This blog is moving to a new home!
I've been totally silent over the last couple of months for a few reasons, one of which was that we were traveling around Greece and Italy. (Yes, it really was book research. Honestly!)
I'll be writing more about that soon.
Another reason is that I've been intermittently working on a new home for my web site.
Some time ago my elder daughter looked at this site and said, "Dad, your blog looks so 2010."
Well, I certainly wouldn't want to look so old-fashioned.
The new site is a bit different, though it's hard to make a basic blog look much like anything other than a basic blog. I got the blog posts migrated over the weekend, which was lots of fun since there are 500+, believe it or not. There are still more broken links than I would like, but I think it's good enough to move.
The new site should be a lot more phone-friendly, which is a bonus.
At some point in the next couple of days I will redirect GaryCorby.com to the new home. Everything else will happen auto-magically.
As Nico would say, "Of course it will work. What could possibly go wrong?"
Showing posts with label Yay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yay. Show all posts
A lovely review of Death Ex Machina
The American Library Association has a magazine and a web site where they post reviews of books.
This review of Death Ex Machina just came online, and it is rather nice for the book's author to read!
This review of Death Ex Machina just came online, and it is rather nice for the book's author to read!
Corby is adept at delineating ancient Greece without sounding professorial. Having Nicolaos as a first-person narrator helps; he’s the ideal tour guide to the theater and the city around it. The characters are a mix of fictional and actual, with the latter including Pericles, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and the child Socrates, who drives everyone crazy with his questions.
This works on every level.
Death ex Machina Happy Release Day to me!
I'm very pleased with this one. It's the first adventure for Nico and Diotima as a married couple. For a running series that's a big transition! How will they cope with the marital state?
The murder is decidedly theatrical, as you can tell from the cover. Since our heroes are living right at the birth of theatre, there are plenty of big names to make an appearance.
Plus I'm always fond of a good pun, and Death ex Machina was too good to pass up.
I hope you enjoy it.
Death Ex Machina: Publisher's Weekly starred review!
I woke this morning to find congratulations emails in my inbox, because this lovely review has just appeared in Publishers Weekly. Here it is:
In Australian author Corby’s superior fifth whodunit set in ancient Greece (after 2014’s The Marathon Conspiracy), the city of Athens is preparing to host the Great Dionysia, “the largest and most important arts festival in the world.”
But the success of the event is in doubt after a series of accidents on the set of Sophocles’s play Sisyphus. The cast members believe this is the work of a ghost. Pericles, the city’s most powerful man, asks Nicolaos, his inquiry agent, to get rid of the ghost.
Unfortunately, not long after Nico arranges for an exorcism ritual, one of the actors is murdered, suspended from the machine designed to hold the character of Thanatos, the god of death, in midair during the performance.
Under pressure to find the killer quickly as the festival start date looms, Nico resorts to a clever and amusing ploy to buy more time.
Corby again manages to effortlessly integrate laugh-out-loud humor into a fairly clued puzzle.
In Australian author Corby’s superior fifth whodunit set in ancient Greece (after 2014’s The Marathon Conspiracy), the city of Athens is preparing to host the Great Dionysia, “the largest and most important arts festival in the world.”
But the success of the event is in doubt after a series of accidents on the set of Sophocles’s play Sisyphus. The cast members believe this is the work of a ghost. Pericles, the city’s most powerful man, asks Nicolaos, his inquiry agent, to get rid of the ghost.
Unfortunately, not long after Nico arranges for an exorcism ritual, one of the actors is murdered, suspended from the machine designed to hold the character of Thanatos, the god of death, in midair during the performance.
Under pressure to find the killer quickly as the festival start date looms, Nico resorts to a clever and amusing ploy to buy more time.
Corby again manages to effortlessly integrate laugh-out-loud humor into a fairly clued puzzle.
Death Ex Machina, and a giveaway!
A theatrical murder sends classical Athens into uproar!
This is the fifth adventure for Nico and Diotima. I'm afraid life isn't getting any easier for the only private agent in ancient Athens, but at least he has a chance to get into show biz.
In bookstores on May 19, 2015
___________________
My astoundingly excellent publisher Soho Press is doing a giveaway on GoodReads. Click here to enter the giveaway!
The perfect Christmas gift
If you enjoy ancient murder mysteries, that is. "This will have the wealth of historical mystery buffs jumping up and down for joy."
