It is always shocking to be reminded that the majority of those sent to war are boys. The Absolutist, by John Boyne, brings this home with a poignant telling of the cruelties that soldiers wreak upon each other; not just against their enemies but also within their own ranks. Tristan returns from the Great War to peace-time England. He is… read more
On Inspiration: Interview with Nicole Alexander
My guest today is Nicole Alexander, a fellow Aussie author who shares the sources of her inspiration with us. In the course of her career Nicole has worked both in Australia and Singapore in financial services, fashion, corporate publishing and agriculture. A fourth generation grazier, Nicole returned to her family’s mixed agricultural property west of Goondiwindi in the mid-1990s. She… read more
On Inspiration: Interview with Rebecca Lochlann
In her teens and early twenties, Rebecca began envisioning an epic story, a new kind of myth, one built upon the foundation of the Greek classics and continuing through the centuries right up into the present and future.This has become her life’s work, although she didn’t exactly intend it to be that way when she started. The Child of the… read more
Review: Birds Without Wings by Louis De Bernieres
A dense, enthralling and terrifying novel that describes man’s inhumanity to man in the first few decades of the 20th century in Turkey, Greece and the Balkans. It is a sprawling saga with its genesis in the peaceful village of Eskibahce in the south west of Turkey. Here Turkish Muslims and Greek Christians have lived for centuries side by side,… read more
Interview – Historical Fiction eBooks
Lorraine Fraser from Historical Fiction Authors Co-operative has posted an interview on Historical Fiction eBooks
Ancient Bling
Etruscans loved shiny things. The more glittering and ornate the better. The most stunning examples of jewellery and art came from the era known as the ‘Orientalizing’ period from ca. 720-575BCE. This was a time when Phoenician and Greeks were attracted to Etruria due to its rich metal deposits. The Phoenicians were a sea faring people with extensive trading interests… read more
Damn Whores or God’s Police
One of the main themes of my book is the exploration of the lives of women in the classical period of C5th and 4th BCE through the characters of a Roman girl, Greek slave, Cretan courtesan and Etruscan matron. So what was the status and role of these women in classical times? In both Greece and Rome they were chattels… read more
Guest Post – Reading The Past blog
Sarah Johnson of Reading The Past has added my guest post about Ursula Le Guin to her blog. Read more
Fly High Giveaway Winner
Congratulations to Elysium – winner of The Wedding Shroud giveaway on Fly High blog. Read more
Snail Mail, Rome and Ursula Le Guin
Old fashioned courtesy can go a long way. And so, too, can snail mail. When I requested Ursula Le Guin to endorse my novel I used both. Last year my first novel, The Wedding Shroud, was published in Australia (and has now been released as an e-book world wide). The book is set in C5th BCE at a time when… read more