Having been woken from hibernation by Storm Ciara, I'm now snatching a brief moment of calm before Storm Dennis (due tomorrow) to issue an invitation: Join us for a Literary Lunch near Taunton on Monday 20 April! I'll be talking all things book-related with Lionel Ward of Brendon Books. Lionel is not only an independent … Continue reading Come to lunch!
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Be merry…
Thank you to everyone who's spent time with Ruso and Tilla this year! Best wishes for a happy and peaceful Saturnalia/Christmas/what you will.
Prima Facie in audio now!
We interrupt the recent silence from Downie Towers to bring you the news that the long-awaited audio of PRIMA FACIE is now available! Three hours in the company of Ruso, Tilla and Ruso's dysfunctional family - all brought to life by the excellent Simon Vance. Happy days! PRIMA FACIE should be in all the usual … Continue reading Prima Facie in audio now!
PRIMA FACIE in audio!
Singing and dancing at Downie Towers* - I can finally confirm that PRIMA FACIE will be an audiobook! Thanks so much to everyone who's asked. It'll be available in early November. As further proof that the gods have smiled on us, it will be read by the enormously popular Simon Vance. I'll be spreading the … Continue reading PRIMA FACIE in audio!
Eboracum 2019
Home from another fantastic Roman Festival in York, and huge thanks to everyone who made it possible - organisers, re-enactors, performers, fellow-scribes and of course to the many visitors, without whom we'd all have been very lonely. In previous years I've put up plenty of photos of men on the march, and they do look … Continue reading Eboracum 2019
They’re back! A new MEDICUS novella on 9 July
Many thanks to the patient friends of Ruso and Tilla who've been in touch to ask how - and indeed what - they're doing. Occasionally I get emails asking what happened in between the novels. Usually the answer is 'not much', which is why there isn't a book about it. However... some people wondered whether … Continue reading They’re back! A new MEDICUS novella on 9 July
Gold rush, AD75-style
Just back from the fantastic Dolaucothi Gold Mines in mid-Wales - the only Roman gold mines known in Britannia. This tunnel looks fine in the floodlights, but the original miners would never have seen it like that - they'd have had to manage with little oil lamps. Things hadn't improved much by Victorian times, when … Continue reading Gold rush, AD75-style
We are (not) at a party…
Some years ago I worked for a small company where, on 23 December, the boss changed the answerphone message to explain that we'd all left early to go to the office Christmas party. Sometime in mid-February, one of us phoned in from outside and discovered that we were STILL at the office Christmas party. Which … Continue reading We are (not) at a party…
Merry Christmas (or what you will)…
...from Downie Towers, and many thanks to everyone who's spent time with Ruso and Tilla this year. None of it would be possible without you! Here's one of the ways the modern residents of Aquae Sulis are celebrating the season: Best wishes for 2019!
Book News (yes, there is some!) – a new story on the way, and a bargain for new readers
People have been asking whether there will be more adventures for Ruso and Tilla, and the answer is... yes! I've had a break from writing over the summer but a short novel/long story is about to go to the editor. It'll be a return visit to the sunny vineyards of southern Gaul, where Ruso finds … Continue reading Book News (yes, there is some!) – a new story on the way, and a bargain for new readers
