Democratic Candidates’ Closing Arguments, via Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Watching the latest Democratic debate, a crazy thing happened to me. Someone asked me how the debate was going, and I said, “It’s a shit show.” Which immediately made me think of this song from Rachel Bloom’s amazing, criminally-underwatched show “Crazy...
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...
Recent Posts
Cut Scene I – Attack of the Paduans pt. 2
This is taken from my very first draft of the book. In later versions, the bulky knight we follow on this ride is the Count of San Bonifacio. In the final draft poor Ponzino gets very short shrift. I feel it's only right to let him have his moment of bravery, in the...
Cut Scene I – Attack of the Paduans pt. 1
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...
Chapter 2 – A Crowd of Spirits pt. 1
Vicenza The Following Morning The Count of San Bonifacio sat on horseback atop a hill overlooking the walls of San Pietro, a suburb of Vicenza. An old soldier, beneath the metal protecting his arms the muscles were thick from years of slinging a sword. The beefy hands...
Kate & Petruchio
Kate and Petruchio (from The Taming of the Shrew) make an appearance in the novel. Actually, Petruchio makes several appearances, along with his cousin Ferdinand. A lark, but putting them in this tale was actually a textual choice based on lines in the party scene in...
Names
A bit about names. Mariotto and Gianozza (also known as Lord and Lady Montague) are both taken from Masuccio Salernitano’s 33rd Novel from IL NOVELLINO - an early version of the R&J story involving secret marriages, deaths of kinsmen, and a young groom fleeing to...
Good Reads 1 – The Game of Kings
The question I most want to ask authors is, “Who do you read?” So, during the wait before publication of THE MASTER OF VERONA, I plan on filling these pages with plugs for other books as well. The first? None other than Dorothy Dunnett. I’ve praised her before, but I...
Chapter 1 – Journey’s End pt. 3
Their escort had been hailed by the guard at the gate. The escort now shouted out the names of the passengers – one name, really, followed by “and his sons!” The city’s guards acknowledged the claim and came forward to confirm the number of passengers in the carriage....
Birth Day, Wedding Day, Death Day
July Twelfth. Today in the year 100 BC, Julius Caesar was born. His mother, Aurelia, already had two daughters living. Their births were uncomplicated, but Caesar was trouble from the start. Still, both mother and son survived, though Aurelia had no more children...
Agents
Every book, website, magazine, and person in the publishing business says selling a book cannot be done without an agent. I am not here to refute this. I’m sure there’s someone out there who has done it, but not me. My agent is great. His name is Michael Denneny. He...
Chapter 1 – Journey’s End pt. 2
If asked, Pietro would have said he was a disappointment to his father. He hadn’t the wit to be a poet, and he was a poor manager for his father. Pietro thought that his little sister would be a better travelling companion for the great Dante. She had the mind for it....
