Assaph Mehr's Blog, page 11

Montague ‘Monty Hill’ Glupie (of Children of Little Might, by Peter D’Hollander)

Dear readers, tonight we print an interview with a sixteen-year-old boy with autism, who found a book that promised his every wish once he translated it. It took a bit of coaxing and some bickering, but he agreed (so long as it wasn’t face-to-face). He’ll tell us about fantasy kingdoms, princesses and paper girls, and power in adversity.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I grew up in Utah (though that’s never mentioned in the book) wh...

Nabilak (of There was Music, by J.D. Grubb)

Dear readers, tonight we meet a supporting character, right before they met the protagonist at the opening of her book. He’s here to tell us about his war-altered world , and about the prison from city ruins where he met the protagonist.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

My mother, Fenna, was a prostitute.

I never knew my father, but Fenna said that he was a military man, and some even alleged that he was a noble. Regardless, m...

Book Review: License to Quill, by Jacopo della Quercia

I heard many good things about License to Quill from someone whose taste I trust (my dearest fan ;-), and being a historical fiction fan the book held a natural interest.

What to Expect

London, 1604/05. On the backdrop of King James VI of Scotland becoming James I of England, of the brewing Catholic-backed Gunpowder Plot, William Shakespeare writes the great Scottish Play, Macbeth. While this books explores all this, it does so in a light-hearted, fast-paced dark comedy...

Footwear follow-up: Where to?

A while ago I wrote at length about Roman Footwear — which, I assure you, goes much beyond the traditional “sandal” ubiquitous in modern writing. While the post addressed how you’d wear street shoes on your way to a dinner party only to change into slippers once you got there, there were still a lot of places you might like to go to. This post is about some of these places.

As you might have known if you’ve read any of the gazillion posts I have on the subject, I a...

Kaleo and Nia (of Rising Wind, by Mary Evans)

Dear readers, tonight we listen in on a conversation between the protagonist and his friend. While trained to enforce the rules and maintain the peace in a society with little tolerance for magic-wielding elementals, an encounter with a young boy leads him to make hard choices — and bear the consequences.

“So, where are you from, really?”

Nia and I sat in the shade of a decaying building of unrecognizable historical function on a particularly hot midland afternoon, ...

Joe and Carolyn (of Wallflower Pen Pals, by K. L. Estrada)

Dear readers, tonight we are hosting an interview of the famous American couple known as the Wallflower Pen Pals. This couple wrote letters to each other before they fell in love. We are bringing the book’s characters back to life during the time they were first writing to each other.

In tonight’s double interview, we are going to interview them separately, asking similar questions. Please note they cannot see or hear each other’s responses.

Tell us a little about w...

Silas Dryden (of Rescuing Her Knight, by Rosie Chapel)

Dear readers, tonight we’re hosting the villain of the piece. A shady man, intent on revenge, is prepared to sabotage the happily ever after between a lady and her long-lost knight… permanently.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

Silas shuffles in his chair: Not sure as anyone’d wanna know. Rookeries is pretty grim. Poverty, overcrowding, nuthin‘s yer own, death, disease, you name it. Was all I knew fer a long time, mind, and as nipper...

“Waste Management” in Ancient Rome

If you’ve read any of my stories, you know the main tenets they’re based on: Ancient Rome, an Occult Mystery — and a trip down the sewers…

It’s not a Felix’s Mystery unless he’s literally dumped in it at least once!

In the current WIP of In Victrix, one of the main villains is in the “waste management” business. While a nod to The Sopranos (he’s a gangster), there’s also the real element of him working on the aqueducts, sewers, cesspits, and rubbish disposal. This article i...

Aldeaith Tearshan (of The Outworlder, by Natalie J. Holden)

Dear readers, tonight with us is a young soldier who left his bucolic world to get a taste of the bigger universe. He’s here to tell us about the people of a thousand worlds, of the technomagic that binds them together, and picking sides when the rebels are people he grew up with.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I was born in Nes Peridion, one of the newly colonized worlds in Meon Cluster. My parents came from Tarviss—well, they wer...

Ral Ranaya (of Draconium Carbide, by Alan Ray Argente)

Dear readers, tonight with us is a man who betrayed his homeland, by giving railguns to dragonkind.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

They’re not my type and I was such a loner back then. But even then, they saw me as a freak or insane all because I walk alone, and everyone wanted to see and expect me get embarrassed in front of everyone. I had no friends beside me nor anyone who knew me. Besides, even if I did forge a friendship with...