Captive Colours – Prologue
I'm a long way from finished. It'll take me all year, probably. But you've been so very patient. So here's something to tide you over. I love you all. CAPTIVE COLOURS Prologue Pavia, Italy 14 August 1329 “Where is he?” The question echoed throughout Italy,...
My Darling Sharon
This is going to be a little raw. I hope you'll forgive me. In the summer of 2012, my wife was directing me in Richard III at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, flipping the script from twelve years earlier when I had directed her in the show. I was playing King...
Discovered! The Lost Novels Of Nellie Bly!
It was the first day of December, 2019, and like Alice, I was down a rabbit hole. I was working on a short-story follow-up to What Girls Are Good For, my 2018 novel following the early career of groundbreaking undercover reporter Nellie Bly. My new story took place...
Recent Posts
Dexter
Today the boxed set for DEXTER arrives on DVD. For anyone who hasn't seen this Showtime original series, go out and pick it up. Grisly? Yes. Disturbing? Yes. Funny? Yes. Michael C. Hall is the most sympathetic, cuddly, and moving serial killer in history. I've read...
First Book Trailer
Yesterday I tried my hand at a little video-creation. Book trailers are all the rage at the moment. I think they're a little silly (though some, I admit, are quite cool). Still, I'm all about bandwagons, especially ones that have to do with viral marketing. So, here...
NPR Interview
Forgot to mention this at the time - had a lot going on - but I did an interview with Scott Pohl for WKAR in Lansing, just before the book came out. We also discussed the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, but the reason the interview happened was the book. Here's the...
Dear Ewa
This is a directed message, in the hopes that it will reach a particluar person. Just now I received a lovely e-mail from the translator of THE MASTER OF VERONA in Polish, for the publisher Philip Wilson. Her name is Ewa, and she says she had "a ball, though...
Text Stats
Okay, this I love. Wander over to the www.amazon.com page, and check out the Text Stats and Concordance features near the bottom of the page. Hy-ster-i-cal. My favorite: Words per Dollar: 11,166 Words per Ounce: 6,603 That's over 11,000 words per buck, folks! What a...
Pronunciation Guide and Update
This is something I should have posted a long time ago - a guide to how to say some of the names. I'll save the more esoteric ones for later. Right now, let's focus on the leads: Cangrande della Scala -- kahn-GRAHN-day DELL-ah SKAH-la Scaliger, Scaligeri...
Foy
One of my favorite compliments so far has been from someone whose name you probably don't know - Fritz Foy. He wrote me to say that he thinks MV is one of the best reads of the year. Why is that give me the warm fuzzies? Because he's Fred Foy's son. People from my...
One week later….
...and I'm just beginning to emerge from the chaos. Fun chaos, but still. This weekend was made doubly weird by the Shakespeare Festival. Two shows Saturday, one Sunday. But less than three hours before the Sunday matinee, John (the artistic director) called to say...
More Interviews
Since Monday I've had five more requests for interviews. Already one of them has taken place and been posted. It's over at historicalboys, a site run by fellow historical novelist C.W. Gortner. In his enthusiasm to aid a comrade-in-arms, he's given me a great deal of...
Navigating the Amazon – Part One
This is strange, in a fun and possibly cool way. I ordered five copies of MV on Amazon (the price is about the same as my author discount, when shipping is added). This morning I got an e-mail telling me that the release date for the book has been delayed, so they...
