Category: Uncategorized
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War and Werther: Napoleon the Novelist
Like all men, he desired happiness, but he had found only glory.” – Clisson and Eugénie “Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” – (probably) misattributed to Cicero Did you know that Napoleon Bonaparte wrote a book? Well, “book” is a bit of an oversell—more of a…
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Full Mantua Alchemist: The Magical Afterlife of Virgil
“In all of the foregoing there has been no room for that other and greater magic of Virgil’s perennially lovely verse. This phenomenon indeed surpasses all feats of mere thaumaturgy, and transports the thoughtful mind to the realms of the purest genius. This learned poet was in sober truth a mage; this ‘wielder of the…
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Preview for LADY SAFFLOWER
I’ve been a bit quiet on the writing front since Daughter of Scorpions came out last year—so quiet that some of you might have thought maybe I was taking a year off book-wise. (Un)fortunately for all of you, that is not the case, and I am eyeballs deep on my copyedit review of my next…
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Alexandria’s Winter Queen: The Untamed Life and Death of Arsinoë IV (Part 2)
Okay, folks, this week we are back with my girl Arsinoë and her insane family for Round Two of their shenanigans! When we last let our Ptolemies, they were standing over the headless remains of Pompey Magnus and awaiting the arrival of his rival/martial antagonist/ex-father-in-law/frenemy—namely, one Gaius Julius Caesar. Now, by this point, roughly 48…
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Alexandria’s Winter Queen: The Untamed Life and Death of Arsinoë IV (Part 1)
When I was doing my circle back to talking about the most important God’s Wife setting, Ombos, last summer, I was aware that I had left an even larger series stone unturned here. One that is particularly egregious considering that three of my six leading ladies are historical figures, and I have long ago done…
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Where Fours are Green and the Ocean is Tart: Writing and Living in a Synesthetic World
Today I thought we’d get a little science-y, and talk about the multifaceted neurological condition synesthesia, which, broadly, involves the conflation of sense stimuli along divergent perception pathways in the brain. Synesthesia is more well known and discussed today than it was in the past, but it’s one of those topics that’s still a little…
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Rock Steady: One More Not-So-Serious Look at Pliny’s Naturalis Historia (Part Three)
We’ve made it, folks! After years of dragging my feet, I am done with the entirety of Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia, and I’m here to give you a slightly unserious summary of the last ten books! In true wrap-up fashion, Pliny is presenting us with his final pharmacological thoughts, some miscellaneous facts about water…
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My Best Reads of 2025
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all who celebrate! Here we are at the end of another reading year, so it must be time to drop my favorite books list again. I don’t feel like my best-ofs this year are as diverse as some in the past, but I had a couple that were similar…
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When the Corn is as High as an Elephant’s Eye: A Not-So-Serious Look at Pliny’s Naturalis Historia (Part Two)
As promised, this week we’re back with Pliny the Elder and his Natural History, and we’re here to tackle Books 12-27, the dreaded plant books. Since we’ve already introduced Pliny and his general deal, we’ll pretty much delve straight in, but if you missed the first part, you can find it here. As with the…
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A Renaissance Friendsgiving: Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptameron
“For a long time I have cherished all the many excellent gifts that God bestowed upon you; prudence worthy of a philosopher; chastity; moderation; piety; an invincible strength of soul, and a marvelous contempt for all the vanities of this world. Who could keep from admiring, in a great king’s sister, such qualities as these,…
Sarah Holz 