Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Category Archives: My Projects


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An earthier kind of fantasy

Swords_and_Sorcery-anthologyI’ve been involved in a lot of talk, in the past weeks, about Sword & Sorcery and the definition thereof, and what makes S&S different from Heroic Fantasy and blah blah blah.
The subject is dear to my heart as I like S&S, and I both read and write it.
And as luck would have it, hot on the heels of that discussion I got a contract for a number of S&S shorts (yeah!!)1 – so it turns into a matter close to my bread-winning activities, too.

But do we really have to undersign a standard definition?

I still love the definition provided by Glen Cook (an author I love) in an old piece on the SFSignal Blog:

I see Sword & Sorcery as a species of proletarian fiction. The heroes are working class guys, within the context of the story and mores of the time when it was written. They are guys who get stuff done but you would not want them in the drawing room for high tea because they smell bad, break things, and leave bloody messes all over. Despite their class, or lack thereof, they are not much into progressive politics, seeing that sort as easy meat.

This one works fine with me, and while I am not much for definitions it was one of the bits I had in mind when I started writing Aculeo & Amunet. Continue reading →


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The two Neds or, the Canadian Homer

I mentioned a while back that I had pitched a story idea for a forthcoming anthology called The Further Adventures of Ned Land.
Well, the story pitch worked, and I have received a few days back both the go ahead and the deadline for delivery.
Hurray!

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But now a curious problem arises.
I picked up 20.000 Leagues under the Seas1 and checked the original character, and I also re-watched the classic Disney movie, the one in which Ned Land is portrayed by Kirk Douglas. Continue reading →


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The Shadow Over Innsmouth

I’m listening to The Shadow over Innsmouth, the radio-drama adaptation produced by the fine guys in the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society,part of their excellent line Dark Adventure Radio Theatre.
It feels like agood way to celebrate HPL’s 126th birthday.

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The Shadow over Innsmouth is one of HPL’s most popular stories, and one of the original tales I found in the old, heavily abridged edition of the Gentleman’s stories published as I Mostri all’Angolo della Strada (The Monsters on the Street Corner).
It’s one of the pulpier pieces by HPL, and one of the best. It was adapted into the movie Dagon, which is highly recommended. And the HPLHS adaptation is happily unfaithful to the original – and possibly improves on it.
At roughly 80 minutes, it’s a wonderful way to pass this hot, humid evening, here in the haunted hills of Astigianistan.
With the Deep Ones, and a cornetto.


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Straight through the keyboard

writingSometimes weird stuff happens.
For instance… I’m contracted with my Italian gaming publisher, to provide a cycle of six novelettes set in the gaming setting I am developing.
I mentioned Hope & Glory before, here on the blog.

Due to my father’s death and the subsequent problems, I’m a behind schedule – something I hate, but really couldn’t be helped.
Now, four stories are ready, one is halfway through, and the sixth is fully outlined. By the end of the month, I will close the job. Earlier than that, possibly.
Nice and smooth.

So why, why, oh why did I spend yesterday afternoon and most of this morning writing at a breakneck pace a seventh story that is actually quite good, and fun to write, and fits perfectly with the whole set up? Continue reading →


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Deep Map

prayryearthFor a number of reasons, too long to discuss here, I’ve been thinking about a book I read some twenty-odd years ago.
And for a change, I can’t find it in my boxes.
It is called PrairyErth (A Deep Map), and was written by William Least Heat-Moon.
I mentioned Heath-Moon in the past, because he is the author of Blue Highways, one of the best travel books I ever read – a book that actually caused me to start again reading travel books after a decade spent away from that genre.

Now, in retrospective, while at the time it left me perplexed (also due to the translation, I think) PrairyErth is sort of growing on me.
In particular I like the idea of deep map that’s at the core of the book. Continue reading →


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Learning photography, again!

And so I went and enrolled in a new MOOC.
Fact is, you see, I’ve spent a few days (and nights!) going around carrying my trusty old  camera, and I took lots of photos. And I realized I have lost my touch.
Not that I was ever a star photographer, but I was pretty good, for a self-taught amateur. In the time when cameras still packed a roll of film, I shot in black and white (it was cheaper), and I had lots of fun. I used a Nikkormat EL, back then, and I had studied a lot of photo books and courses and handbooks1. Boy, I loved that camera. An artifact from a more civilized time.

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Continue reading →