Pictured: Left, Derek Armstrong with his horses Skugga and Bjarta, who became Izzy and Wizzy in The Last Troubadour novel (shown right)
"You were full of juicy tarot information," said Leisa ReFalo, host of the popular podcast on tarotconnection.net and professional Tarot Reader. What fun. I chatted with Leisa for an hour about my love of Tarot, and — according to Leisa, anyway — I had "no terrible speech habits. I thought you sounded great." Okay, I feel a little better. I'm not Mr. Radio. There's a reason I became an author.
In that quick hour, Leisa squeezed in a lot of Tarot history, a reading from the novel, a bio of all the characters and how they relate to Tarot card trumps, and a whole lot of funky history. I'll just quote from her page, found at : http://tarotconnection.net/episode-59/ (I guess I'm episode 59!) —
"So, is this a clever gimmick? Just an author who thought one day, Hey, this hasn’t been done before? Does he even own a Tarot deck?I did not undertake The Last Troubadour lightly. The entire trilogy was a journey of some 18 years. Carcassonne and the south of France are my old haunts, where I explored the history in depth. An important history.
Nor is Tarot a passing fancy for me. My first deck was a Pixie, bought with part-timer earnings after school back in 1972. I’m obviously much older now, and I still have my Pixie, and some 112 other decks. Current favorites include Thoth (bought in 1974), Kat Black’s Golden, Place’s Buddha Tarot, Carol Herzer’s Illuminated, and a dozen others. I actually almost always have a deck in my pocket.
Why do I weave the mystical and legend with history? Well, why not? It’s fun, isn’t it? But more important, it’s a way of conveying important events that is entertaining and at the same time “real.” What better way for me to personally explore Tarot cards and archetypes and to convey some of what I’ve learned. The journey of the Fool is my favorite aspect of Tarot. It’s actually the plotline of all great epic fiction.
So, one day, two decades ago, I meditated on The FOOL in my very old Pixie (Rider Waite Smith) deck and he came to life. He became Ramon Troubadour. His journey became a novel-journey through the tarot major arcana. I actually named him Ramon, after researching Doctor Illuminatus, otherwise known as Ramon Lull, author of 320 books written at the time of my novel (the thirteenth century). He even had a character in his most famous book, Blanquerna, name Ramon the Fool. Wow.
All of my books have Tarot themes in them, some dark, some light. The Game, my hit thriller features a humorous “fool” character in the always-joking Alban Bane character. He was so popular, fans demanded a sequel, which comes out spring 08 as MADicine. This series is a blend of satire, comedy and thriller – bloody fun, quite literally.
The Last Troubadour and the other two books of the series, The Last Quest and The Last Stand, are “dripping with Tarot themes.” Most of the early fans are tarot-enthusiasts. Nevara, my Magician character, is my “fictional” inventor of Tarot. Each character is a major arcane archetype. And, of course, the epic journey is the archetypal journey of The Fool. To which, I added real history, substantial satire (targeting in particular the latest craze for Holy Grail themes), comedy and adventure – shaken not stirred.
Next year, with any good fortune, you’ll start to see these characters in Troubadour-style imagery as famed artist Kam Wai Yu illustrates the Troubadour Tarot, a dream of mine, to be published by Kunati. I hope you’ll take the journey with me."
Leisa explored why some characters are disfigured and had me read from the most "tarot-oriented" chapter in the book, a scene with my Magician, Nevara, reading from her invented Tarot cards and using them to help the main character Ramon with her magick. What fun.
Here's the synopsis of the book from Leisa's page:
"Ramon Troubadour returns to his devastated home city of Carcassonne to rescue the holy Dame of the Cathars from the flames of the Inquisition. His famous voice and sense of humor help him make new allies in his quest to prevent a bloody crusade.
Only the Dame knows the secret of the holy relic of Montségur. A king will go to war for the relic. A dying pope will kill for it.
Helped by a nameless one-eyed knight, a fighting damsel, a witch and a circus of colorful entertainers on dancing horses, Ramon must stand against a terrifying army led by Death incarnate, complete with archetypal scythe.
Based on the true history of the Inquisition and the legend of the Tarot, The Last Troubadour assembles a magnificent cast right out of the Tarot deck: the Fool, the Magician, The Emperor, The Pope, Death and even The Devil. Don’t miss this tale of knightly valor, Tarot symbolism, tragic history and exciting quests."
A bit of cool history on her page as well. She put up the original 1980's book trailer — the first trailer ever created, by the famous artist Kam Wai Yu — along side my publisher Kunati's latest version 2007. The original one was more Monty Python — I do so love humor — and the new one is more Tarot. I'd be interested in knowing which one people liked better (drop me an email at my website http://www.lasttroubadour.com).
Check it the podcast at http://tarotconnection.net/episode-59/
