Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Tag Archives: Rome


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A lazy afternoon raiding Rome

I decided to take the day off. I slept late, I took note of two stories that were rejected (damn), I had a quick bite for lunch, I prepared a chocolate dessert for the evening (because we need all the antidepressants we can find), and settled down with a good book.

In this case, I went for Matthew Kneale’s Rome: A History in Seven Sackings, a fine historical essay about Rome – a city I never liked very much, truth to be told – and the periodic visitors that decided to take home more than a few souvenirs. From the Goths to Napoleon to the Nazis, the book uses stolen artwork and occasional wars to explore the development of a city, a community and a nation, through the ups and downs of three thousand years.

So far, I like the tone of the book, the unusual approach and the wit.
Will this provide new story ideas? Possibly.
But today I’m not thinking about that.
Work starts again tomorrow, and for the time being I just want to have fun – so let’s go and sack Rome. Again.


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Madama Lucrezia: a very small case of synchronicity

I was writing this morning. I am currently juggling writing and translating, and today is a morning writing/afternoon translating sort of day.
So I was writing this scene for the next 4 Against Darkness novella, and the characters are starting to explore the strange place where I placed them.

I wrote

“It was the sculpture of a young woman, her simple dress flowing, her hair in a tall do. The weather had erased her features, making her face a blank. A few fingers of her outstretched hands were missing.”

Myself – WIP

Not a great description, not a sample of superb writing, but after all, it’s a first draft.

At the same moment, my friend Dal – who is a fine artist and lives in Rome – was taking a walk around the ancient city after breakfast, enjoying the quiet and the sights, and took this photo…

… and he posted it on Facebook.
This is called Madama Lucrezia, and is apparently a minor but well beloved landmark in Rome. I never knew about it, of course.

Now this is quite a coincidence – the passage above and the photo happened within a few minutes one from the other.
And I’ll take it as a sign my story is going in the right way.
(I’ll obviously revise the description to make my statue more similar to miss Lucrezia in the final draft)


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World Elephant Day

WED LOGOS CIRCLE_2015-1So, depending on your time zone, yesterday was the World Elephant Day, or today is the World Elephant Day for a few hours yet.

Elephants are majestic animals, creatures of wonder that have been with us throughout our history.
Transportation, heavy lifting, war machine, simple show of might and power, avataras of wise gods… humans have cast the elephants in a lot of roles.

And then there’s ivory, of course – a precious commodity, and the main reason why African elephants are an endangered species.

Now, when I think of elephants, there’s four things that come to my mind, as in a rush… Continue reading →


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Talk like a Roman

A great vlog post by the esteemed Lindybeige about language in Ancient Rome – a post that has a very close connection with my Aculeo & Amunet stories1 – and also has a certain connection whit the Great Swape Debate.
Enjoy.

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  1. yes, I still remember the guy that said a Roman centurion would never use the expression “cuckold“ ↩


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An Aculeo & Amunet Spin-off?

One never knows.

bobhoskinsI was putting the finishing touches on one of the Aculeo & Amunet stories that will be collected in the next A&A ebook (coming in september, barring accidents), and I noticed that a number of throwaway characters had proved to be tougher and much more fun to write about than expected.

Centurion Nennius Britannicus is a short, balding man that looks somewhat like Bob Hoskins in my mind’s eye – a second-tier officer with a tendency to get on his commander’s nerves.
When we meet him in The Hand of Isfet (the immediate sequel to Bride of the Swamp God), he’s on patrol duty in the streets of Alexandria.
He’s not exactly enjoying the ride. Continue reading →