A READING OF SHADOW OF THE LION

I recently did a reading for the Dominion Reading Series in Vancouver B.C.
It included a time to discuss my writing process as well as a Q&A period.
The evening was a big success for me with an enthusiastic audience.

Here's the link to the YouTube video of me reading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0oBzQK9leE&t=171s

BACK TO GREECE AND MORE WRITING

I'm heading back to Greece for three week and while I'm there I am schedule to do three readings of SHADOW OF THE LION: THE FIELDS OF HADES at the American Community School, the Athens Centre and the Canadian Institute. I'll read segments from SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON as well.

 KNOSSOS

This year I'm not staying for as long as usual, but I still plan some trips  -  a few days on Naxos and then on to Iraklion, Crete where I want to visit Knossos and spend some time visiting with a writer/mentor friend of mine, Jack Dempsey who writes about the Minoans.  The rest of the time I'll be in Athens and will make some short trips to Salamina and around Athens.

 Plaka Beach, NAXOS

It's been a hectic last year with problems at my old home and a move mid July. But I'm all settled again in a quiet, peaceful apartment in a lovely suburban neighbouhood.  During the past year I had little incentive work on my current novel DRAGONS IN THE SKY. Instead I spend almost a year writing an ebook on the Greek Islands for a US publisher, under contract. I was almost finished it and he suddenly abandoned me. So I have shelved the project and will finish and self-publish it later.

Now that I'm resettled, I have started back on DRAGONS after a year's break from it. A tricky project trying to get back into the cadence of the prose but I am forging ahead and after my trip I will dedicate all my time to it.

Be sure and order my SHADOW OF THE LION double volume novel.  A good place to get it (with no shopping costs) is the Book Depository.  But if you check prices you can sometimes get deals on Amazon including second-hand copies which are in almost new condition. One that I ordered had even been previously signed by me!

Meanwhile,  you can also get my travel guide ATHENS AND BEYOND on Kindle.

MORE BOOK PROMO

 On June 20 I had a successful book launch for SHADOW OF THE LION: THE FIELDS OF HADES. It was held at the Kitsilano branch Public Library.  A nice group attended including the new Consul General of Greece, Mr Thanos Ioannou and his wife.

Reading from The Fields of Hades

The Greek Consul General Mr Thanou Ioannou and his wife.

I've been doing a lot of book promo this past month.  On June 25 I had a table at GREEK DAYS on West Broadway in Vancouver and spent a long day ( 11 am - 9 pm) enjoying chats with passersby and a friend I'd invited to join the table with me.  Lots of people stopped to ask about my books and I sold three which was great.

 GREEK DAYS

On Canada Day (July 1, Canada's 150th birthday!) I had a table at the Book Fair at Ft. Langley.
I shared the table with Wayne Gatley from my Scribblers group.  It wasn't as busy as Greek Days but a few people stopped by to check out my book,  no sales though. But it was a nice way to do promo and I enjoyed the day.

 FT. LANGLEY BOOK FAIR

More readings coming up.  On July 15 there'll be another table display at Queens Park in New Westminster and on August 5 I'm dong a workshop/reading for the Pt. Coquitlam Tri-City Wordsmiths.  Hope to get a few more readings/workshops ofer the summer as well.

WHAT BOOKS INFLUENCE YOUR WRITING?

What books do you read while you are working a new piece of writing?  When I was writing Shadow of the Lion, I was deeply influenced by the writing of Mary Renault.  I have read all of her books going back to the very first one she published in the late '30s, but her Greek stories were what really captivated me.  I read and reread her Alexander trilogy: Fire From Heaven, The Persian Boy and Funeral Games as well as others like The Mask of Apollo and the two books she wrote about Theseus, Bull from the Sea and The King Must Die. 

After I read Funeral Games I had felt somewhat disappointed. It seemed to be documented rather than developed into the usual exciting and colorful historical fiction she had written in the other two of the trilogy. (It was the last book she wrote and she died a couple of years later). I had been fascinated by the story of Alexander since I was sixteen and read everything I could about him (mostly history books) and realized there was much more to the story than what was conveyed in Funeral Games.  So that is the reason I chose to write Shadow of the Lion, which followed the same historical period as Mary Renault's Funeral Games

I recently went back to work on the novel I'd been writing before started Shadow of the Lion.  I had spent a couple of years researching and writing Dragons In the Sky before I got discouraged with it. So I set it aside to write Shadow, first intending to write the Alexander story as a young adult book. However, after a year of working on it, I realized that it was too political a story for a young adult book, and was advised to start over, which I did, writing it in a multiple point of view. This allowed me to expand the story, develop characters and deal with the political plot to its best advantage.

Now that Shadow is finished and in the hands of an agent, I have gone back to work on the old manuscript of Dragons.  I had conceived the idea for it back in the late '70's and did some research, starting the writing in 1979.  It's a Celtic tale, taking place in the 4th century BC, Iron Age Britain, and there is an Alexander connection.  What makes this different from Shadow is that the story is almost like a past life regression. I heard this girl, Olwen, telling me her story and it is therefore written in first person with a distinctive Celtic lilt to the prose.  Some of the chapters are written in Bardic verse. Unlike Shadow which follows a historically recorded plot, this novel is purely fiction.

What books influenced me in the writing of this book?  When I started to review my old notes, I realize that a great influence on this story was Pauline Gedge's The Eagle and the Raven  and also Mary Stewart's Hollow Hills.  I'd like to reread those books again because it's been years since I first read them. They helped me get the 'flavor' and the cadence I wanted for Dragons in the Sky even though they are a slightly different time frame than Dragons. 

