I’ve recently watched Uncharted, which has this Indiana Jones / National Treasure / Tomb Raider vibe to it. Rather unsurprising, given it’s based on a game (which I found out later). Anyway, it’s a fun little movie if you’re looking for something that is absolutely non-brain-taxing, like history, travel, and action, don’t mind the occasional […]
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Fleeting Footwear Fashions in Ancient Rome
Romans were notorious for their sandals (and for anyone who ever visited Italy, still are). Felix has been known to talk about how private investigators wear out their shoes only slightly less legionaries, pounding pavement day in and day out. The whole series, in a homage to swords-and-sorcery, have been called ‘swords and sandals.’ When […]
Roman Links: from military to sorcery
Welcome to our regularly scheduled survey of ancient news, from archaeological discoveries to experimental archaeology. This time we cover anything from shipwrecks to deliberate wrecking equipment, from war to medicine. Let us start with your classical bit of archaeology. This is an amazing find from the Danube: Probable Roman shipwrecks unearthed at a Serbian coal […]
The Importance of Space
Today, we are used to seeing the ruins of ancient Roman and Greek building like in this picture: a few columns and a broken outer shell, the pieces erected back by modern archaeologists to give us a sense of the ancient grandeur. But what was it like, when those buildings were living, breathing spaces, used […]
Writing Process (or, how to make sure the muse works for you)
On several occasions recently (lecturing writing groups and chatting online) I was asked about my writing process, about anything from using pen and paper vs typing to ideation. And it hit me that a lot of it is inter-connected. I’ve talked about the tools I use and where I sit on the plotting-vs-pantsing scale, but […]
Ancient Trivia
Did you know that the word “trivia” originates in Latin? Trivia is based on trivial, which in turn comes from trivialis. That pertains to trivium — three roads, or a crossroad, as something very commonplace that can be found anywhere. Of course, Trivia was also an epithet of Diana, goddess of the hunt, wild animals, […]
Milestones (or, the art of blogging as a key to a successful author platform)
In a twist that should surprise no one, last week’s post was the 200th post on my blog — and that milestone went past to the sound of crickets. I thought I’d take a moment to speak about milestones (besides putting in a big, actual, stone at the side of the road — for that […]
Cost of Living (in Ancient Rome)
I recently received the map on the left from my fellow author Eric Klein (click to enlarge it — it’s beautiful). This is a classic configuration for a Roman-era house, at least for those who could afford it. It’s quite similar to what I have in mind when I describe Felix’s own house (the only […]
State of the publishing industry
Rather than an article, I include below links to two others, with my thoughts on them. I think they show pretty well the current turmoil that the publishing industry is in. The first is titled “Cover Story: The Quiet Catastrophe, Then Reinvention Of Book Publishing”, by John Birmingham on which-50. Here’s a notable excerpt: The last […]
What it takes to become an author
Unless you somehow missed it, I recently published my debut novel. For those who asked about how I did it, and as a sort of learning exercise, I recently wrote an article for Lifehacker about what it takes to become an author. You can read it in full here: www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/12/the-complete-guide-to-writing-your-first-novel/ While the article contains a lot of information, […]
FELIX THE FOX MYSTERIES 