My big news this week is my book launch on September 10, 7:00 pm at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore. I’ve also scheduled the first fall meeting of the AZ Historical Novel Society for September 20th and I’ll be the speaker (shameless self-promotion, I know, but I was asked by many members to take a spot, so I have). In between I’ll speak at the Desert Sleuths Sisters in Crime meeting on September 17th—that talk will be about marketing for authors.
Here are some of my favorite links from around the web this week:
The Historical Novels Review August edition includes a review of Hand of Fire. It’s a positive review, but does have some key spoilers in it, so don’t read it if you like to keep the plot a surprise. I’m happy to get a vote of confidence from this influential journal. Link here. I’m also a featured author in the “New Voices” column.
Some of my favorite parts of the review (with all spoilers removed):
In Hand of Fire, Judith Starkston frees Briseis from the actions of Achilles and Agamemnon and gives her the power to become the heroine of her own story. … Starkston does a lovely job of bringing the characters to life, and her descriptions of the religious rites, the scenery of Mount Ida, and life as a woman of privilege in the ancient world put me firmly in the story. The love story between Briseis and Achilles is well-rendered, as are Briseis’ relationships with her father and brothers, her nurse, and the other women in the city and in the camp. A wonderful new take on a timeless story. –Historical Novels Review
More sunken ships off Turkey. Have to say, while many of you will think it totally cool that they are Ottoman ships, when I saw the headline, I was hoping for much earlier ships, but once these 8 are added to the Bodrum Underwater Museum it will round things out nicely there since the Bronze Age ship they already have is impressive. I love sunken archaeology. What gets preserved is so different from the on-land sites that it is incredibly exciting. Link here.
Is it the small things or the big forces that cause major historical events? Did Holbein’s tiny portrait of Anne of Cleves cause a fateful marriage, did Helen’s face launch a thousand ships, could a silk vest have stopped WWI? This column in the Guardian argues that we find the small reasons consoling, but we shouldn’t be fooled. What do you think? Link here.
USGS (the US Geological Survey) launches powerful map tool. A new research tool for historical writers focused on the U.S. At the site, one can do a search of more than 178,000 topographic maps archived by the US Geological Survey. The maps cover the 48 contiguous states as well as Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Territories. Some maps date back as far as 1884. You can compare maps of the same area from different periods. Link here.