Authors Electric

     Look at this little fella. Isn't he great?           I imagine most, if not all, of my readers will immediately recognise him — even without the caption — as a knight from the Lewis chessmen. The photograph above, though, was taken by me of one that sits on my shelf. It's a replica, quite a good one, I think, and it allows you to hold the little character in your hand and get a good close look at him.           He's very like a Norman (norse-man) knight, with his kite-shaped shield and his conical helmet with a nose-piece. His horse is a sturdy little beast — I think its size, proportionate to its rider, was probably accurately observed.  The rider has stirrups, and the horse has a caparison.           Here's the other piece I own: a Bishop.     ...

How lovely it is to have sudden and unexpected new experiences! I often work with Cherry Mosteshar's agency, The Oxford Editors. I write reports on  manuscripts from new authors, which often spill over into a mentoring relationship. On two occasions, rather to my surprise, I've actually put a couple of complete books onto Createspace for authors (not in AE!) who seemed afraid of doing it for themselves, thus being paid for what, to me, was still a learning experience. Still, they seemed happy  with the results and duly paid up. But I never expected the latest assignment which Cherry offered to me. Someone wanted a ghost writer for a whole novel. I gulped at the enormity of such a task, but then, intrigued, I thought 'Oh what the hell' and said yes, of course I'd have a go at it. And it has been - is still being - a fascinating  project. I'm helping someone produce a worthwhile result and have a learning experience which I hope and think will serve him well ...

Artwork copyright Andrew Price I've just published my book, The Saga of Aslak Slave-Born , simultaneously as an e-book with Kindle, and as a print-on-demand paperback with CreateSpace.           The book's been published before. It was first commissioned by the British publisher A&C Black, as part of their Flashback series of historical novels for children. The brief was to write an entertaining, exciting story which would persuade young readers to turn the pages for its own sake - while, at the same time, giving as historically accurate a picture of life in the Viking Age as possible.           I took this very seriously, and, despite carrying a load of stuff about the Viking Age around in my head - which is why I was commissioned - I dusted off my books, checked facts and did further research. I've added a historical note to this new, self-published edition, called 'How Much Is True?'    ...

St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny The other weekend we (my ten-year-old son and I) climbed up the round tower of St Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny, Ireland. We had different objectives in mind. His was to view the city streets from above and check out the accuracy of the maps he has been drawing since last summer. Mine was to collect a periodical reminder that I don't like heights and climbing ancient towers. Here's the mandatory tourist stuff - estimated mid-9th century construction, 100 feet 30 metres high, built as a place of refuge during Viking raids, one of only two round towers in the country open to the public to climb. Rapunzel springs to mind when I think of this tower and the nearby one at the Rock of Cashel (which Rapunzel may still live in, who knows, it isn't accessible to the public). Rock of Cashel When we returned home we read the photocopied leaflet from St Canice's. The foundations of that 100 foot tower are ... two feet deep. O...