A Castle Unlike Any Other by Kathleen Bittner Roth

Welcome back to History Undressed, our regular 1st Tuesday of the month blogger, Kathleen Bittner Roth! Today she's talking one of my favorite topics! Castles! Enjoy!

A CASTLE UNLIKE ANY OTHER

by Kathleen Bittner Roth

Wandering throughout castles has always been a favorite pastime of mine, from the grand baroque castles of Germany to Empress Elizabeth’s smaller summer palace in Hungary (her favorite). Then there is the beautiful castle in the Scottish Highlands where I was married, complete with bagpipes and handsome kilted Scots. 

Of the many castles I have toured in several countries, I find one particular stronghold in Slovenia most intriguing. Not only is the structure unique, but so is its history.

Predjama Castle (pronounced pred yom a) is an impregnable fortress extending beyond the visible structure and far into a huge cave on a rocky vertical cliff. The structure was built around the 1200’s by the Lueggs, a noble family who were also known as the Knights of Adelsburg.

Around the fifteenth century, along came Knight Erazem Luegger, a rascally robber baron and son of the Imperial Governor of Trieste, Italy (Trieste is only about thirty miles from the castle). After ticking off not only the Hapsburgs for killing one of their leaders, Erazem had the Holy Roman Emperor after him. Deciding his life might be in jeopardy, Erazem hightailed it to Predjama, aligned himself with the Hungarian king and began sacking any Hapsburg estates he lay hands on. 

Now the Austrians were hopping mad and placed a bounty on him. Erazem and the castle came under siege, but he and his small army only laughed because the fortress was impregnable. They would taunt their would-be attackers by pelting them with cherries. If the invaders wandered too close, they’d receive a rain of hot oil. 

Erazem spent a year and a day sequestered there. He used a secret passage that led to the back and top of the cliff where he’d slip into a small village and gather supplies. 

As bad luck would have it, there was only one place in the entire castle which was not impregnable and where he could become a target—his privy. It hung outward from the castle walls. A servant, having been bribed, lit a candle in a lower floor window signaling that the knight was indeed on his potty throne. The liege of men below, squinting up at that round hole at the bottom of the privy, aimed at the lily-white behind, and with a single cannon-shot sent the robber baron knight to kingdom come.

If you ever travel as far as lovely Slovenia, you won’t want to miss this intriguing landmark. To get there, you’ll enter a verdant, seemingly timeless valley that is at once peaceful. Along the foot path leading to Predjama Castle you’ll find a small but delightful restaurant serving delicious local food. The deck alone is worth the stop for its breathtaking views of the imposing castle and surrounding rolling, green hills.

And only twenty-three miles from Predjama Castle you’ll find the Lipica Stud Farm, cradle for the famous Lipizzaner horses of the Viennese classical riding school since the 1500's. But that’s another story for another time. 

Kathleen Bittner Roth thrives on creating passionate stories featuring characters who are forced to draw on their strength of spirit to overcome adversity and find unending love. Her own fairy tale wedding in a Scottish castle led her to her current residence in Budapest, Hungary, considered one of Europe’s most romantic cities. However, she still keeps one boot firmly in Texas and the other in her home state of Minnesota. A member of Romance Writers of America®, she was a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart® contest. Find Kathleen on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest and www.kathleenbittnerroth.com.

 

Check out Kathleen's list of books on Amazon!

Was Your Favorite Romance Hero Really Physically Fit? by Kathleen Bittner Roth

Welcome back to History Undressed, our regular 1st Tuesday of the month blogger, Kathleen Bittner Roth! Today she's talking about historical heroes and their fitness levels! Enjoy!

WAS YOUR FAVORITE ROMANCE HERO REALLY PHYSICALLY FIT?

by Kathleen Bittner Roth

Back in the day of film stars like Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable, there seemed to be little emphasis on physical fitness. Fast forward to 2015 and nearly every male actor in a lead role, romantic or otherwise, displays not only a well-toned, ripped body, he’s given the term “six pack” a whole new meaning.  

This shift in physical aesthetics got me wondering—what about the heroes in romance novels we authors write about and readers adore? Don’t we usually depict them with broad shoulders, slim hips and muscular thighs? Are we fantasizing about what never was, or are we closer to the truth than we realize? Curiosity piqued, I dove into a little research project and I learned a lot.

Present day film stars and athletes bear a lot of resemblance to the ancient Greek and Roman athletes whose very lives and livelihoods depended on their level of fitness both in mind and body. Staying fit today can translate into money. Big money. But believe it or not, it did back then, as well. What we consider immense earnings today don’t come close to those of the ancient athletes. Gaius Appuleius Diocles, a Roman chariot racer, became the wealthiest man in Rome in his time. Modern day figures would put this chariot jockey’s earning at over fifteen billion dollars! 

The dark ages descended upon man and everything tied to the physical/intellectual continuum faded away. Then came the Renaissance (1400-1600) which not only renewed an appreciation for human life, but renewed interest in fitness relating back to the Romans and Greeks (even Martin Luther, a religious leader, saw a connection between physical fitness and enhanced intellectual learning). This renewed interest in fitness brought about a development of physical education throughout Europe.

Walking was considered a fine form of exercise. The kilted Scot, an exceptional example of fitness, walked miles most days and could swing a heavy six-foot long claymore as if it were little more than a hammer (I know how heavy they were—I once gifted my late husband with a claymore for his birthday and when it arrived via UPS, I couldn’t lift the box to wrap it). 

During the Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras, intellectually aware men kept their bodies fit through the art of fencing, a rigorous sport that toned virtually every muscle in the body. These men also boxed, used dumb bells to keep their upper bodies fit, and rode their fine horses, a favorite pastime that worked all their muscles and gave those thighs of theirs a good workout.

