From My Fantasy Writing Desk
I had fun this week stretching the lockdown rules ever so slightly and meeting with a writer friend. We sat outside on my terrace far apart, etc. It was great to have real time with a friend.
We had read a good ways into each other’s current projects and talked critique. Her book is downright fun—humorous paranormal murder mystery. We got to work on redesigning her villain. She hadn’t quite settled on which character did the crime.
With my project and its complicated plot, she pinpointed where I needed to give more info and where less. There are some late-in-the-action, surprise reveals that I need to lay the groundwork for without leaving my reader confused or giving too much away. A tricky balance that I desperately needed help with from an outside reader familiar with epic fantasy genre. Afterwards, I had a happy afternoon of messing with several passages to fix them in light of our conversation. Writing, for me, cannot be an entirely solitary project.
Archaeology I Enjoyed
Lockdown Archaeology in Britain
Something exciting in archaeology has come from the lockdown. British archaeology volunteers working at home during lockdown discovered dozens of prehistoric, Roman and medieval sites. The volunteers had been earlier trained in analyzing images derived from LiDAR, or light detection and ranging, data. This laser technology is used during aerial surveys to produce highly detailed topographical maps. When covid-19 cancelled the excavation season outside, the volunteers enthusiastically took up the project that covers parts of Cornwall and Devon. They have found Roman roads and settlements, medieval farms and quarries.
Mesopotamian Women on Exhibit
I can’t wait to dive into this:
FREE PDF of Women at the Dawn of History, catalogue of art and essays about ancient Mesopotamian women, from queens to witches, moms to maids. Yale’s Peabody Museum has created this lovely catalogue for an exhibit that opened in Feb of this year. The photographs are gorgeous and the text highly readable. Click here for Yale Peabody Museum PDF of Women at the Dawn of History