Here's a lovely review of The Marathon Conspiracy that appeared a few issues back in Suspense Magazine, which is well worth subscribing to.
Corby has most definitely brought to readers three amazing tales they will not soon forget. And now comes a fourth historical mystery set in Greece that, yet again, is so well-written you will feel as if you are truly part of the Ancient World.
The elections are about to be held in the city of Athens and the city’s (wise) statesman, Pericles, asks his inquiry agent, Nicolaos, to look into a matter that could undermine all of the political elections. It seems that a skeleton has been found at a girls’ school located not too far from Athens.
Nico is the super sleuth, to say the least; a sleuth who has just taken time off to wed his investigating partner, Diotima. Of course, Pericles and the case put that happy occasion on hold. Especially when the remains just happen to be those of Hippias. This was the massive traitor to the Greeks and, in the Battle of Marathon, was killed and left behind in Persia. The veterans of that battle are beyond angry. They have always claimed they were the men who thwarted the traitor, and they need to gain favor and political power, not stones to the head. And if this is not enough trouble, one of the girls who found the bones is dead, and the other has gone missing.
Shocking surprises arrive to the Athenian world, as they wonder why and how the traitor is ‘back.’ There is no obvious reason behind the bones finding their home in Athens, and Nico and Pericles must solve the mystery as fast as possible before Athens becomes a bed of power hungry, angry, willing-to-do-anything tyrants.
This will have the wealth of historical mystery buffs jumping up and down for joy. As with Corby’s other works, the tale is full of humor, suspense-filled plots, subplots, and characters that are unforgettable. It is no overstatement to say that Corby most definitely knows his history backwards and forwards, providing stories that are beyond exciting.
Reviewed by Mary Lignor, Professional Librarian and Co-Owner of The Write Companion
Here's a lovely review of The Marathon Conspiracy that appeared a few issues back in Suspense Magazine, which is well worth subscribing to.
“The Marathon Conspiracy” By Gary Corby
Corby has most definitely brought to readers three amazing tales they will not soon forget. And now comes a fourth historical mystery set in Greece that, yet again, is so well-written you will feel as if you are truly part of the Ancient World.
The elections are about to be held in the city of Athens and the city’s (wise) statesman, Pericles, asks his inquiry agent, Nicolaos, to look into a matter that could undermine all of the political elections. It seems that a skeleton has been found at a girls’ school located not too far from Athens.
Nico is the super sleuth, to say the least; a sleuth who has just taken time off to wed his investigating partner, Diotima. Of course, Pericles and the case put that happy occasion on hold. Especially when the remains just happen to be those of Hippias. This was the massive traitor to the Greeks and, in the Battle of Marathon, was killed and left behind in Persia. The veterans of that battle are beyond angry. They have always claimed they were the men who thwarted the traitor, and they need to gain favor and political power, not stones to the head. And if this is not enough trouble, one of the girls who found the bones is dead, and the other has gone missing.
Shocking surprises arrive to the Athenian world, as they wonder why and how the traitor is ‘back.’ There is no obvious reason behind the bones finding their home in Athens, and Nico and Pericles must solve the mystery as fast as possible before Athens becomes a bed of power hungry, angry, willing-to-do-anything tyrants.
This will have the wealth of historical mystery buffs jumping up and down for joy. As with Corby’s other works, the tale is full of humor, suspense-filled plots, subplots, and characters that are unforgettable. It is no overstatement to say that Corby most definitely knows his history backwards and forwards, providing stories that are beyond exciting.
Reviewed by Mary Lignor, Professional Librarian and Co-Owner of The Write Companion
A cup Pericles drank from has been discovered
Here's something totally amazing. A drinking cup has been discovered that probably was used by Pericles, and there's some actual evidence to back up that remarkable claim. The find is reported in an article from the Greek edition of the International New York Times. (Many thanks to Irene Hahn for pointing it out to me!)
Yes, we're talking about the Pericles, the greatest statesman of the classical world, from two thousand four hundred years ago. Here's the cup:
On the left hand side you'll see some letters inscribed. The article states they are five names. (I can't read them from that angle, and this is the only picture I could find.)
One of those names is Pericles. Another is Ariphron. Now Pericles was a relatively common name back then, but it just so happens that our Pericles had a brother named Ariphron, and Ariphron was an unusual name. The odds are then that the cup is referring to the Pericles.
