The Count – pt. 2

Aug 7, 2006 | Travel

I’ve asked Jan to tell the story of our meeting with the Count. She recalls it a little differently than I do, and probably much better. Remember, this is the woman who sacrificed a week of her honeymoon to wander with me around Verona, hunting up this house or this...

The Count – pt. 1

Jul 27, 2006 | Travel

In the novel, the title ‘Count’ is reserved for my villain, the Count of San Bonifacio. But if I were to mention the Count to my wife, she would respond with a smile and a joke about pouring coffee. Jan and I were married in 2002. Our honeymoon also served...

Living Sources

Jul 26, 2006 | Books - Shakespeare - Travel

Outside of books, there are the living Veronese. Antonella Leonardo at the Ministry of Culture was unbelievably kind and helpful, answering questions and arranging for my wife and I to meet a half dozen fascinating people while we stayed. Besides arranging my...

More Sources

Jul 25, 2006 | Books - Publishing - Shakespeare - Theatre - Travel

At the eleventh hour I discovered a tome that is to be treasured – the DANTE ENCYCLOPEDIA. In spite of the occasional error (the Lucius Junius Brutus that killed the Tarquin was decidedly not the son of the Marcus Junius Brutus who murdered Caesar!), the vast effort...

Cut Scene I – Attack of the Paduans pt. 1

Jul 18, 2006 | Books - Cut Scenes - Travel

Okay, now that I have introduced the Count, here is the first major cut from an earlier draft of this book. In the original Prologue, we didn’t follow Ciolo, but Ponzino de Ponzoni (his real name!), the leader of the Paduan attackers. Later this switched to...