Writing and Motherhood
A lovely article about how writing a novel can be a lot like having a baby by Ann Brashares, author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Happy Mother’s Day, a bit late!
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Judith Starkston
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.
Review of OyMG, by Amy Dominy
Amy Dominy’s book isn’t my usual historical fiction, but many of my subscribers know Amy or the Speech and Debate team she based her book on–Desert Vista’s very own champions, so here is a review lots of you will care about.This debut young adult novel, OyMG will warm your heart and make you laugh out loud whether you are 13 or 53. With the precision of a stand-up comedian, Dominy hits every hilarious beat in the stressed-out world of high school speech and debate. With equal precision she portrays the confused inner world of fourteen year old Ellie, a Jewish girl who really wants to win a scholarship to Benedict’s high school, and thinks a Christian speech camp is the way to her goal. But maybe her Zeydeh’s got it right–you have to stand by who you really are.
Review of Where Shadows Dance by C.S. Harris
C.S. Harris’s mystery Where Shadows Dance set in London in 1812 will keep you guessing until the very end. When a surgeon buys a body for his medical students to dissect, he hardly expects to step into the middle of a murder case. But as Sebastian St. Cyr tries to solve the case, the dead bodies keep appearing and even his fiancée is a suspect.
Review of Hurricane by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Jewell Parker Rhodes’s latest mystery in her Marie Laveau series, Hurricane, is a spell-binding mystery infused with an inspiring take on what womanhood can be in all its aspects. Hurricane Katrina may be the least of Marie’s problems as she faces a miasma of confusing ancient spirits, a murdered family, powerful oil companies, and a curiously ill town.
Interview with Bruce Macbain, author of Roman Games
A wide-ranging interview with author Bruce Macbain about his mystery Roman Games and the historical background of it–from the exotic cult of Isis to parallels between Roman sensibilities and contemporary American life.
Review of Escape Artist by Ed Ifkovic
A young Edna Ferber, later novelist of Giant, Show Boat, and So Big and member of the Algonquin Round Table, teams up with Houdini to solve the mystery when a school friend disappears and then turns up murdered. Ed Ifkovic vividly portrays small town American life at the turn of the century.
Travels in the Ancient Worlds of Greece and Rome
Here are two travel memories. One, a comical, pastoral memory starring an ancient spring, an irate shepherd and two college girls. The second an inspirational memory from a first visit to the Acropolis in Athens. But perhaps these can’t compete with Francis Rocca’s lyrical article describing the joys of visiting the Roman Forum, a place “Where the Ancient Past is Palpably Present”.
A Recent Archaeological Find in Istanbul
Archaeologists have found an 8,000 year old skeleton in Istanbul, the oldest human remains yet found in Turkey. Incredibly, the wooden cover of the coffin was found intact, preserved by black clay below current sea level.
Review of A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
Jacqueline Winspear fans won’t need any prodding to read her latest Maisie Dobbs mystery, A Lesson in Secrets. The rest of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Maisie’s character makes for uncommonly good reading as she takes a new direction professionally, working undercover for the Secret Service in the midst of the conflicting political currents of 1932.
Review of Roman Games by Bruce Macbain
Bruce Macbain’s Roman Games launches an excellent new Roman mystery series. If you are a fan of Steven Saylor, Lindsey Davis, or Roman history in general, you’ll want to pick it up. His detective, Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Younger), a decent, straight-laced senator, teams up with Martial, a poet of racy and scurrilous verses, to untangle a delightfully twisted murder case.