Friday, July 20, 2012

VENICE: ITS BIRTH AND IMPENDING DEATH

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Noon on the 25th of March 421. Many believe it is on that date, at that exact time, that the Venetian Islands were born. In truth, the l...
Saturday, July 14, 2012

BASTILLE DAY: POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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He was already an impotent figurehead of all the injustices wrought by those who came before him, yet in May of 1789, Louis XVI sat befor...
Thursday, July 5, 2012

CHARACTERS ARE THE SOUL OF THE PLOT; PLOT IS THE RECEPTACLE OF THE SOUL (INCLUDING EXCERPT FROM THE KING'S AGENT)

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That’s the answer I give whenever asked the timeless question, “which is more important, character or plot?” And invariably I get a look of ...
Thursday, June 21, 2012

THE GHOSTS OF LUCEDIO ABBEY, TRINO, ITALY

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Light begins to run from you as soon as you step under the round arched cupola of ochre stone that guards the entry. The unpolished, rough...
Wednesday, June 6, 2012

THE SWISS GUARD: FROM HOMELESS MERCENARIES TO REVERED WARRIORS

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Rivaling the romanticized myth and legend of the Musketeers are those colorfully garbed Swiss Guard. We think of them now as the stalwart g...
Wednesday, May 16, 2012

NOT ALL ITALIANS WERE/ARE IN THE MAFIA
(or act like those from the Jersey Shore)

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It has always been my belief, that writers of fictional works shouldn’t have an aggrandized agenda behind their writing; it has been my expe...
Wednesday, April 25, 2012

IN HONOR OF NFL DRAFT WEEK:
(OR HOW A HISTORICAL FICTION WRITER GOT HER FOOTBALL FIX)
GIUOCO DEL CALCIO FIORENTINO

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When I’m deep into my work for a new book, whether it’s in the research stage or the writing stage, I typically take only one day off a wee...