Following Matyszak’s 24 Hours in Ancient Rome (because, y’know, he has a great style balancing information and readability), I sought out his other books. Gladiator touches on a subject core to the third Felix Novel – In Victrix – so I started with it. What to Expect A witty, lighthearted non-fiction description of the lives of gladiators […]
Research
Fantasy Fiends – Dragons, Flying Phalluses, and Exploding Eyeballs!
I was honoured to be invited to the Fantasy Fiends Podcast for their 31st episode on the subject of ‘No Shortcuts!’. (The dancing gladiators have no bearing on the podcast – except that they accurately describe the spirit of the event). The podcast is hosted by Andy Peloquin And Stevie Collier, two talented fantasy authors. Every week […]
Recreations of Roman houses
I love old ruins, as you surely know. Whenever I find myself walking amongst them, or even just in old streets of modern cities, my mind is only half focused on what I see. The other half sees what these places were in their prime. Makes it a bit of a chore to avoid traffic… […]
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 […]
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 […]
Research and Experimental Archaeology
I get asked often about the research I do for my novels. Even when I’m not asked, I volunteer information… Besides reading proper history books (mostly by modern historians, but the occasional translated original source as well), I particularly like what might be termed “experimental archaeology”. These are people with a keen interest, that review […]
FELIX THE FOX MYSTERIES 