As you probably know, it was standard practice at parties in those days to pass around a cup that everyone sipped from. (And indeed I made use of that little fact in The Ionia Sanction). It was perfectly reasonable for the happy party goers to commemorate a lovely evening by scratching their names into the cup from which they'd all drunk. That's what has happened here.
Another possibility is that Pericles, his brother, and three friends were hanging out at a tavern, and the tavern owner later wrote in the names of his famous guests. I think that less likely though because if the dating on the cup is accurate, then the tavern owner would have to be psychic to know that young Pericles was destined for great things.
On the evidence as stated then, you're looking at a cup that was held and drunk from by Pericles.
Let me run through some questions that I guess people will ask...
Is it for real? That was the first question I asked myself. I guess it could be a fake, but if so, carbon dating will expose it pretty quickly. Likewise, if someone took a genuine ancient cup and scratched in the names, then micro-analysis will show it up for sure. So I'm assuming it's for real.
Could this be a coincidence? Yes, but if so then the people who found this thing are the world's unluckiest archaeologists. I doubt there were so many pairs of men named Pericles and Ariphron that this could be a coincidence.
Could we get Pericles's DNA from this? No, not a hope in Hades. The cup presumably was used lots of times after Pericles touched it; I like to think that they washed it between uses; and it's been lying in a grave for a couple of thousand years.
Is that Pericles's handwriting? Only if he can't spell his own name. The news report says Pericles was misspelt, and whoever made the error corrected it. Either that, or Pericles was monumentally drunk. By the same logic, Ariphron could probably spell his own brother's name. The author then is one of the other three men.
Whose grave did it come from? The report says it was a pauper's grave, so definitely not Pericles. Since it was among grave goods, the deceased must have valued the cup highly. It may be one of the other three guests kept the cup and later fell on hard times. Or perhaps the cup was eventually thrown out with the trash and a poor man picked it up?
Yes, we're talking about the Pericles, the greatest statesman of the classical world, from two thousand four hundred years ago. Here's the cup:
On the left hand side you'll see some letters inscribed. The article states they are five names. (I can't read them from that angle, and this is the only picture I could find.)
One of those names is Pericles. Another is Ariphron. Now Pericles was a relatively common name back then, but it just so happens that our Pericles had a brother named Ariphron, and Ariphron was an unusual name. The odds are then that the cup is referring to the Pericles.
As you probably know, it was standard practice at parties in those days to pass around a cup that everyone sipped from. (And indeed I made use of that little fact in The Ionia Sanction). It was perfectly reasonable for the happy party goers to commemorate a lovely evening by scratching their names into the cup from which they'd all drunk. That's what has happened here.
Another possibility is that Pericles, his brother, and three friends were hanging out at a tavern, and the tavern owner later wrote in the names of his famous guests. I think that less likely though because if the dating on the cup is accurate, then the tavern owner would have to be psychic to know that young Pericles was destined for great things.
On the evidence as stated then, you're looking at a cup that was held and drunk from by Pericles.
Let me run through some questions that I guess people will ask...
Is it for real? That was the first question I asked myself. I guess it could be a fake, but if so, carbon dating will expose it pretty quickly. Likewise, if someone took a genuine ancient cup and scratched in the names, then micro-analysis will show it up for sure. So I'm assuming it's for real.
Could this be a coincidence? Yes, but if so then the people who found this thing are the world's unluckiest archaeologists. I doubt there were so many pairs of men named Pericles and Ariphron that this could be a coincidence.
Could we get Pericles's DNA from this? No, not a hope in Hades. The cup presumably was used lots of times after Pericles touched it; I like to think that they washed it between uses; and it's been lying in a grave for a couple of thousand years.
Is that Pericles's handwriting? Only if he can't spell his own name. The news report says Pericles was misspelt, and whoever made the error corrected it. Either that, or Pericles was monumentally drunk. By the same logic, Ariphron could probably spell his own brother's name. The author then is one of the other three men.
Whose grave did it come from? The report says it was a pauper's grave, so definitely not Pericles. Since it was among grave goods, the deceased must have valued the cup highly. It may be one of the other three guests kept the cup and later fell on hard times. Or perhaps the cup was eventually thrown out with the trash and a poor man picked it up?
Rockstar Egyptian Women
Stephanie Thornton writes historical novels about women in tough leadership jobs. Like, for example, being Pharaoh of Egypt, or Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Her first release was The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora.
Her most recent book is Daughter of the Gods: A Novel of Ancient Egypt. It's about Hatshepsut, the first woman ruler of Egypt.
