The big news this week: I’ve signed contract with Fireship Press to publish Hand of Fire. But most of you heard that already. Thank you so much for all the kind congrats. I’m very happy and buried in editing.
This week on the web I found interesting:
A.
The latest humorous version of Greek mythology by Dael Kingsmill. This time, the Clash of the Titans but way better than that really bad Hollywood version.
B.
Blowing Things Up. Donis Casey, author of the Alafair Tucker series, talks about the challenges of researching murderous methods, including the hazards of nitroglycerine. Link here.
C.
In anticipation of International Archaeology Day, Oct. 19, join in the Archaeological Institute of America’s scavenger hunt with a new puzzle every Monday. For this week, identify the two famous archaeologists in the photo on their website. Link here. I have this sneaky suspicion they only allow AIA members to play. Bad choice, if I’m right, but if you think this sounds fun give the link a try. I’m hoping it works without membership password.
D.
Bones tell tales in prehistory–this time it’s pig bones. Neolithic farmers meet hunter-gatherers and what happens?
Incoming European Neolithic farmers with domesticated animals & plants must have seemed odd to Mesolithic hunter-gathers. “The scale of the interaction and the extent to which hunter-gatherers took ideas from their neighbors remains hotly debated.” Evidence now points to the incorporation of domesticated pigs into hunter-gatherer life and thus some active interrelationship. Once again, the bones tell the tales in prehistory–even if they’re swine. Link here.
E.
I’ve been preparing a post on underwater shipwrecks in Bronze Age archaeology the last couple days, so when this article came across the web about a long lost marble column found in a sunken ship, I found it particularly interesting. This column will get delivered to the oracle of Klaros where it was originally ordered 2,200 years ago. Hmm, slow delivery. I’m struck both in this article and elsewhere I’ve been reading, about how underwater sites can sometimes reveal far more precise information than terrestrial sites. You just wouldn’t expect that, but it seems to be true. In this case they could track down the intended address of the cargo. From a marble column? Wow. Continuously impressed by archaeologists and the scientific breakthroughs they use! Link here.
F.
I’ll include a teaser from a review Stephanie Thornton wrote for a book I’ve got taunting me on my bedside table, Kate Quinn’s The Serpent and The Pearl. The taunting goes like this: “Read me now!” To which I have to say, “I’ve got deadlines, you. Shush.”
Here’s what Stephanie Thornton said, (for entire review go to Link here.)
“The Bride of Christ (AKA Rodrigo Borgia’s concubine), the cook with secrets and a mummified hand in her pocket, and the snarky dwarf bodyguard kept me laughing and flipping pages until the wee hours of the morning.”
I’m still worried the mummified hand is going to end up in the soup. Got to get reading to find out….