Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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Ancient mysteries

I think a lot of armchair archaeologists began their career with books about ancient mysteries.
Von Daniken.
Kolosimo.
Berlitz.
More recently, Colin Wilson and Graham Hancock.

While today I probably prefer a solid book about actual archaeology, I had a lot of fun, as a kid, reading quite a few of those books.
I remain an enthusiastic supporter of the late Peter Kolosimo, and I do not condemn or despise the “mysterious archaeology” genre as a whole.
As long as we are in the clear, and the author does not try too hard to convince me, I usually enjoy the ride.
And who knows, one can always find strange ideas to use in a story… when you write adventure tales ans imaginative fiction, ancient mysteries are a good source of material. Continue reading →


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Writing Tools

Ok, this is the usual boring “tools I use for writing” post which they tell me is a must on an author’s blog.
But then who knows, someone out there might find it interesting, or useful.

First thing first – the only piece of hardware you need to be able to write anywhere/anytime is a paper notebook (aka “the platform”) and a pen (aka “the input device”).
And please take notice – this is not some form of silly nostalgia thing, but a simple statement of fact: in the middle of the wilderness, with no energy grid and no hi-tech, good old pen-and-paper works.
meadOne has to spend some time to find the right notebooks and the right pen – because writing is also a phisical activity, and the tool must fit the hand.
But given some times, anyone can find his fave low-tech writing environment.
For me, it’s Mead Composition Notebooks and BIC black-ink pens.
But I’m developing a sort of fetish for the sort of rough, blank-pages hardbound notebooks you find at IKEA or other such places.

Incidentally, a notebook can be used for two good writing practices
. keeping a journal
. keeping a commonplace book, to use H.P. Lovecraft’s definition – a book in which you jot down ideas for future reference.

Moving on to computers and software, now… Continue reading →


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How I became a hack – part the first

LostHorizon-oldI wrote my first “lost city in the Himalayas” story when I was fourteen or fifteen.
I had not read James Hilton’s Lost Horizon* yet, but I was actually reading a lot of E.R. Burroughs and Rider-Haggard, and quite some Howard at the time.
Their style struck me as easily emulated.
Oh, and I also read a lot of Peter Kolosimo and some Von Daniken and other “mysterious archaeology” books back then.
Food for stories.

So I sat at my mother’s Olivetti Lettera typewriter (hey, it was 1982!) and started hammering away – no outline, no no plan, no nothing.
I was actually writing in the most unpractical way I can imagine, but I had never ever read a writing handbook, so I was winging it.
And I was painfully slow on the keyboard – which helped, actually, as it gave me more time to think the next paragraph.
Anyway, in two months flat I did put together 80 single spaced sheets.
Which strikes me as interesting, as it was very much in the “original novel” pulp format – not only in contents, but also in terms of word count. Continue reading →


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John Barry – High Road to China

I know I said only three posts per week, but what the heck, it’s nice to have some music and some fun on sunday.

So, here we go – John Barry’s wonderful soundtrack for High Road to China, a 1983 adventure movie featuring Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong.

The complete track listing for the score…

High_Road_to_China1. Main Title; Charlie Gets The Knife
2. Airborne
3. Love Theme
4. Waziri Village Attack & Escape
5. Farewell To Struts
6. O’Malley And Eve
7. Charleston* (J. Jonson & C. Mack)
8. Von Kern’s Attack
9. Flight From Katmandu
10. Eve Finds Her Father
11. Raid On Chang’s Camp
12. High Road & End Title

Have a nice day!


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Deep time and History

OK, so this is my blog, here I talk about my passions.
Now, passions are interesting, because once you start along a certain path, once you develop a deep interest in a certain subject, it starts popping up in the weirdest places.

Like this…

it2004In the august of 2004 I was in Florence for the 32nd International Geological Conference.
I had some research to show, some people to meet, it was my first big night on the town.
Held on the hottest days of the year in the most expensive town in Italy, the conference was an unmissable opportunity for a freelance researcher like me – well worth the expenses, and the less-than-confortable hotel room 50 kms from the seat of the conference.
My mother contributed with money from her pension to my trip and participation.

The 32nd IGC in Florence was seen by many as the first big international outing for Chinese geology – and certainly the Chinese presence was impressive.
Among the many show-pieces of the Chinese area at the conference, was a huge geological map of the Himalayas and Transhimalayas, a big colorful map taking up a whole wall. Continue reading →


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Rosita Forbes

We breathed the same air for one month.

NPG x16614; (Joan) Rosita Forbes (Mrs Arthur T. McGrath) by Howard CosterIf it has to start somewhere, my personal gallery of travellers, explorers, adventurers and assorted daredevils, it has to start with Rosita Forbes.

Joan Rosita “Sita” Forbes neé Torr, was born in England in 1890.
She owed that distinctively un-British name to a Spanish grandmother.
She left home at seventeen and married at twentyone – but the marriage did not last long.
She only kept the Forbes surname.
Now calling herself Rosita Forbes, she drove an ambulance during WWI.

Then, with a friend called Undine, she left London and travelled the world – thirty countries in thirteen months.
She wrote a book about it.
In Paris, she planned to cover the Peace Talks, as a jounalist, but the newspaper for which she worked sent her as a reporter in Casablanca.

Continue reading →


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Welcome to the caravanseray

THANKS FOR VISITING!
Please don’t mind the noise and the dust
– we are still putting stuff up,
and designing certain elements of this blog.
Things will probably change in the next days.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

* * * *

This is the first post on this blog.
So, for the time being, a word of explanation and some hints at what’s coming.

As stated in the Info thingy, this blog is currently my English-language home.
I’m a paleontologist, moonlighting as an independent author.
I mostly write fantasy and pulp stories, and I’ve also published a number of essays on wild historical subjects such as explorers, dinosaurs, strange planets and old writers.
Some of them were also published in English (a list is forthcoming – with links and buying options).
While I keep blogging and writing in my native tongue – Italian – I’m also trying to expand into the English-reading world.

So, I need some practice and some time to get my bearings, and a reason to keep going despite my chronic lazyness – and in my experience, writing a blog is the best way to keep in shape, to keep the writing juices flowing, and to create a sense of commitment.
Hence, my new blog – Karavansara.

Continue reading →