things to come

5 August 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Return to the Crossroads of the World

My first pulp history essay, Avventurieri sul Crocevia del Mondo (Adventurers on the Crossroads of the World) hit the shelves of Amazon almost exactly two years ago.
The collection of characters and events from the Silk Road between the wars was highly successful and spawned two subsequent books, and a number of other events – lectures, games, whatever.

Now it’s high time the old Crocevia got a facelift, an update and a Second Edition.

I got a lot of feedback on the book, and I noted each constructive observation.
Now it’s time to put the good advice in practice.
And get a new cover. Continue reading →

15 April 2015
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

An eye for details: Fortunino Matània

I wonder if they ever called him ‘Nino’.

The fine gentleman in the photograph is Fortunino Matània (sometimes spelled Matania, without an accent).
He was born in Naples in 1881, but spent most of his life in London, and he worked as an illustrator – the family trade. He published in such magazines as L’Illustrazione Italiana, Illustration Francaise, The Sphere and later The Illustrated London News.
He did some editorial illustration, but today he is mostly remembered for his paintings of scenes from the Great War – he was in the field, working as a war artist (basically an artist following the troops and sketching from life scenes from the battlefield -not exactly a relaxing job).

But if today he’s remembered for his war paintings, in hist time he really became famous after the war Continue reading →

11 March 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

A way point, and new projects

The first half of the first draft of my new novel is in the hands of my editor, while I hammer out the kinks in the second half.
The going is good.
I like the story, I like the characters, and I’m writing about good ideas in a way that I like.
Nice and smooth.

As it usually happens when I’m very busy doing a lot of things, nice ideas start popping up almost everywhere, and it feels really bad to put them on the backburner, or to bury them in my tiger-striped notebook, waiting for a moment to work on them.

So, while my science fiction novel is rounding the half-way buoy and my steampunk game is getting in shape, I’m setting aside two other ideas, not knowing when I’ll be able to work on them. Continue reading →

14 January 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

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 →