Dedication
"For Elizabeth Harding, royal agent and friend"

Behind the Book
Castles have always fascinated me, and as long as I can remember I've wanted to visit one. More than the opulence, the drama, and the legends, the dark mysteries have drawn me to wonder about the structures, the builders who built them, and the rulers who ruled them.

So when J. Patrick Lewis and I tossed around the idea of writing a collection of poetry together, I told him I had just written a castle poem or two, and he offered, generously, to jump in and be my partner. We had a grand time—both of us deciding together which castles in what part of the country we would write about, ... then set off on our research. We shared interesting facts and notes daily, and usually double checked each other's research. We wrote our own poems, (only the introductory poem was written as a team) but we read, previewed, and suggested revisions for each individual poem. As we made our timeline and discoveries, (which we decided to call "Medieval Minutes") we carefully considered which to keep and which to let go, depending on interest, mystery, and historical relevance.