Then the industrial revolution evolved. Here’s where technology replaced labor-intensive jobs and urban life seemed more appealing than rural life. Consequently, people didn’t move around as much which led to a decline in physical fitness, particularly in the United States. But in time, that changed. 

One thing in my research regarding the physically fit hero is that I found a particularly interesting commonality between the fit mind-body concept and the power of the military. When WWI broke out, British forces underwent rigorous basic training, and when the United States entered the war theater of WWII, so many volunteers were not fit enough to stand the rigors of battle that the Army created a cross-fit basic training course (actually, much tougher than today’s basic training).

Out of basic training emerged advanced training which eventually produced special forces such as the Navy Seals—and you guessed it—physically fit, romantic heroes. It seems we’ve come full circle, back to the ancient Greeks and their idea of a fit body-mind continuum.

So whether you read romance or write it, feel free to enjoy your broad-shouldered, slim-hipped, fabulously healthy hero. They really did and do exist. 

Kathleen Bittner Roth thrives on creating passionate stories featuring characters who are forced to draw on their strength of spirit to overcome adversity and find unending love. Her own fairy tale wedding in a Scottish castle led her to her current residence in Budapest, Hungary, considered one of Europe’s most romantic cities. However, she still keeps one boot firmly in Texas and the other in her home state of Minnesota. A member of Romance Writers of America®, she was a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart® contest. Find Kathleen on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest and www.kathleenbittnerroth.com.

 

Check out Kathleen's list of books on Amazon!

The Ultimate Hot, Hunky Hero With Kathleen Bittner Roth

Welcome back to History Undressed, my good friend, Kathleen Bittner Roth! She writes sweeping, sexy historicals that I can't get enough of :) She's here today to entice us with the ultimate hunky hero--and one of my favorites, WOLF!!! Enjoy!

The Ultimate Hot, Hunky Hero

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Kensington Books is looking for the Ultimate Hero. They’ve pitted thirty-two author’s characters against one another until an ultimate hero emerges. The winner from each round moves on to the next round until only one man is left standing. My hero’s turn comes up on Thursday, February twelfth. I do hope you’ll vote for him!

For my hero, I chose Wolf, from Alanna, book two in my When Hearts Dare series. He first appeared out of nowhere in Celine, book one. Not only did I fall head over heels for him, so did my readers. They demanded his story, and boy, did he deliver.

Here’s a little bit about him and a short excerpt:

My hero roams the west in the late 1850’s as a relentless tracker of lost persons. He can locate anyone anywhere…for a price. A formidable, solitary man with nothing to lose, he is known only by the name of Wolf. A legend across the land, no one knows much about him other than he is the best at what he does. But beware—he can be ruthless if crossed. 

At thirty years of age, Wolf stands over six feet tall. He’s lean-hipped and broad across the shoulders. He wears his sun-streaked, tawny gold hair clubbed at his nape, exposing a chiseled face reminiscent of a work of art. Beneath thick, gilded lashes, his startlingly blue eyes shimmer with pure sin. Despite his hardened demeanor, he moves across a room with a fluid grace, his muscled hips rolling seductively, his long legs stretching out in a slow, purposeful glide. Fascinating to watch, the man could pass for a fallen god.

But there is more to Wolf than he lets on in public. Beneath his worldly hardness beats a wild and lonely heart that yearns for more than the bad hand life dealt him. An enigmatic man who can command a room simply by walking through it, when it comes to bedding a woman, his heart turns tender. One look into those magnetic blue eyes filled with the promise of delicious sin, one feather-soft slide of his fingers across her skin, and the air grows thick with passion. The way he speaks soft and low in her ear, as if they were already making love, and desire, hot and gripping, threatens to capture her soul.

One other thing: He wears a woman’s garnet earring in his left earlobe. It’s all he has left of his mother after watching her brutal murder when he was only six years old. In the story, Wolf finally goes hunting for her killer. On his journey aboard a clipper ship from San Francisco to Boston, he meets Alanna Malone, a high-spirited, enigmatic woman intent on shedding a fiancé handpicked by her social climbing parents. She sets Wolf’s heart ablaze. But life isn’t easy for him once he lands in Boston and the mystery surrounding his mother’s death deepens—someone wants him dead. 

I often use visuals to get my stories started. If I were to have to name a celebrity to use as a visual for Wolf, I’d have go with Brad Pitt back in his role of Tristan in Legends of the Fall. 

Here’s a little excerpt from Alanna:

Wolf pulled his head back and studied Alanna through lazy lids. “Every time you took care of me back in Boston, every time you bent over me to change my bandages, every time you shaved me, or bathed me, you drove me wild. I wanted to do wicked things to you. Did you know that?” He took her by the shoulders and gently turned her around. “I’m going to undress you now.”

The event is going on right now but Wolf’s turn comes up on Thursday, February 12. I hope you’ll vote for him! Oh, and be sure to vote early and often – lol – there is no limit to the number of times you can vote. In honor of the event, Alanna is on sale for the month of February. $2.99 folks! 

The event is being hosted on Tumbler: http://kensingtonheroes.tumblr.com/ 

The price drops on all the participating books can be found here: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/catalog.aspx/category/313258

Bio:

Kathleen Bittner Roth creates evocative stories featuring characters forced to draw on their strength of spirit to overcome adversity and find unending love. Her own fairy tale wedding in a Scottish castle led her to her current residence in Budapest, Hungary, considered one of Europe’s most romantic cities. However, she still keeps one foot firmly in Texas and the other in her home state of Minnesota. A member of Romance Writers of America®, Kathleen was a 2012 finalist in their prestigious Golden Heart® awards. You can find Kathleen on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, and on her website www.kathleenbittnerroth.com.