As it happens we both also run blogs. So we've decided to swap jobs for a day. Stephanie's writing a post for my blog, and I'm writing a post for hers.
Here is Stephanie on women rulers.
The number of women in history who ruled without a husband by their side or as a placeholder for a younger son can fit on one side of a wooden measuring ruler. (I know because I have one…)
Women in ancient Egypt—both queens and commoners—enjoyed more gender equality than many of their historical counterparts. They could own and manage property, divorce their husbands, and work as priestesses and even physicians. They could leave their houses to shop in the market, attend festivals to the gods, and hunt ducks in the Nile’s marshes. And lo and behold, they also ruled Egypt several times throughout the country’s history.
Nitokerty. Hatshepsut. (Possibly Nefertiti as Smenkhare.) Cleopatra.
(Let’s ignore for a moment that Cleopatra lost Egypt once and for all to the Romans. I’d have a few choice words for the nefarious queen if I ever came face to face with her.)
Granted, these women were only tolerated because there was no royal male available to keep the throne warm, but it was only due to Egypt’s relative equality between the sexes that a female pharaoh was seen as a viable alternative. Sadly, for whatever reason, the Egyptians attempted to erase the success of these women’s reigns from the historical record.
Nitokerty faded with time.
Hatshepsut’s monuments depicting her as pharaoh were destroyed.
We still don’t know if Nefertiti ruled after her husband Akhenaten died.
Cleopatra was reviled as a harlot.
The moral of the story? Egyptian women had more freedoms and opportunities than the majority of women in the ancient world, but they still faced an uphill battle to find level footing with men when it came to wearing the Double Crown. Fortunately, some of them proved more than equal to the task and modern scholars are now dusting off their stories so we can appreciate their accomplishments.
With the exception of Cleopatra, of course. J
About the Author: Stephanie Thornton is a writer and history teacher who has been obsessed with infamous women from ancient history since she was twelve. She lives with her husband and daughter in Alaska, where she is at work on her next novel. Visit her website at www.stephanie-thornton.com.
Her most recent book is Daughter of the Gods: A Novel of Ancient Egypt. It's about Hatshepsut, the first woman ruler of Egypt.
As it happens we both also run blogs. So we've decided to swap jobs for a day. Stephanie's writing a post for my blog, and I'm writing a post for hers.
Here is Stephanie on women rulers.
Women in ancient Egypt—both queens and commoners—enjoyed more gender equality than many of their historical counterparts. They could own and manage property, divorce their husbands, and work as priestesses and even physicians. They could leave their houses to shop in the market, attend festivals to the gods, and hunt ducks in the Nile’s marshes. And lo and behold, they also ruled Egypt several times throughout the country’s history.
Nitokerty. Hatshepsut. (Possibly Nefertiti as Smenkhare.) Cleopatra.
(Let’s ignore for a moment that Cleopatra lost Egypt once and for all to the Romans. I’d have a few choice words for the nefarious queen if I ever came face to face with her.)
Granted, these women were only tolerated because there was no royal male available to keep the throne warm, but it was only due to Egypt’s relative equality between the sexes that a female pharaoh was seen as a viable alternative. Sadly, for whatever reason, the Egyptians attempted to erase the success of these women’s reigns from the historical record.
Nitokerty faded with time.
Hatshepsut’s monuments depicting her as pharaoh were destroyed.
We still don’t know if Nefertiti ruled after her husband Akhenaten died.
Cleopatra was reviled as a harlot.
The moral of the story? Egyptian women had more freedoms and opportunities than the majority of women in the ancient world, but they still faced an uphill battle to find level footing with men when it came to wearing the Double Crown. Fortunately, some of them proved more than equal to the task and modern scholars are now dusting off their stories so we can appreciate their accomplishments.
With the exception of Cleopatra, of course. J
About the Author: Stephanie Thornton is a writer and history teacher who has been obsessed with infamous women from ancient history since she was twelve. She lives with her husband and daughter in Alaska, where she is at work on her next novel. Visit her website at www.stephanie-thornton.com.
Starred review in Publishers Weekly for The Marathon Conspiracy
The Marathon Conspiracy, fourth book in the series, has just received its first review, and it's a delight. This just in from Publishers Weekly...
The future of democracy itself is on the line in Corby’s outstanding fourth historical set in ancient Greece (after 2013’s Sacred Games).
