Open Letter to President Trump
Dear Mr. President - real talk. You don’t want to be president during this #coronavirus mess. Heck, you hardly wanted to be president before this. But now things are gonna be bad. You’re gonna be attacked, pilloried and vilified. Everyone’ll be hounding...
A Few Thoughts on Wall Street Plunges in History
Historically, point drops in Dow Jones Industrial Average are hard to compare. In pure numbers, we’ve had the four biggest point drops in history over the last month, with the biggest happening today, a drop of 2,997 points. But they haven’t been as...
Nellie Bly — What Becomes of Babies?
The New York WorldNovember 6, 1887Hundreds and Hundreds of Little Ones Given Away YearlyNot the Petted Darlings of the Rich, but the Infants Born to Shame—These Are the Ones that Are Given into Alien Hands—Regular Traffic in New-Born Babes—A Money-Making...
Recent Posts
Chapter 3 – The Prince’s Near Allies pt. 1
The Benedictine bells were just finishing the call to Prime when two panting teens raced up the inner stairs of the great Scaliger palace in Verona. Attaining the top, they skidded to a halt at a demure distance from the open double doors. Listening, they heard...
Letters to Juliet
I know there are desperate people in the world, seeking advice on how to live their lives. Dear Abby, Oprah, and Mr. Blue (oh, how I do miss Mr. Blue) are only a few examples of how authoriy figures have hundreds, even thousands of people seeking their counsel. I have...
The Count – pt. 1
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 as a...
Living Sources
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
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...
Good Reads 2 – The Winter King
Bernard Cornwell is certainly best known for the Sharpe series. But I maintain that his King Arthur trilogy is his best work. Beginning with The Winter King, then moving on to Enemy of God, and ending with Excalibur, the series follows a little-known character from...
Violence, on the Stage and on the Page
The battle scenes in the book are some of my favorites. I am a stage combatant, trained in different styles of swordplay and other Medieval weapons. I’ve traveled all over the world to learn from the best in the field. So when it came time to write an skirmish, then a...
Chapter 2 – A Crowd of Spirits pt. 2
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Cut Scene I – Attack of the Paduans pt. 4
The conclusion to this cut scene is actually a hodge-podge of two versions - one in which we follow Ponzino, the other in which the Count is our guide. I hope the shift is not too jarring. Enjoy! In the end, Vanni Scornigiani (detto Asdente) was one of the hundred men...
Cut Scene I – Attack of the Paduans pt. 3
Continuing from the last Cut Scene: Quartesolo derived its name from the Latin quartum milium solum, meaning "fourth mile", as it stood four miles from Vicenza down the ancient Roman via Emilia which linked Vicenza and Padua. The Roman mile measured 1477...
