Judith Starkston has spent too much time exploring the remains of the ancient worlds of the Greeks and Hittites. Their myths and clashes inspire her fiction and open gates to magical realms. She has degrees in Classics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Cornell. She loves myths and telling stories, and her novels imbue fantasy with the richness of ancient worlds. The first book in her Trojan Threads Series, Hand of Fire was a semi-finalist for the M.M. Bennett’s Award for Historical Fiction. Priestess of Ishana, the first in her historical fantasy Tesha series, won the San Diego State University Conference Choice Award. Judith is represented by Richard Curtis.
I’m a guest on Sarah Johnson’s excellent Reading the Past with an essay explaining my world-building for my historical fantasy. I use the “stranger than you could make up” rites and practices found on the clay tablets excavated from Hittite archives.
Click through to post for the Reddit Fantasy Writer of the Day Link. This Monday I’m Writer of the Day on Reddit Fantasy. In archaeology: perfect pita among the hunter-gatherers and Roman punny potty humor in mosaics
Balancing magic & psychology in my fantasy writing and in Archaeology: gold coins hidden from Crusaders & a meteoric explanation of Sodom’s demise
LIBCON West at the Glendale Library, this Sat Dec 8, 11-5. Calling all Phoenix area friends, esp. teens & fantasy fans for author panels, cosplay, swords & sabers, gaming, pirates and more
Priestess of Ishana, 1st book in my new series, is now available. In archaeology news, new fresco discovered in Pompeii and another gear of the Antikythera mechanism
My review of Nancy Bilyeau’s The Blue. Fast-paced action, passionate emotions, international intrigue and life or death stakes propel the reader through this outstanding historical thriller set in 18th century London, Derby and France.
The cover reveal for Priestess of Ishana, and the archaeology posts I enjoyed: newly found Egyptian tombs filled with cat and scarab mummies, and the lost city of Tenea built by Trojan captives has been found
My favorite writing project this week: build a better fictional room. Archaeology posts I enjoyed: mysterious Egyptian discoveries and a WWI artifact with heart
I’m off to Tucson Comic-Con this weekend to hang out with fantasy writers. From archaeology around the web this week, an extremely early geometric seal and some “dead sea scroll” forgeries from the Bible Museum
In this week’s post I show how I wrangle order out of chaos in the plotting of my next fantasy novel, and I share two archaeology updates about imaging Linear B and an intact Greek shipwreck that looks just like the “Siren Vase” in the British Museum