On the eve of elections in Athens, the city’s wise man, Pericles, enlists his inquiry agent, Nicolaos, to deal with a matter that could undermine the elections. In a cave outside Athens, two schoolgirls have discovered a skeleton that may belong to the tyrant Hippias, who defected to the Persians after his ouster, a move that led to the Battle of Marathon.
With the remains are notes, apparently written by the dictator, which may identify still-living traitors who worked with him even after his defection. One of the schoolgirls was killed shortly afterward, and the other has vanished. The multiple puzzles prove a formidable challenge for Nicolaos and his feisty fiancée, Diotima.
Everything works in this installment—the detective business, the action sequences, the plot twists, and the further development of the series lead.
On the eve of elections in Athens, the city’s wise man, Pericles, enlists his inquiry agent, Nicolaos, to deal with a matter that could undermine the elections. In a cave outside Athens, two schoolgirls have discovered a skeleton that may belong to the tyrant Hippias, who defected to the Persians after his ouster, a move that led to the Battle of Marathon.
With the remains are notes, apparently written by the dictator, which may identify still-living traitors who worked with him even after his defection. One of the schoolgirls was killed shortly afterward, and the other has vanished. The multiple puzzles prove a formidable challenge for Nicolaos and his feisty fiancée, Diotima.
Everything works in this installment—the detective business, the action sequences, the plot twists, and the further development of the series lead.
Agent: Janet Reid, FinePrint Literary. (May)
Reviewed on: 03/03/2014
Release date: 04/29/2014
The Marathon Conspiracy: cover reveal!
The Marathon Conspiracy is number 4 of the Athenian Mysteries, and here's the cover!
It's another beautiful artwork from professional artist Stefano Vitale. During the course of the series Stefano has moved to Venice from the US. So we have an Australian author, a US publisher and an Italian artist.
You might have noticed the bear. The bear and the skull that Nico holds are part of the story, needless to say. The stoa in the background is the Sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron. It is famous, amongst other things, for being one of the world's first school for girls.
Incredibly, we're actually organized for this book. The release details are already up on the major stores. Release date is early May 2014.
It's official: our Stephanie is a published author
Back in September 2009, a lady named Stephanie Thornton made her first comment on this humble blog. She became a regular reader and commenter. She was interested in history and historical fiction, you see. Probably you are too!
Since then, those of us who know a good writer when we see one have been following Stephanie's adventures. Because Stephanie was writing a novel. Like many of us. She wrote, and then she revised, and revised, and revised, and revised, and revised...I could go on for some time here...
And then she signed with an agent.
And then she revised some more. But I always thought she'd make it.
Penguin's New American Library agreed.
And so on bookstore shelves this week we have The Secret History, the story of Theodora, who rose from desperate poverty to become Empress of the Byzantine Empire, by none other than our Stephanie Thornton.
Giveaways of The Ionia Sanction and Sacred Games
So here's the other reason I mentioned BookLikes the other day.
If you wander over to their Giveaway Page, you will find 10 hardback copies of Ionia Sanction and 10 hardback copies of Sacred Games to be given away to the US and Canada, and 20 ebooks of Sacred Games for the entire world.
If anyone would care for a copy, this is your chance! (You need to be a BookLikes member, needless to say.)
If you wander over to their Giveaway Page, you will find 10 hardback copies of Ionia Sanction and 10 hardback copies of Sacred Games to be given away to the US and Canada, and 20 ebooks of Sacred Games for the entire world.
If anyone would care for a copy, this is your chance! (You need to be a BookLikes member, needless to say.)
Sacred Games: Gary has books!
A box of these arrived the other day:
Which means we're all printed and ready to go! Official release date is May 21.
Meanwhile, the fourth book is with my brilliant editor, and I'm 20,000 words into the fifth.
Publishers Weekly starred review for Sacred Games
"Corby integrates the political intrigue of the day
with fair-play plotting and welcome doses of humor. Fans of Steven
Saylor's Gordianus novels will be enthralled."
This review of Sacred Games appeared in today's issue of Publisher's Weekly. The review was starred (which is a cherry on top) and placed in its own box (which is extra whipped cream). Reviews are always a précis followed by a verdict, and let me tell you, it's the verdict that an author's eyes always lock onto in the first micrososend.
Here's the entire thing:
The Olympic Games of 460 BCE form the backdrop for Australian author Corby's third mystery featuring Athenian investigator Nicolaos (after 2011's The Ionia Sanction), his best thus far.
