Kristian Mercer

Ah, the ringing sound of steel-on-steel.  The intricate footwork.  The slim, shining blade.  Is the bout merely to first blood--or to the death?

(Fellow Princess Bride fans, repeat after me:  "No.  To the pain.")

If you're intrigued--or just mystified--by the references above, do take a moment to check out today's entry at Attacking the Page, where romance novelist Katharine Ashe and Olympic fencer Leslie Marx are discussing sword fighting in fiction.

I'm looking forward to reading Ashe's debut, Swept Away By a Kiss, which features pirates, mistaken identity, and--oh yes--swordplay.  In the meantime, I'll be popping The Princess Bride into my DVD player.  There's nothing quite like Cary Elwes as the Dread Pirate Roberts, is there?