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.
Favorites around the web this week. In archaeology: a bronze age tomb in Thessaly, Greece, an exhibit of pre-classical Greece in France, 8,000 yr old Israeli olive oil, recreating Egyptian bread. In historical fiction: a post about his fic series with some of my favorite authors in it, a review of All the Light We Cannot See, & insulting people like a good historical fiction writer.
Some posts I enjoyed this week: Roman, Etruscan and Egyptian tombs–and Swedish communists (can’t say I don’t get around in history). In historical fiction, Nancy Bilyeau’s upcoming novel The Tapestry
My favorites around the web: Margaret Spence’s Australia essay, Greek myth and archaeology, survey of UK vs US historical fiction reading.
Knossos, by Laura Gill, takes the big view of the history of Crete, unfolding the years between 1900 and 1200 BC in a series of interrelated, extended stories.
News from the ASOR conference & my favorite posts around the web: Bruce Holsinger on historical fiction and truth, the earliest extant European “book”, 18th C selfies, treating PTSD via ancient Greek tragedy, & Amphipolis continued, the human remains.
A Day of Fire is a collection of six interconnected stories set in Pompeii on the day Vesuvius blew up. The stories immerse us into a variety of strata of Roman life in this iconic city and build a rich palette of characters.
My post about the role of magic and powerful words in Hittite healing to restore harmony between the divine and mortal realms and in the process bring about physical health.
My favorites around the web this week: Interview with Donis Casey, a review of A Day of Fire (which I’m in the middle of myself), miracle seed from Massada, open air ruins on Despotiko, a shot from the past–childhood fav paintings fr Huntington Library, WWI gets “dug” and the creative spirit of the desert caught on camera by Melissa Crytzer Fry.
I’m a day or so late putting up my weekly post of my favorites around the web. I’ve been getting myself back into the habit of writing my full word count everyday with a lot less daily book promotion, and since I’ve been away from this my historical mystery for a while and got myself into a muddle, that took a lot of focus. I didn’t spend much web time, so my pickings are slim. And I took much of Sat and Sun to vegetate with a good book and no screen time. I enjoyed that! I did manage to… Read More »Weekly Roundup of History, Archaeology and Writing Wisdom October 25-31
My favorites around the web this week: debate about Parthenon Marbles, blending research & creativity in historical fiction, & 3 pros of historical fiction on their books: Tinney Sue Heath, Kim Rendfeld and Ruth Downie.
