A few weeks ago, Mary R. Woldering has asked me to contribute a piece for her blog, with the theme of National Maritime Week. I have chosen to address the issue of the life of ancient galley-slaves, and who really rowed the naval war galleys. Below I reproduce the full post. Hi, and welcome to the […]
Writing
C’est fini
That’s it. It’s over. I’m done with it. Surely writing “The End” on yet another manuscript is the sweetest feeling ever 🙂 This one took a lot longer than Murder In Absentia. I blame the baby. I hope that as he grows up, I’ll get the next books finished quicker… So what’s next? And when […]
SciFi Round Table (a song for the ages)
Like most indie authors, I am a member of several Facebook groups. One of them is a particularly great place to hang out, the SciFi Round Table. Don’t let the name fool you, we cover lots of fantasy there as well. In a recent post, the admin and creator behind it asked for help in […]
Ancient Ruins
As some may know, we’ve recently visited Israel. While this was mostly about visiting family and friends, we did get to tour around a bit. Here, for example, we visited my favourite fort: I’ve posted a lot of images on my Instagram feed. More importantly, each image comes with its own little story, and why […]
Dressed to Kill (no, really!)
This is about historical clothing, not about clichés 🙂 It’s inspired by Marie Brennan’s post on Tor.com: How to Do Karate in a Victorian Dress. I suggest you read the entire post! Replace ‘dress’ with ‘toga’ and this is totally something I should be doing! I am happy to say that I do pay close […]
Everyone is the hero of their own story
This is a little exercise I sometimes do, to help me write. It’s probably old news to some authors, and won’t work for others, but for me it’s a useful little bit. I write Felix’s mysteries in first-person voice. This means that we see the case unfolds through Felix’s eyes, we learn the evidence at the […]
How to deal with a foul mood
Felix was in a funk (what with a broken leg), so I let him have a bit of fun. Enjoy this little excerpt from the upcoming In Numina. My mobility impaired, I could not take on another case. I was in no condition to walk far, but I limped down to the docks between the […]
Epic World Building
Over at Our Epic Worlds, a blog dedicated to fantasy world-building, M.L. Spencer was kind enough to interview me about creating the historical-fantasy world of Egretia. I got to answer a few questions about Felix and the magical world he lives in. Here’s a short extract: How does the landscape or geography of your world […]
YES!!! (Wherein I explain how to read reviews)
First, a big WOOHOO!! I’ve just got another 1-star review on Amazon! Yippee! No, I’m not crazy, I know how the star system works. This particular verified purchase review says: One Star do not recall this book and I cannot give a fair critic [sic] of it. So, basically, someone bought my book, maybe read it, […]
The Immortality of the Mystery
A guest post I have written as part of Mystery Thriller Week, originally published on Rae’s “A new Look on Books” blog. What’s in common between the latest scientific research about virus propagation, genetic modification for interstellar colonisation, and ancient priests poking about in animal entrails to predict the favour of the gods? More on […]
