Writing a book can’t help but pervade regular life.
Book 4 of the Stasis series is taking place in Ireland, so that’s what I’ve been researching for months. At Chick-fil-A tonight, we were talking about foods eaten there in medieval times. I mentioned cattle, and the “sport” of cattle-raiding. My son thought those cattle might have made for some military use. I pointed out that in 1170, the Norman people, who’d conquered England a century before, were in the process of invading Ireland, and at one point set loose a stampede of frenzied (stolen) cattle into the enemy: weaponized cattle.
My husband said, “But full-sized bulls were difficult to control, so they developed smaller weapons, and called them ‘bull-ettes.'”
After groaning, I couldn’t resist asking where they “billeted their bull-ettes.”
“In their bull-folds, of course.”
Oy.
Alex Drevessa 