Aculeo & Amunet | Karavansara

11 February 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

How I stopped worrying and learned to love online reviews

Online reviews are a strange thing.
And yet, they are part of the feedback that’s indispensable for authors – no matter if they are traditionally published or self-publishers, or hybrids.
So, yes, just in case, if you happen to read something of mine, please post a review.

Now there’s people that worry about reviews, and I’ve a friend and colleague that makes a point of not reading online reviews. Like, never.
I beg to differ. And while I’m convinced that replying to reviews is never a good idea, I still think keeping an eye on them can be useful.

So last night I was browsing on Goodreads, my book-related-social-network of choice¹, when I found out a reader had given a three star rating (but no review) to Lair of the White Ape, the second published story in the Aculeo & Amunet series.

No big deal – after all, five minutes earlier I had found a one-star rating (but again, no review) for Bride of the Swamp God, the first published Aculeo & Amunet story.
We can’t please everybody, after all – and Bride still has nine other 4 or 5 star reviews, so it’s fine.

No, what actually surprised me, about that three stars for Lair, was that the same reviewer also gave three stars to William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Now take a long breath.
Davide Mana’s Lair of the White Ape.
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Same evaluation.
Three stars.

That was one of the most important experiences in my – admittedly brief – life as a writer.
Books get reviewed.
If you are lucky, yours will be reviewed.
You can be a faceless hack or William Shakespeare, and the readers will have their say.
And you can’t do anything about it.
So, why worry?²

If you’re on Goodreads, why don’t you come by and say Hi? ↩
Well, maybe because the same guy gave four stars to a handbook about “how to blow out her mind in bed”, but I guess we all have different priorities. And if Will Shakespeare’s not complaining, why should I? ↩

2 February 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Toads and Ice Magic

And so, as the deadine looms closer, I completely scrapped one of the two stories I have to deliver within the week.
Why?
Well, because basically it stank to high heaven.
So I dropped the lot in the waste basket – and wrote 3000 words (out of the planned 6000) of the new take in two hours, plus a small break to eat a croissant and drink a cup of Indian Chai Tea.

Because here’s the interesting fact – when you like what you are writing, you can write it fast.
Or at least, that’s how it works for me.

Which is the reason why I was able to write and clean up the new Aculeo & Amunet story in two days – and the story, tentatively titled The Altar of the Toad (aka “A&A story #8”), is now in the trusted hands of my long suffering editrix. Continue reading →

14 January 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Things to come

Things are getting bigger, fast.
A quick recap.

I’m working on my new novel – working title, Matter/Energy, a hard science fiction adventure set in the Mediterranean area but aimed at an international audience.
I’m going at a nice clip, doing about 2000 words a day on the first draft (thanks, Scrivener), speed is increasing, and the thing looks promising: some good dialogue is developing, characters are fine, some great science and a very fun venue.
I’m also enjoying the fact of writing a novel with a strong woman as the main character.
Expect periodic updates as the project grows. Continue reading →

4 January 2015
by Davide Mana 5 Comments

Party music for Aculeo & Amunet

On the 22nd of September 2014, we had a party, over at the Facebook place, to celebrate the launch of the first collection of Aculeo & Amunet stories, The Hand of Isfet.
It was great fun ¹.

I’ve been toying with the idea of making some of the music played at the party available to Aculeo & Amunet fans – especially to those that missed the party.
So here goes – a tape with some of the songs and music we danced to, way back in September.

Enjoy!

so much fun, in fact, that I’d like to set up a Shanghai-nightclub-style launch party for The Ministry of Thunder. Might be even more fun – what do you think?
Watch this space. ↩

23 September 2014
by Davide Mana 5 Comments

Shadufs, prodigal sons, cuckolds and other anachronisms

Language in historical and pseudo-historical stories.
We talked about it back when The Great Swape/Shaduf Debate took place, and I also discussed briefly Ancient Profanities, Their Use and Abuse*.

I tend to give a modicum of attention to the words I use and the way my characters speak.
And I realize their speech patterns and usages are anachronistic.
Nennius Britannicus’ men speak like soldiers in a Viet-Nam movie – “C’mon boss, don’t be so square!”
Amunet’s speech patters vary with her mood – the more melancholy or worried or distracted she gets, the less polished her wording becomes – she says “Dunno” instead of “I don’t know” if she’s got something else on her mind.
Aculeo drops a lot of stuff – pronouns, particles, adverbs, he uses fewer words the more the situation’s heated and urgent – “You right, wench?”; but he can be articulated when he wants to play Amunet, for instance, “I guess I should be impressed by this Aegyptian whatchamacallit you did, right?” Continue reading →

17 September 2014
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Come to the Party!

As I’m writing this we’re less than a week away from the launch party for The Hand of Isfet, and things are going strong.
A bit hectic, but strong.

IF – and that’s a big if – everybody that said they’ll be at the party will really be at the party, we’ll be almost 50.

Which is a lot, for me.
Actually, it’s more people than any other party I attended… except maybe that time in Kilburn when the girls in a university guest-house set-up a weekend-long bring-a-bottle party.
But that’s another story altogether.

And let’s not get scared by numbers – if you’re coming, or if you’re not coming, please spread the news.
Thank you!
We’re gonna party like it was 276 AD (yeah, I know, this one’s getting old…)

6 September 2014
by Davide Mana 1 Comment

The Hand of Isfet – Contubernium

OK, you know the drill – new ebook coming in two weeks, great cover, you can pre-order it…
What about a sneak peek at the contents?

The Hand of Isfet is a 35.000+ words collection, with five new stories about Aculeo & Amunet – that some of you might already have met in Bride of the Swamp God and in Lair of the White Ape.

What’s inside The Hand of Isfet?
Well, for instance, there’s Centurion Nennius Britannicus, and his band of brave legionaries – a contubernium, to be more historically accurate.
This happens somewhere near the middle of the story that gives the title to the whole ebook. Continue reading →