors and pirates 🙂 Hope you’re having a great day.
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That’s a romantic little tale you described, Diana…
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Thanks for reading, Mick. A little romance and a little bar room brawling 🙂 Enjoy the summer.
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Great excerpt, Diana! There is definitely something romantic about the moon. Love your moons; I can’t pick a favorite!
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Did you get to see the moon? A rare solstice full moon. Now the days start getting shorter. Yikes!
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Your descriptions are always wonderful. You paint such a vivid image of what is going on.
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Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂 I felt the need to post something a little lighthearted (is a brawl lighthearted?). Have a great summer and Happy Writing.
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LOL Thanks. Have a wonderful week.
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Your posts are always so inspiring Diana…loved this one too and the image… Excellent choice! You are so good at dialogue writing too. Thanks for sharing the excerpt, it speaks volumes 🙂
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Thank you for reading, Balroop. Glad you enjoyed it. It was a fun scene to write. Happy Summer, my friend 🙂
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I could stare at the moon for hours 🙂 Wonderful writings, Diana, can’t wait to read more. Always love a good fight 🙂
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Figured you could my friend. lol
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You sneaking up on my comments? LOL
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I like the brawl too, especially when its all in good fun and no one gets seriously hurt. 🙂 Thanks for reading, Dorinda. Happy Writing and Happy Summer!
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Always a pleasure! The same to you!! 🙂
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Enjoyed your brawl. The solstice has finally come. I love summer.
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Me too, Sheron. Live it up! Thanks for reading 🙂 🙂
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The moon is inspiring, your writing devine.
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I hope you got to see the solstice full moon last night -a rare one. Hope your summer is full of love and adventure and no bar room brawls. 😄
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I did, enjoyed watching it. Bar room brawls? Lol!
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Blimey, Diana, I don’t know how you do it but you put me right there in the tavern, amongst the chaos. Just waiting now for the rest of the brawl with food and tankards flying. Great piece of writing which could be used to explain how to show not tell!
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Thanks for reading, Annika. Fight scenes aren’t too hard if you stay in pov because you only have to show a tiny piece of it. My sailors and skimmers (pirates) are the comic relief in these books. Glad you enjoyed it! Happy summer, my friend. 🙂
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That was entertaining! Not quite what I expected, after your description of the Lovers Moon. Editing is tough, but I really love that stage of polishing your rough diamond into a gleaming jewel.
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My recent posts from this series have all been a little serious, so I decided to go with a brawl! Yeah, not exactly the activity of lovers 🙂 Thanks for reading and have a great summer, Ali. I hope you got to see the moon last night.
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It was a big beautiful full moon the night we landed in Crete. There is something so hypnotic and mesmerising about a full moon, isn’t there? I find myself constantly drawn to it.
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That sounds wonderful, Ali. A vacation? Enjoy!
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I’ll do my best! 😁😂😄
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I really reading enjoyed that, it sounds like a fun book to read.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to read. The book has some fun parts in it (usually the sailors). It will be out in August. I’m furiously editing 🙂 Have a great week – no bar room brawling!
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I’ll keep my eyes open for it when it comes out, sounds like fun.
I enjoy stories with sailing in them. I’ll try to stay out of the barroom brawls.
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That dialogue reminded me of New England. I felt as if I was sitting in a bar in New London. Well done.
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I grew up in New England and there were some years that I waitressed in pretty rowdy bars (a long long time ago). I’m impressed that you made the connection 🙂 Thanks for reading and have a great week!
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You have a very good ear…
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I think you do 😀
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I bet we both do! 🙂
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Nothing like a good old-fashioned bar brawl! That was a fun read, Diana!
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Thanks, Kathryn. It was fun to write too, and everyone walks away, including Percy with his broken nose 🙂 Have a great week 🙂
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That’s a terrific brawl and a perfect drink-inspired argument to kick it off!
By the way, did you know that there’s ‘no such thing as fish’? 🙂
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OMG – I can’t believe non-fiction people are really having that discussion!?! That cracked me up. Wow. If I’d seen that, I wouldn’t have had to make it up!!! Thanks for reading my bar room brawl. Percy managed to get his diversion 😀
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That’s one of the most awesome programmes on UK TV, called QI (for ‘Quite Interesting’). Strapline is “Everything you thought you knew is wrong”. They’ve had various discussions on the moon too (you need to watch these in order):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1zuAQAhhMI and one that I can’t find but which is referred to in the last one (from 36 minutes in): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yULaeg5uAME
By the way, hell of a diversion – Percy could have ended up skewered on a cutlass!
