Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Category Archives: My Projects


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Researching far and wide

Something I often discuss on these pages is the joy (and pain) of doing research when writing.
Being a naturally curious individual, I actually enjoy doing research, and quite often I see writing as an opportunity to explore some issues that interest me.

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Also, the amount of research is connected with the volume of work I am planning.
For a quick short story, say, set on Titan, the moon of Saturn, a selection of articles on the topic, plus the usual resources found online are normally more than enough.
Something particularly interesting and useful for the story might emerge, and then I’ll go in deeper on that single detail, usually while revising the first draft.
But in general, let’s say that, as a rule of thumb, a 6000-words story should be based on no more than one weekend of reading and note-taking. “For Dummies” books are a great resource when writing short fiction1. Continue reading →


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Hanami… sort of.

The Japanese call it Hanami (花見 – flower viewing), and it is an important national festival.

The cherry flower is the Japanese national flower, and due to the geography of the archipelago, that runs south to north, the Japanese experience a wave of blossomings, that starts in February in Okinawa and ends in May in Hokkaido.
They call it sakura zensen (桜前線) – the Cherry Blossom Front.

And the thing is not exclusively Japanese.
In 1912, Japan donated three thousand cherry trees to the USA. They were put in place in Washington, DC, so that the yanks too now have a Cherry Blossom Festival.

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And I do, too. Continue reading →


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Empty places in the dark

And I’ve another story in the can.
It’s called Empty Places in the Dark, and it’s a (maybe not so) supernatural horror story for a forthcoming anthology (contract signed, now it all depends on the editor).
Six-thousand odd words, nice and smooth.

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The story – that underwent some massive rewrites in the last two days – is set in my hometown of Turin, and features a great female lead (if I do say so myself).
Also, the whole set-up is so intriguing (ditto), that I’d really love to explore it further with more stories, or maybe developing the short into a full-fledged novel.
Who knows.

Anyway, another story finished.
I’m getting good at this sort of stuff.
On with the next (but maybe not today).


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The Altar of the Toad

I am happy to announce that my new Aculeo & Amunet story, The Altar of the Toad has been published in Issue 50 of Swords and Sorcery magazine, and can be read on-line, for free, by clicking on the link above.

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In this new story (the first Aculeo & Amunet story not self-published), our heroes will face a strange menace along the coast of the Black Sea.
The story follows the events described in the collection The Hand of Isfet, but as always it is a stand-alone adventure.

Enjoy!

Oh! And… comments are welcome as always!