I’ve recently read Learn Like a Polymath: How to Teach Yourself Anything, Develop Multidisciplinary Expertise, and Become Irreplaceable, by Peter Hollins, and thought it had quite an interesting overlap to do with writing. It’s a short book, covering what polymathy is (and isn’t), the core idea of skill transfer, and how to break knowledge down […]
News / Blog
Books Review: Trapped, Hunted, and half of Besieged, by Kevin Hearne
I’ve been enjoying the Iron Druid series, more or less binge-reading it. What to Expect Trapped takes place 12 years after the previous one, Tricked. Granuaile has finished her training, and it’s time to bind her to the earth and make her a full druid. Nothing goes to plan, of course, and despite Atticus’ best […]
Creative Writing and Day-jobs
No, not quite quitting work to get back to writing (almost, but not quite 😉). I do feel I’m getting there — now that I have a study with a lock on the door — and will be restarting a writing habit soon, but that isn’t the subject of today’s post. I’ve written before about […]
Book Review: Dead Things, by Stephen Blackmoore
This came up as a ‘you might enjoy’, and it certainly intrigued me to try — urban fantasy from the point of view of the necromancer. What to Expect A dark and twisting story, with lots of plot twists and rising tensions. Eric is a fallible human mage with a knack for dead things. That […]
Roman Bones and Boners
Welcome to this month’s Ancient Rome News column, where we survey the latest unearthing of Roman bones — and boners — that get armchair archaeologists inappropriately excited 😜 Prepare yourself for a collection of old bones (sadly inanimate), large boners (hilariously decorated), and double entendres from this Roman enthusiast, who’s been known to weave all […]
Book & Shorts Review: Tricked and various shorts from the Iron Druid Chronicles, by Kevin Hearne
As I was checking the order of novels on Goodreads, I found a few short stories in the series. This review covers book #4 (Tricked) and the short up to that point. What to Expect Tricked sets Atticus up against creatures from Native American (Navajo) mythology. Coyote (who appeared in the previous novel) helps him […]
Book Review: The Fire Islands, by Gilbert M. Stack
I’m not sure where I first heard about this novel, but it drew my interest for obvious reasons — another reflection of Roman culture mixed with fantasy. What to Expect Expect a fantasy world loosely inspired by Ancient Rome. Marcus Venandus is a member of the legions of Aquila (the world’s version of Rome; ‘Eagle’ […]
In a surprising twist, Felix has converted to Judaism 🫢
OK, maybe it’s a tad of click-bait 😉 But in working with ChatGPT (still based on GPT-3), I did the equivalent of Googling myself: I find the mental image of Felix dressed as a Hassidic Jew absolutely hilarious 😂 I did try to search (Google…) for “Accidental Detective”, but it only comes up with a […]
Book Review: Pulling the Wings Off Angels, by K.J. Parker
I love KJ Parker’s works, and was in a mood for something more philosophical (while otherwise tearing through the highly-entertaining, non-brain-taxing, Iron Druid series). What to Expect A novella that explores good and evil, predestination, free will vs original sin, and a plethora of other religious themed subjects, all packaged up in Parker’s usual fantasy […]
Instagram is DEAD 😱
Apparently I’m a vile offender, an antisocial creature, and do not deserve Instagram. Wait, what? Without any reason – at least none that was given to me – Instagram had randomly disabled my account at the start of February. When I tried to reinstate it, all I got was “Your account was permanently disabled” message, […]
FELIX THE FOX MYSTERIES 