Before they even begin, Nico's oldest friend, Timodemus, a martial arts champion, is goaded into a public fight by his fiercest rival, a Spartan named Arakos. That confrontation makes Timodemus the prime suspect after Arakos is found battered to death.
Desperate to save his friend from summary execution, Nico manages to convince "the ten Judges of the Games" to give him several days to find the truth. Doing so could avert a war between Athens and Sparta.
Partnered with a Spartan, Markos, to avert bias in his findings, and aided by his feisty fiancée, Diotima, Nico has an especially twisted path to tread to reach an answer in time.
Corby integrates the political intrigue of the day with fair-play plotting and welcome doses of humor. Fans of Steven Saylor's Gordianus novels will be enthralled.
Stephanie Thornton sells three novels at auction!
I've been sitting on this for the last week or so. Now I can talk about it, because this announcement appeared in the most recent Publisher's Weekly:
If the author's name looks familiar, it's because they're talking about Our Stephanie.
Stephanie first appeared on this blog in September 2009 (I went back and checked) and she's been a regular reader and commenter ever since. In all that time, and well before, she's been working on her own novels, and now she's earned the reward for unremitting faith in herself, and quality writing.
All three are historicals. The first is Byzantine. Those of you who know Stephanie will have no trouble working out that another is Egyptian.
Yay!
Stephanie Thornton's THE SECRET HISTORY, in which a theater tart-turned-Constantinople's premier courtesan must decide what's more important: pleasing the emperor who claims to love her or keeping the son he can never know about, to Ellen Edwards of NAL, at auction, in a three-book deal, for publication beginning in 2013, by Marlene Stringer of the Stringer Literary Agency (World English).Notice the three book deal and the at auction. This is publisher-speak for, "These books are really, really good."
If the author's name looks familiar, it's because they're talking about Our Stephanie.
Stephanie first appeared on this blog in September 2009 (I went back and checked) and she's been a regular reader and commenter ever since. In all that time, and well before, she's been working on her own novels, and now she's earned the reward for unremitting faith in herself, and quality writing.
All three are historicals. The first is Byzantine. Those of you who know Stephanie will have no trouble working out that another is Egyptian.
Yay!
The most unusual duel in history
The most unusual duel in history took place in Paris, in 1808, when two gentlemen, Monsieur de Grandpre and Monsieur le Pique, discovered by accident that they were enjoying the favours of the same lady, a certain Mademoiselle Tirevit. The gentlemen concluded, via their seconds, that the universe wasn't big enough for the both of them. There was nothing for it but that they must fight a duel.
Here they diverged from the standard script. It was agreed by all that the duel be fought from identical hot air balloons, and that the weapon of choice should be a blunderbuss.
One would have thought that in the ensuing month, during which identical balloons were constructed, that cooler heads might have prevailed, but apparently there were none. The balloons were duly delivered and the principals, their seconds and "an immense concourse of spectators" met in le Jardin des Tuileries on the 22nd of June. If you've ever visited Paris, you've probably walked across where this happened.
I can understand M. de Grandpre and M. le Pique getting into their balloon baskets, but I must question the mental stability of their seconds, who clambered in after their principals, in order to share their fate. The ropes were cut simultaneously and the two balloons rose into the air, to an estimated height of half a mile. The balloons at this stage were separated by about 80 yards.
M. le Pique had the honour of firing first. He brought up his blunderbuss, aimed carefully at the balloon above M. de Grandpre's head, and fired.
He missed completely.
M. le Pique's second cannot have been pleased at this turn of events. But there was no backing out now.
De Grandpre raised his blunderbuss. He fired, grievously wounding le Pique's balloon, which plummeted to the earth. Le Pique and his second were killed on impact. ("Dashed to pieces" in the original account.)
Honour satisfied, de Grandpre continued his journey until he landed some seven leagues distant. History does not record the outcome of the relationship between de Grandpre and Mademoiselle.
If you think I'm making this up, it's all recorded in The Book Of Days, by Robert Chalmers, published 1863, page 809 of volume 1.
Here they diverged from the standard script. It was agreed by all that the duel be fought from identical hot air balloons, and that the weapon of choice should be a blunderbuss.
One would have thought that in the ensuing month, during which identical balloons were constructed, that cooler heads might have prevailed, but apparently there were none. The balloons were duly delivered and the principals, their seconds and "an immense concourse of spectators" met in le Jardin des Tuileries on the 22nd of June. If you've ever visited Paris, you've probably walked across where this happened.