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I’ll watch them tomorrow. Catching up this evening. 🙂 The one on fish was great. Thanks for the links!
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Two moons! Or no moons (which would be one moon, considering that the smaller one isn’t a planet). Fascinating how much we still don’t know. The book I’m writing now has three moons on separate orbits, I accounted for 3 different sets of moon phases, differences in night-light and tried to take into account the impact on water systems. Accurate? Not in the least, but fun. 🙂
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Wow, taking on astro-physics now! You’re certainly full of bold ideas! Love the idea of trying to make that work into a story. 🙂
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Wonderful writing as always. 🙂
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Thanks, Steven. I appreciate the visit and the read 😀 Happy Summer.
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And to you, D. 🙂
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Great excerpt, Diana. (And really good dialogue, too!)
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Just a fun one, Sean. The sailors are a bit of light entertainment between the tougher scenes 🙂 Thanks for reading and have a great week.
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such a beautifully written tale, D. Captivating as always.
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Thanks for reading, Holly. Have a wonderful week 🙂 Happy Summer!
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Thank you Dee, I really enjoy your writing. A Happy Summer to you as well! 🙂
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I love this, such great imagery!
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Thanks for reading, Lynn. Nothing like a brawl with a bunch of rowdy sailors to brighten the day. Have a lovely summery week, my friend 😀
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oh yeah I could feel the tension! haha
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Sounds like a fascinating story, for a romantic at heart like me. :-). And thanks for the reminder about the June Solstice Full Moon tonight, hope I catch a glimpse of this rare occasion! Happy Summer, Diana. Enjoy your break…
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Thanks for reading. I haven’t started a break yet, but my brain is just about dried up, so soon 😀
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It’s so easy to imagine that fight erupting over that argument. Nice work.
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Thanks for reading, Dan. It was Percy’s intent to distract the warriors in the tavern and I think he succeeded 🙂 It was fun to write, for sure. Have a great week!
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What a jolly time that used to be. We’ve certainly made huge strides to tame mankind and civilize this fun right out of him.
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I don’t know if I want to participate, Jacqui! But I think there were probably times when a good old brawl was considered rowdy fun (as long as everyone walks away). Percy definitely enjoys it 🙂 Thanks for the visit and for reading! Have a great week.
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Great fight scene! and yes, if it comes from the sea, and tastes fishy, it’s fish…and I don’t much like eating fish, and am scared of them, at any rate. 🙂
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Ha ha. Funny, Barbara. You’d fit in well. Thanks for reading. I’d glad you enjoyed the humor as well as the fight 🙂
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Such beautiful imagery, D. Hats off!
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Thank you, Heena. Happy Summer to you!
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Pleasure. And thanks! To you too 🙂
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“by a blind man in a stiff wind”…love your descriptions, Diana. This is so interesting, never thought of how much men at sea would come to hate fish !! ☺ I was outside last evening, saw that full moon rising…just lovely. Welcome to summer. 🌝
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Thanks, Van. I don’t know if they do hate fish, but I would if that’s what I ate every day. 🙂 Yes, a lovely time of year for moon gazing. Thanks for the visit. Happy Summer!
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Great descriptions, as usual, Diana. That was some brawl. I remember when we used to go barefoot after school was out for the summer. Going barefoot made it officially summer. It was the ultimate in freedom. Now we’re warned against going barefoot. Of course, here in India, we take our shoes off inside certain buildings and offices or in some people’s homes. It’s not the same, though.. 🙂 — Suzanne
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I don’t go barefoot as much either, Suzanne. But it does remind me of childhood summers. I don’t swim as much either – too cold! Thanks for reading, my friend. Have a lovely Lover’s Moon 🙂
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You also, Diana. 🙂 — Suzanne
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I was going to say you have such a wonderfully easy style of writing, then I got to the head-butt. Oh, I’m going to say anyway. 🙂
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Nothing like a little bar-room brawl. I had a blast writing the sailors in these books – all really fun characters (except for the ones who aren’t). Thanks for reading, Richard. 🙂 Happy Summer!
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And you, Diana 🙂
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I so admire your writing, Diana. Your description of the Lover’s moon is palpable – I can hear the crickets in the background, mingling with the breeze of summer. I’m looking forward to the book!
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Thanks for the lovely comment, Rob. The only think that I don’t like about the Lover’s Moon is the days already start getting shorter! Enjoy the summer 🙂
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True, but that’s what makes summer memories so vivid – they are fleeting.
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