Editing, Roman shoes, Ancient Cuisine

From My Fantasy Writing Desk

Usually I’m digging into history or my characters’ inner motivations. However, this past week I’ve mostly been digging into dirt, the real kind and not for archaeological purposes. My engineer husband is installing a complete drip irrigation and sprinkler system for our daughter. I’m assistant excavator. Fortunately, he created most of the necessary trenches with the giant beast of a machine in the photograph.

I have gotten the first set of developmental edits back for book 3 of the Tesha series. Those comments are chock full of brilliant suggestions, primarily having to do with the plot thread involving Daniti. For those of you who are fans of my blind character, Daniti, you’ll be happy to know I am reworking her chapters to give her more agency. It’s amazing what you think you’ve done, but haven’t as you write scenes. I’m also surprised Daniti didn’t haunt me for taking some key choices/successes out of her hands. She’s fiercely independent, to use a favorite phrase of my late father’s. I’ll get it right. The wondrous thing about working in the medium of words, is that they are infinitely changeable, as long as you keep an open mind.

Archaeology I Enjoyed

Greek and Roman Recipes for You

Corinthian, terracotta figure of a mule carrying a mortarium (grinding bowl). Inside it are a pestle, a cheese-grater, a round cheese, and a bunch of garlic. Photo by permission © The Trustees of the British Museum

The British Museum blog has compiled nine recipes from ancient Greece and Rome for home cooking. Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger collected them in their The Classical Cookbook. Recipes include a cabbage salad, an extremely garlicky cheese, olive relish, prawns, roast lamb, zucchini, sesame pancakes, cheesecake, and little honey cakes. If your covid-cuisine is getting boring, enjoy some ancient ideas. Click here for the British Museum Blog “Cook a classical feast: nine recipes from Greece and Rome”

The photo at the top is also from the British Museum collection, used by permission via Creative Commons, © The Trustees of the British Museum. The photo shows a miniature red-figured vase, depicting two boys at a table. 425BC-400BC (circa)

High Fashion from a Roman Well

Roman shoe from The Saalburg, photo via reddit by Mictlantecuhtli

I have always wished I had a pair of these Roman shoes. Archaeologists found this shoe in a well in a Roman fort in Germany. The fort was in use between 90 CE and 260 CE, so they presumably date somewhere in those years. High fashion traveled far in the Roman Empire. They are modeled after the soldiers’ boot but with a lot of delicate flair. I really wish someone would manufacture these and let me know I can buy them! Click here for MyModernMet “Exquisitely Designed 2,000-Year-Old Roman Shoe Discovered in a Well”