Feb 27, 2008 | Books - Cut Scenes
Constantinople18 September 1173“Lovely as it may be, Constantinople is hardly the true heir of Rome. That honor belongs to the Serenissima, the great and serene nation of Venice.”This declaration, made with a casual and offensive certainty, produced no visible...
Feb 26, 2008 | Books - Cut Scenes
Okay, today we start with my most recent novel to be shelved. I’ve been calling it HEIR OF THE ROMANS, which is really only to avoid calling it THE FOURTH CRUSADE, a title that no one would pick up. Here’s how I came to this story. My new agent, Dan...
Nov 21, 2007 | Books - Cut Scenes - Shakespeare - The Novel
Just in time for Kindle… VARNISHED FACES, an Amazon Short Story by David Blixt. VARNISHED FACES is from a line from The Merchant of Venice. Shylock refers to the celebrations taking place outside his home as the Venetians revel in masks. He warns his daughter...
Sep 25, 2007 | Cut Scenes
This is me around page 517, in a delicate moment of suspense, hitting the reader over the head again and again. Needless to say, it’s not in the final version: Opening his eyes, Pietro tried to look for a gap in the falling clods of ground above. There was none....
Sep 24, 2007 | Cut Scenes
Again, Katerina and the Count of San Bonifacio, somewhere between pages 495 and 499: Not in mood to rise to the old man’s bait, Katerina asked, “Why did you want him? What use was he to you?” Vinciguerra’s laugh was weak. “I had a hope – a slim one, I confess – that I...
Sep 23, 2007 | Cut Scenes
There was originally quite a bit to the interrogation of the Count in the later chapters, while Cesco and Pietro are sitting in the cave. Most of it had to do with verbal sparring between Vinciguerra and Katerina. This is one of those exchanges: “What about the...
