Facts - Stranger than Fiction

Happy Thursday!!!! Wow, what a week! I've been busy gearing up for my blog party next week and have some amazing prizes for you guys to win! Be sure and come back every day to see what's new!

Today I'm going to spend some time doing a quick, "Did you know?" post for anyone who may not be familiar with the great man known as Genghis Khan. This is in honor of the book Yassa being on sale for the month of October both in Kindle (just $2.99) and paperback (just $7.99) formats. The paperback has had a beautiful re-work and the interior is to die for (screenshots after the post). I hope you all enjoy this post and that you learn a little, too.

The following are all facts that I based Yassa on. Yassa is a work of fiction steeped in factual history.

Did you know:

• Genghis Khan began life as a boy named Temujin.
• His father was poisoned when Temujin was just nine years old; forcing the child to step up and lead his people.
• In Mongolia, it was common for a young boy to live with his betrothed's family to learn the ways of their people for up to four years before the marriage.
• Temujin spent four years of his life in slavery, and his escape got him noticed by powerful men.
• Blonde girls were an anomaly but highly sought-after prizes (I could find nothing that said Borte was one of these but I read it happened and went with it).
• The Merkits stole Temujin's wife, Borte, just two weeks after they were married and his retribution made him a household name.
• Jamuka was Temujin's anda (brother in life) but no one knows why they had a falling-out (most assume it was over power).
• No one is sure if Temujin's first son, Jochi, was of his loin because of the timing of the child's birth (~ 9 mos after Borte was taken).
• In the span of just twenty-five years, Genghis Khan took over much of Mongolia; uniting the tribes under one banner.
• Genghis held the idea of loyalty above all else and wrote Yassa law based on it.
• He developed a new writing style and demanded it be used across all of Mongolia so writings could be understood by all.
• The cultivation of the Silk Road, made famous by Marco Polo, was done under the guidance of Genghis.
• He truly believed he spoke to God and was tolerant of all religious followings.

Genghis Khan was one of the great men from history. He did things others had only dreamed of.

If you want to learn more about Genghis, in a fun way, you can find out a lot of fact by reading my historical fiction novel. I stuck as closely as possible to the actual timeline of events and used many of the facts you see above to mold my character and get inside his head.

Now for a shot of the new interior of Yassa.

Smaller type, smaller format, better design, and less expensive for you, the reader. Go grab a copy and get your learning on!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo