Judith Starkston has spent too much time exploring the remains of the ancient worlds of the Greeks and Hittites. Their myths and clashes inspire her fiction and open gates to magical realms. She has degrees in Classics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Cornell. She loves myths and telling stories, and her novels imbue fantasy with the richness of ancient worlds. The first book in her Trojan Threads Series, Hand of Fire was a semi-finalist for the M.M. Bennett’s Award for Historical Fiction. Priestess of Ishana, the first in her historical fantasy Tesha series, won the San Diego State University Conference Choice Award. Judith is represented by Richard Curtis.
I’m sharing with you a genuinely delightful interview conducted by Calvin Park on his “Under a Pile of Books” podcast. Among other topics, we talked about how I got started writing historical fantasy set in the Hittite Bronze Age world.
Laying votive offerings before the gods is a religious rite that occurs across human cultures and eras. I am intrigued by this Incan form of the practice and the parallels I see to the Hittites and other ancient peoples.
Even in my current locked-down existence, writer friends gather virtually and we learn from each other. This past Saturday, the Arizona Historical Novel Society hosted Karen Odden to talk about writing secondary characters. She’s a masterful author of historical fiction set in the Victorian period, and I was eager for her insights. She didn’t disappoint. I discuss the ideas I gleaned from her and showcase her excellent Victorian mysteries.
You may have toured the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt, location of the Djoser Step Pyramid. But now, thanks to the careful research and technical skills of archaeologist Elaine Sullivan you can tour in reconstructed 3D. Dive in. She has created a “real” view on the individual human level for each of the many dynastic periods of Saqqara’s history.
Enjoy my review of Scott Oden’s A Gathering of Ravens, which he describes as “a novel of vengeance, faith, and the power of myth.” It’s a good one for those who enjoy dark fantasy with elements reminiscent of Tolkien.
(Or jump to the next of my posts this week and read about the archaeological discovery of a hoard of gold that might have been Boudica’s, that famous female thorn in the Romans’ side.)
A birdwatcher stumbled upon a hoard of Celtic gold coins dating to 40-50 CE, the period of Boudica’s rebellion. Was this her hidden deposit? Boudica’s popularity as a historical figure is reflected in two outstanding novels of historical fiction.
While we hunker down to avoid the plague, you may be reaching for a good book for entertainment. Here’s my book review of the historical fantasy Enchantée by Gita Trelease in which the French Revolution gets an infusion of charming, atmospheric magic.
When archaeologists conducted a major surface survey, they stumbled on a 5th century BCE temple of Aphrodite. But the biggest “discoveries” may lie in the unglamorous “big picture.”
A new year is bringing a new format to my “weekly post” for my website subscribers. Now in the email, you’ll see each topic as a separate post instead of clustered in one post. You may click from the email into each post of interest. Or you can click into the first post and then at the bottom of that post, you’ll see the next three, and you can carry on as you wish. My intention is that this is as easy and enjoyable as before. The separation increases the searchability of each post to a wider audience—hence the change.
A bit of medieval play in stone hidden high in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