I can understand M. de Grandpre and M. le Pique getting into their balloon baskets, but I must question the mental stability of their seconds, who clambered in after their principals, in order to share their fate. The ropes were cut simultaneously and the two balloons rose into the air, to an estimated height of half a mile. The balloons at this stage were separated by about 80 yards.
M. le Pique had the honour of firing first. He brought up his blunderbuss, aimed carefully at the balloon above M. de Grandpre's head, and fired.
He missed completely.
M. le Pique's second cannot have been pleased at this turn of events. But there was no backing out now.
De Grandpre raised his blunderbuss. He fired, grievously wounding le Pique's balloon, which plummeted to the earth. Le Pique and his second were killed on impact. ("Dashed to pieces" in the original account.)
Honour satisfied, de Grandpre continued his journey until he landed some seven leagues distant. History does not record the outcome of the relationship between de Grandpre and Mademoiselle.
If you think I'm making this up, it's all recorded in The Book Of Days, by Robert Chalmers, published 1863, page 809 of volume 1.
The Wedding
Anneke is an excellent writer, and as you can probably tell she's an excellent writer in Dutch, that being her native language. De Bruiloft means The Wedding.
What's remarkable is that she also writes fiction in English, and critiques in her second language. Anneke's been one of my beta readers since long before The Pericles Commission was a gleam in any editor's eye (which means she knows what happens in book 3). She's so good at critiques that I've been prodding her for ages to take up manuscript assessment as a paid job.
Fortunately Anneke ignored me and instead wrote The Wedding, and I couldn't be happier that she's in the print that her talent deserves.
The books that changed me
The Sydney Morning Herald's Sunday edition runs a regular piece called The Books That Changed Me. Each week, an author nominates five books they think important, and the reasons why.
I'm very happy and privileged to say that this week it was my turn to give it a go. It's part of the print edition but they also put it online. If you'd like to see what I picked for the five books that changed me, it's all over at the Sydney Morning Herald.
(My author photo is right next to an author shot of Colleen McCullough...OMG)
I'm very happy and privileged to say that this week it was my turn to give it a go. It's part of the print edition but they also put it online. If you'd like to see what I picked for the five books that changed me, it's all over at the Sydney Morning Herald.
(My author photo is right next to an author shot of Colleen McCullough...OMG)
The Ionia Sanction releases in Australia
It's the start of a new year. Happy 2012 to everyone!
That also means The Ionia Sanction has finally released in my native homeland. Yay!
It's quite bizarre to poke your nose inside a store and see your own work on the shelves. Also fun. I'm afraid it's reached the point where my children automatically say, "Don't look, daddy!" every time we approach any store that displays books. Oh well. So much for impressing the kids.
I want to say a huge, vast, enormous thank you to Belinda Byrne, who in addition to being a really nice person, took a chance on the crazy idea of a detective series in ancient Athens. If it weren't for her, there wouldn't be that lovely cover with the blue background and the lion's head coin that you see on the right.
Thanks too to my wife Helen, an entirely apposite name under the circumstances, and to our daughters. The dedication on The Ionia Sanction says this:
That also means The Ionia Sanction has finally released in my native homeland. Yay!
It's quite bizarre to poke your nose inside a store and see your own work on the shelves. Also fun. I'm afraid it's reached the point where my children automatically say, "Don't look, daddy!" every time we approach any store that displays books. Oh well. So much for impressing the kids.
I want to say a huge, vast, enormous thank you to Belinda Byrne, who in addition to being a really nice person, took a chance on the crazy idea of a detective series in ancient Athens. If it weren't for her, there wouldn't be that lovely cover with the blue background and the lion's head coin that you see on the right.
Thanks too to my wife Helen, an entirely apposite name under the circumstances, and to our daughters. The dedication on The Ionia Sanction says this:
For Helen, Catriona and Megan
Dead Bolt
Some time ago I wrote about finding one of the books of a US author friend in a resort town in New South Wales, in Australia. Someone must have bought the book in the US, carried it to Oz, then left it in an obscure place, only to be found by someone who happened to know the author. A weird coincidence.Said author was Juliet Blackwell, whose latest novel Dead Bolt just made #24 on the NYT bestseller list. Dead Bolt's the second of her Haunted Home Renovation mysteries. So if you're into paranormal home improvements, this is the book for you, and a lot of people think exactly that.
Yay for Juliet!
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