It wasn't a typical Friday night.
Usually, we'd go out and see wherever the evening took us. That night, however, we chose to stay in. We agreed that I’d cook while she kept the wine flowing (which she was all too happy to do…).
Fast-forward 45 minutes and more glasses of Pinot Noir than I can remember…
The steak came out perfect.
Cooked medium rare, it was topped with a generous serving of creamy peppercorn sauce that spread towards the tender stem of broccoli.
To say it went down a treat would be an insult to the cow.
IT WAS DELICIOUS.
But this email isn’t about steak, it’s about something of a far more… intimate nature.
I remember setting my napkin down and gazing across the table into her eyes.
(And by ‘her,’ I mean Lady Laura.)
Something stirred in those pupils.
Desire. Electricity. Longing.
Out of nowhere, she stood up and extended a hand, the candlelight illuminating the soft lines in her palm. I took the final swig of wine to steady the butterflies and grasped her hand. Without saying a word to each other, she walked me into the living room and pushed me onto the sofa.
My heart fluttered.
This was it.
The moment that had been building all week.
"You ready to have your mind blown?" Laura asked.
“Y-yes." I swallowed hard. “Why yes, I am.”
She smiled and reached past my thigh to grab…
The TV remote?
She spun on her heel, and with a single click of the button, a red capital N appeared on the screen. Ah, Netflix n' Chill, I thought. She turned around with a mischievous smile and asked…
“I don't suppose you’ve watched Vikings, have you?"
"No…" I replied.
She bit her bottom lip. "Then tonight, that’s what we’re watching.”
That, my loyal Legionnaire, is how I lost my V-card, otherwise known as my Vikings-card.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second.
Why in Thor’s name are you groaning?
What else did you think this email was going to be about? It could only have ever been a movie or book starting with a V!
Wash your mind, you filthy animal.
😏
Alas, my mind really wasn’t that blown from Vikings.
I usually love Norse stuff as it typically comes with pillaging, killing, and axe-throwing, but this series?
The thing that really killed it for me?
Ragnar Lothbrok’s constant grin.
It didn’t matter what situation this chap found himself in—near-death encounters, sailing choppy seas, burying loved ones—he always had this creepy, cheesy grin plastered across his face.
After the 6,788th time of seeing it, I threw in the towel and watched Tiger King instead, which was far more entertaining.
Luckily, you will not find any such recurring grins in The Divided Region.
But you will find plenty of pillaging, killing, and axe-wielding (in no small part due to a one-eyed, northern brute known as Jangar).
Fun fact:
After publishing Exiled, I had many readers write in to say how much he was their favourite character.
Some even begged me not to kill him off.
While I can never pledge such things (this is gritty, adult fantasy, after all), I do agree that Jangar is an interesting character with a persona unlike any other.
For someone who does some pretty awful things, he’s sure got a lot of fans.
And if you’re yet to meet the big man himself, you can do so in Chapter 2 of Exiled here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/exiled
Or at retailers:
https://books2read.com/dividedregionexiled
DJJW