MFT Guest: Lisa Bergren Guest Posts + a Giveaway!

Today we're lucky enough to have the wonderful Lisa Bergren on for My Favorite Things.  Her River of Time series has quickly become a favorite and I couldn't recommend them any more highly.  You can find my review of Waterfall (book one) HERE, my review of Cascade (book two) HERE and an interview I did with her awhile back HERE.   Lisa did a wonderful guest post for us and there's a giveaway at the end! 

Five Things I’d Love About Living in Medieval Times

By Lisa T. Bergren  

I’m a modern girl and I love my modern conveniences—computers, Internet, cell phones, hair dryers, stoves, cars, beds, medicine—but there are several things that I think I’d enjoy if I was like my character GabriellaBetarrini, and time-traveled back to medieval Tuscany. Here’s what would top my list:

1)

Rustic, farm-fresh food: Cheese that just came off the shelf where it was aged; meat sliced right from a spit over an open fire; bread just out of a fire-fed oven;olive oil from the grove down the road. The only bummer? Tomatoes didn’t arrive in Italy until later, and no one grows tomatoes like our Italian friends.

2)

Unspoiled countryside: No telephone poles and wires, no traffic, few crowds. Ahhh…Pull up a chair beside me and let’s just stare out at the lush hills and valleys of Tuscana.

3)

Community: In this time period, if people didn’t know and rely on their neighbors like they were kin, they often didn’t survive the year. People needed one another and weren’t afraid to show it—I think we could learn a lot from them in what it means to have true connections.

4)

Chivalry: I don’t know if this is a romantic ideal or truly how it was, but I love the idea of men who know they’re men—leading, pursuing, protecting and cherishing the women in their lives. (I totally value my rights as a modern woman, but there’s just something visceral about this idea of men, right? That’s what I love about Gabi and Lia—they get the chivalrous dudes, but still get to hold to their modern ideals and identity.)

5)

Simplicity of life: I’m sure the medieval mama’s To Do List was quite lengthy, but it largely revolved around just keeping herself and her family alive. When life gets overly complicated for me, I fantasize about having to do nothing but cook, clean and care for my loved ones. Yeah, I know. I’d probably get bored after a week. But on the complicated weeks here in modern times, that sometimes sounds like the ultimate vacation to me. A place and time where I could be solely focused on my relationships and helping to keep us all alive and well.

BIO: Lisa T. Bergren is the author of over thirty books, including her latest, the River of Time Series (Waterfall, Cascade and Torrent). She lives in Colorado but has been to Italy three times—and is returning this fall with her teen daughter. Find her on Facebook(River of Time Series and Lisa Tawn Bergren), on Twitter (@LisaTBergren) and online (www.LisaBergren.com).

The Giveaway:

Lisa is generously offering up a copy of Cascade, the second book in the River of Time Series.  

Open to US only.

Must be 13 or older to enter.

Ends July 5th, 2011

To Enter:

What are a few things that you'd love about living in medieval times? Leave a comment with your answer and contact info.

 

This is just one giveaway of this great event!  For the schedule of The Favorite Things event check out the schedule post.  And make sure you head over to My Bookish Ways to see what she has going on today as well!