by Mary Jo
Like last year, we're celebrating the whole of “Christmastide” —that is, the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas which run from Christmas Day to January 5th, the eve of Epiphany.
So every day of Christmastide, a Wench will post a short little blog just for fun, as a gift to our readers. I’m taking the opportunity to launch a virtual voyage on the luxury yacht Wenchly Winds, which would look much like this charter sailing ship, the Liberty Clipper.
With 14 cabins, there’s room for any Wench who wants to come on her dream voyage. There's room for you, too, if you’d like to join us for a fantasy cruise in good company.
My first stop will be Malta. I first became really aware of the island when I read Dorothy Dunnett’s The Disorderly Knights in her marvelous Lymond Chronicles series. Much of the story takes place there, and the knights of the title are the Knights of Malta, an order of fighting monks created to protect pilgrims during the period of the Crusades.
Malta is a fascinating crossroads of the Mediterranean, with an unusual language descended from the ancient Phoenician traders. The island intrigued me so that I made it the home of the hero of my last Guardian novel, A Distant Magic. Nikolai is a combination of Maltese, African, and maybe Russian. (His mother wasn’t really sure.) He made a fine dark hero and wizard.
Feel free to join me on this virtual visit on the Wenchly Winds, especially if you’re in some place cold and miserable now!
Where would you like to travel on a fantasy cruise to anywhere you'd like to go?
Mary Jo