Impossible to absorb too much information when you’re writing about a time two millennia before your own. I hasten to add that I haven’t read all these books cover to cover, otherwise I would never have time to write any of my own. Often the most useful items in them are their maps and indexes,…
[May 17, 2025] A panoramic shot of the beautiful little bay of Nora, a seaside community outside of Cagliari, Sardinia. The ancient Romans used it to get away from the city. Basically it’s the Hamptons, or Lake City in Seattle or Homer in Alaska. (photo RobR) There are towers on both headlands and all the…
[reposted from June 11, 2021] This is what my dining table looks like these days. I’m beginning the third novel in the Eye of Isis series, and I’ve written enough of Tetisheri’s story now to revise her calendar. Calendars are very important in series–when did she do what, where, and to whom? Writing a calendar…
The Raeside cartoon above has its own shrine on my wall. This post by Damon Linker, Lament for the Declining Art of Editing, recently popped up in my feed, as random animadversions so often do in this Internet age. So okay, some guy whining about Taylor Swift, what else is new, and I haven’t heard the…
I mean, have you met me? There is now a podcast of Saturday’s event, too. Click here to eavesdrop in. Abduction of a Slave, the fourth Eye of Isis novel, now on sale at a bookstore or etailer near you! The drums of war are sounding again across the Middle Sea as Julius Caesar plans…
Saturday afternoon, toward the end of the launch event for Abduction of a Slave, I wanted to show off the lovely little gilt image on the spine of the book, so I unwrapped it and pointed it out. Here it is again, in closeup. It’s the head of Montu, the image on the cover. Montu…
Quote: “Richard, a vet, had a hell of a story to tell.“–Nora RobertsThere are things you can’t anticipate when you make the decision to become a writer. Some aren’t great but some…well. Click through the image above to read the post. This series of YouTube videos by Dwarkesh Patel featuring Naval War College Professor Sarah…
Pre-order Signed Hardcover → Pre-order for Kindle (US) Pre-order for Kindle (UK) Today at 5pm we launch Abduction of a Slave, the fourth Eye of Isis novel, at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona! If you can’t attend in person you can watch (and ask questions) on the…
I was looking up a recipe for roast chicken with garlic and honey when an Internet rabbit hole opened up in front of me and down I fell, resurfacing many clicks later on a BBC story about silphium. Silphium is or was an herb, an aromatic like garlic, that back in the day grew in…
See you Saturday at the Poisoned Pen!And if you can’t come in person remember you can watch on Facebook Live or YouTube. They will ship your book right to you, because they are nice like that.*Order your signed first edition here.*Order your Kindle US edition here.*Order your Kindle UK edition here. Probably my favorite place…
