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…
Today I'm visiting The Worlds of SJA Turney. Simon was one of the co-conspirators on our book about the Boudiccan rebellion, A Year of Ravens, but there are no rebel queens in this piece - I've been pondering the difference between writing about Roman Britain and writing about Rome itself. Not content with living … Continue reading Sunday on the blog tour – SJA Turney, plus a brief diversion
I'll be travelling around some splendid blogs run by other people this week, dropping by for a virtual chat or stepping back while other people review "Vita Brevis" or post excerpts. Some will be offering giveaways, too. The schedule's below, and there might be an additional stop along the way - I'll post that link … Continue reading On tour in my slippers
At last! The hardback of VITA BREVIS, the story of Ruso and Tilla's trip to Rome, goes on sale in the UK tomorrow (22 September). You can read the beginning here. This publication is less nerve-wracking than usual because the book's already been released in the US and in other formats here, and I'm grateful to … Continue reading VITA BREVIS is (almost) out in the UK!
"...because we're doing the best that we can." Margaret George, Historical Novel Society conference, 2016. I've never been to the Historical Novel Society conference before, but after last weekend I'm wondering why. It was splendid. If you want to read a well thought-out blog piece about it, there's one in the Times Literary Supplement. If … Continue reading “We have to hope that our characters will forgive us…”
I'm delighted to announce that Ruso and Tilla's seventh adventure, set in the great city of Rome itself, is now available on an e-reader near you! Find out more about it here. If you live in the USA, Canada or Cambridge*, VITA BREVIS should also be available in a bookshop. (*The fine folk at Heffers … Continue reading VITA BREVIS, published today – and a caption competition.
Big thanks to Fiona and the staff at the lovely Walter Henry’s bookshop in Bideford, who marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on Saturday with tea and cake and fine hospitality. The collective noun for a gathering of local readers, writers and historians should probably be ‘a gossip’ but we fell respectfully silent to … Continue reading Badly dressed for the Bard
Lest anyone should think absolutely nothing's been happening at Downie Towers while the editor was drafting her feedback on Ruso 7 - here's news of a completely independent project. I've had the pleasure of working with some of the award-nominated team who put together A Day of Fire last year, and this is what we've … Continue reading A YEAR OF RAVENS: A NOVEL OF BOUDICA
I've had the pleasure of being a guest twice this week - first on a virtual trip across to Alison Morton's blog, where I was sharing a few mental meanderings about historical truth and donkey poo. Alison is the author of the Roma Nova series, set in a world where the Roman Empire hasn't fallen … Continue reading The pleasure of being a guest
The nice people at the publishers have decided that it's time to redesign the covers for the Medicus series, so we'll be raising the tone with a little classical sculpture. TABULA RASA has a view of The Weary Hercules - I'm sure that's exactly how Ruso sees himself at times - clutching the golden apples … Continue reading Judging a blog by its cover
Ruth Downie 