The good news: thanks to Bloomsbury's Holiday Sale, the ebook of "Medicus" is briefly and wondrously cheap in the USA right now - https://bloomsbury.com/us/medicus-9781596917743/ The not-so-good news: the series isn't in ebook at all in the UK at the moment (sigh), but it WILL be coming back. There will be music and dancing in Downie … Continue reading Good news and not-so-good news
Never work with children or animals.
VITA BREVIS finally makes it into paperback in the UK today (hooray!) so it seems right to mark the occasion. I can hardly have a launch party for a book that's been out in hardback and ebook for some time now, but on the other hand, unless people know it's there, who will buy it? … Continue reading Never work with children or animals.
VITA BREVIS is (almost) out in the UK!
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!
Four free books to win! (And no cat.)
THE DRAW HAS NOW CLOSED - THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED! The winners will be announced shortly. I'm delighted to announce that Bloomsbury are now taking over publication of all the Medicus books. This means that the first four books, originally called "Ruso and..." in the UK, will be renamed. Each book in the series … Continue reading Four free books to win! (And no cat.)
Judging a blog by its cover
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
Emergency surgery with a biro
I've just finished checking through the proofs of the next Ruso novel, TABULA RASA, which will be out in the summer. (It's set during the building of Hadrian's Wall, in case anyone's wondering.) Either Bloomsbury's typesetters are impressively accurate or I'm a rubbish proofreader, because there seemed to be hardly any typos to correct. So, … Continue reading Emergency surgery with a biro
Murder in the Library
I've been saving this one for now because it wouldn't do to post two exhibitions at once, even though we did rush from one to the other on the same day. The British Library isn't far from the British Museum, so we hurried up there to have a look at their Murder in the Library … Continue reading Murder in the Library
Radio Silence
Sorry it's been a little quiet around here lately. I'm currently racing to tidy up a manuscript that's going to the new editor tomorrow. This basically consists of tweaking things that made sense when I wrote them, and scowling at all the queries flagged up in the margin (to which I still don't know the … Continue reading Radio Silence
Meet Sarah Bower
Today we're taking a brief excursion forward in time from the Romans, and I’m delighted to welcome a guest who not only writes marvellous novels, but is also in demand as a tutor to other writers. Sarah Bower’s first novel, THE NEEDLE IN THE BLOOD, was Susan Hill’s Book of the Year in 2007. Her … Continue reading Meet Sarah Bower
Ruso and the River of Darkness
A story about death, taxes, and angry barbarians Hooray! Ruso and the River of Darkness, the British edition of Ruso and Tilla's fourth adventure, will be in the bookshops very soon. The ebook will be available at the same time from, er... well, from wherever people get ebooks. It's a story of death, taxes, angry … Continue reading Ruso and the River of Darkness
Ruth Downie 