The Arizona Historical Novel Society met Saturday Feb 8 with Shona Patel. Shona charmed us with her talk and photos about life in the Assam tea plantations at the end of WWII that she depicts in her novel Teatime for the Firefly. This is an outstanding historical novel. Read my review here.
The next two meetings of AZ Historical Novel Society:
April 5, Ann Chamberlin
on “the history of sex, primarily focused on Europe since Rome. It will cover childbirth, contraception, marriage and social gender constructs in a quick overview, but also forays into kinkier aspects from elsewhere.”
May 3, Fred Ramsay
On his historical mysteries series set in Jerusalem. I’ll quote an excerpt from a review of this series to tempt all of you to come hear this most engaging speaker:
“Frederick Ramsay’s Jerusalem mysteries: Holy Smoke (2013) and The Eighth Veil (2012), hopefully with at least one more to come. The reluctant “sleuth” is Gamaliel, the chief rabbi and head of the Sanhedrin, coerced by Pontius Pilate into detective work. Gamaliel is a Talmudic scholar, not a detective, but discovers useful synergies. The time is 28 and 29 AD.
Ramsay is an Episcopalian priest, but Jesus is a peripheral character, one of many radical preachers and one who Gamaliel quite admires, thinking that with a bit more education he would have made a great Rabbi. Gamaliel is a pragmatic Jew forced into sleuthhood by Herod and opposed by Caiaphas. The books are steeped in Judaism – how successfully I can’t judge but they read convincingly. I devour these books and find them utterly compelling. If you are after something quite different in setting and characters, give these a try” Ward Saylor, Crime Thru Time
(And I’ll add my own note to Mr. Saylor, the Judaism is quite successful/accurate.)
Read my review of The Eighth Veil here
Here are the links I happened upon during the last couple weeks and enjoyed. Hope you find some treasures.
A.
9,000 yr old linen fabric dug up at long-standing Anatolian dig. It was wrapped around a child’s skeleton. World’s oldest “hemp-woven linen.” I didn’t know there was such a thing so I think I’ll have to add this to next book. I will first have to figure out how one hemp-weaves. Anyone know? It sounds scratchy. Link here
B.
Caught my attention: comparison of US & UK book covers (lots of HF) on The Millions Link here
C. The Significance of Reading. Wisdom fr a good source, The Word Nerds blog. They’re celebrating 100 bks each in 2013 w/ a smart post on why. A toast to reading! Link here
D. My Holy Place or Yours? Preserving & providing access to buildings held sacred by multiple traditions. Turkey faces this issue esp w/ the splendid Haghia Sophia. A nuanced discussion in The Economist. Link here
E.
Medieval board games: colorful illustrations & even more colorful tales from Tinney Sue Heath on Historical Fiction Research Link here
F.
Why did Briseis take up a sword against the most powerful warrior in legendary history? I discuss character motivation in my upcoming novel Hand of Fire on Linda Collison’s Sea of Words. Have a look. Link here
G.
Genomes of Richard III and his proven relative to be sequenced. Dr Dan O’Connor of the Wellcome Trust which is providing funding, says: “Sequencing Richard III’s genome will not only give us a unique insight into the past, but have a profound impact on the way we think about disease and heredity in our own genomic age. By making this genome available to all, we will ensure that we can continue to learn about Richard’s past – both personal and historic – even once his remains have been interred.” Link here
H. Apollo lost & found in Gaza. A Palestinian fisherman displayed a gorgeous bronze, that rarest of extant Greek statue materials, on, of all things, a towel emblazoned with smurfs. Palestinian authorities have spirited statue away w/ no explanation. Archaeologists groan. Oh, & fisherman chopped off fingers to figure out if they had gold. How low the god of music and medicine has sunk! Link here
I.
10 tips on writing historical fiction fr Stephanie Dray (one of the best). Personally I enjoyed #6, although I have been known to describe myself as one of “those” people. The most liberating thing in writing HF is being able to pick the most plausible solution to an historical question and then bugger the rest—go with it with all your heart. No footnotes, thank goodness! Link here