Ruth Downie's Blog, page 8
October 2, 2016
Sunday on the blog tour – SJA Turney, plus a brief diversion
Today I’m visiting The Worlds of SJA Turney. Simon was one of the co-conspirators on our book about the Boudiccan rebellion, A Year of Ravens, but there are no rebel queens in this piece – I’ve been pondering the difference between writing about Roman Britain and writing about Rome itself.
Not content with living in one world, Simon has several at his fingertips – do take a stroll around his site and find out more.
LATER – and today is the day I take a quick diversion from the tour – Diana M...
October 1, 2016
On tour in my slippers
I’ll be travelling around some splendid blogs run by other people this week, dropping by for a virtual chat or stepping back while other people review “Vita Brevis” or post excerpts. Some will be offering giveaways, too. The schedule’s below, and there might be an additional stop along the way – I’ll post that link if it happens.
The first stop (1 October) is chez John at The Last Word Book Review – just click the type in red to join us.
September 21, 2016
VITA BREVIS is (almost) out in the UK!
At last! The hardback of VITA BREVIS, Ruso and Tilla’s seventh adventure, goes on sale in the UK tomorrow (22 September). In case anyone’s managed to reach this point without seeing the cover (how?) here it is again. It’s the story of Ruso and Tilla’s trip to Rome.
And you can read the beginning of it here.
To be honest I usually find the publication of a new book quite worrying, and thereafter try to hide in a corner and avoid reading anything anyone’s said about it until it’s definitely sa...
September 5, 2016
“We have to hope that our characters will forgive us…”
“…because we’re doing the best that we can.” Margaret George, Historical Novel Society conference, 2016.
I’ve never been to the Historical Novel Society conference before, but after last weekend I’m wondering why. It was splendid. If you want to read a well thought-out blog piece about it, there’s one in the Times Literary Supplement. If you want a few photos, some scrappy notes and some Anglo-Saxons banging their shields and yelling, then, dear reader, you are in the right place.
The proble...
August 26, 2016
‘Medicus’ is today’s Kindle UK Daily Deal!
The headline says it all, really! Just for today, the first book in the series is a bargain 1.19 on Kindle in the UK. Hopefully that evens things up for folks this side of the pond who’ve been unable to access American deals in the past.*
*Just a note of caution for anyone who’s read “Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls” – this is the same book, retitled to fit in with the rest of the series.
August 1, 2016
Caption Competition winner!
Many thanks to everyone who’s kept Downie Towers chuckling over the last couple of weeks with captions for the mosaic, both here and on Facebook. Special mentions go to:
Paul Bennett for, “Honey, I shrunk the Emperor.”
Ian Hobbs for, “I don’t care how proud you are, you cannot send a picture of that over Twitter!”
Helen Hollick for, “(Man standing:) ‘Look Ruso, if you really want to get that First Aid book of yours written do it somewhere else, I’m here to rehearse the lavy scene with Mr Jac...
July 25, 2016
Competition fever!
There’s competition fever here at Downie Towers, with the caption competition running till the end of July, plus two more chances to win goodies. Apologies to those who’ve heard this all before, but in case you haven’t…
First, a chance to stock up your summer reading bag with books of your choice, or to win one of the splendid titles on offer:
Would you rather visit ancient Greece, or go to Tang Dynasty China? Meet the Jeffersons at Monticello, or travel to Paris in the 1920’s? How about Ire...
July 12, 2016
VITA BREVIS, published today – and a caption competition.
I’m delighted to announce that Ruso and Tilla’s seventh adventure, set in the great city of Rome itself, is now available on an e-reader near you! Find out more about it here.
If you live in the USA, Canada or Cambridge*, VITA BREVIS should also be available in a bookshop. (*The fine folk at Heffers Bookshop have arranged a few sneaky imports in time for their Summer 2016 Crime Party on Thursday.)
Paper copies will set sail across the Atlantic before long and, with a fair wind and strong rowe...
July 9, 2016
How to pick a winner
Here in the Disunited Kingdom one of the latest squabbles over who’s going to be Prime Minister centres on whether one candidate might have said she’d be better at the job than her rival because she has children. People are rightly asking why this is relevant, while the candidate who’s alleged to have said it insists she’s been misrepresented. BUT… to the ancient Romans this would have seemed an entirely reasonable discussion. I’ve ment...
June 14, 2016
From Eboracum to Ipplepen
It’s been a busy few days – first, a long weekend in York, a city crammed with Roman activity past and present. Then down south to spend five days in search of the far more elusive Roman Devon. Finally, with all photos downloaded and all mud washed off, there’s time to update the blog…
The Eboracum Roman Festival was a resounding success and will hopefully be back again next year.
Setting off to march around the city. 
Don’t argue with the centurion. He’s got a big stick and some very scary h...