One thing I found when I referred so frequently to Mary Renault's books when I first started writing Shadow, was that my writing style was influenced by her writing. I began to see too many "Renaultisms" in my own writing, and had to be careful that I was not 'copying' her style. But out of this exercise I developed my own cadence and style like a student painter learns to write from the Master. I was thrilled when my late dear friend Roberto, an ardent reader, said to me "I like your style better than Mary Renault's".  That was a huge compliment!  And now I am told that Shadow is what Funeral Games should have been!  What an honour!

What books do you read that might influence your writing?  And have you found that these authors have influenced your own writing?

STRATEGIES FOR PUBLISHING

The Library of Alexandria

I've been looking in to various publishing possibilities for "Shadow of the Lion".  After speaking to the agents and a few other publishers I realize that most of them insist on only 120,000 word count for a publication.  This would mean chopping Shadow by 3/4 which would simply ruin the story.  So instead of stressing over this dilemma, I've decided that perhaps the best route to take would be self-publishing

through one of the accredited self-publishers (there are 3 top ones), such as Lulu.  This would mean I'd have to check the page count, not the word count.  It would also mean I won't have to wait perhaps up to five years to see this book out in print.  I simply can't wait that long.  For one reason, I'm not getting any younger and mainly, the theme of the story is pertinent to today's world.  And I feel that this novel, which I worked so hard on for all those years, deserves to have an audience NOW, not five years from now or at the whim of a traditional publisher. 

I'm doing my research into this.  I've spoken to a couple of friends who have published through Lulu and they are very satisfied.  I realize that to make an impact, it means I'd have lots of marketing to do and some investment.  For this I'm even willing to forgo my yearly trip to Greece.  Another friend mentioned that she does marketing and would help me.  And I have a lot of connections around town where I could arrange book readings etc.  So that part of the self-publishing doesn't seem a problem to me.  I like the idea of the book being listed on Amazon and the option of doing an e-book as well, as this is a big trend these days.

What I would like is comments from any of my readers who know more about this process than I do.  Have any of you had experience with this kind of publishing?  What do you advise? I am in the process of doing another round of editing and then I'll turn the manuscript over to a professional editor.  I also need to write the foreword, afterword, glossary and bibliography for it.

If I self publish I want it to be as perfect as a traditionally published book.  I'm even going to consult with an artist friend about designing a cover for it.  Now I need to find out about IBSNs and copyrights and whether the publisher provides those.  I'd appreciate any input you can give me. Thanks.

REVISITING ALEXANDER'S WORLD

Alexander the Great



It's not always easy to go back to a place you left a long time ago because sometimes, when you do, you find things just aren't the same as you remembered and it is often a disappointment.  On the other hand, 'going home again' can also resurrect a lot of nostalgic feelings,  good ones as well as perhaps some unhappy memories.  When I returned to my little mountain village in Evvia, Greece, two summers ago I was very upset to find it so deserted, so changed!  Houses were shuttered.  People were gone.  Probably a lot of the elders had passed away.  It was an eerie experience wandering through that tiny place where I'd spent so much time -- my Garden of Eden.  I thought of returning last year but somehow couldn't bring myself to do it.  I'd rather be left with the memories of when I lived there part time and frolicked on the mountainside with the shepherd and my village friends.

This week I returned to Alexander's world,  the world I had created in my novel "Shadow of the Lion".  I'd finished writing it at the end of 2010 after many years of labour including reams of research,  traveling to sites in Greece and Turkey,  and spending some of that time living in Greece while I researched and wrote.  It seemed to take forever to write the novel.  People kept questioning me why it wasn't finished yet.  Of course, I'd had other projects that took up my time as well as during the first couple of years I worked full time.  But finally, it was finished, and I had said goodbye to my old friends in Alexander's world. 

It's a funny thing when you get to 'the end' of a novel.  It still hasn't really sunk in, partly because I had written the ending almost from the beginning, and as it was based on a historical time-line I knew how the story would unfold.  But it was my imagination and creative license that made the characters come alive, and having visited many of the places that set the scenes in the story,  I was really 'living' the story.  Perhaps I'm still not totally grasping that it's done.  For the first week afterwards the characters kept speaking to me until I had to silence them.  The writer's task is over.  Next, the editor will take over.

But to celebrate I decided (as I'd planned for some years) to have a 'wrap' party.  And that is coming up this weekend.  A celebration of the completion of the writing.  So I had to make a visit to Alexander's world again to choose what segments I would read to my guests as they have all been waiting to hear the story.

The Ishtar Gate, Babylon

It was interesting going back to read the early part of the novel that was written so long ago.  Scary, in a way, because your writing in the beginning may not be as good as the more recent writing.  However I was delightfully surprised to find that I was reading almost as a first-time reader would.  It had been written long enough ago that most of it was really 'fresh' to me.  And I some of it, as I read, even brought tears to my eyes! 

I decided to begin my reading for the reception at my home with the very opening part of the novel, which is set in Babylon at the time of Alexander's death, because this sets the scene and indicates the conflict.  Later, for the short reading I intend to do at the taverna party, I'll read some smaller parts describing the women in the story.  It took me a couple of days to choose which parts to read and to make sure they weren't too long.  I have read bits of Shadow in the past at various readings so I'm used to hearing it aloud.  In fact, when I first started writing it, I used to tape it and play it back, to hear the cadence of the prose. (This is an interesting experiment for writers to try.)

I'm getting quite excited about the wrap party.  A lot of people requested invitations and it's somewhat overwhelming planning how to fit everyone in, but I'm sure it will work out just fine.  And it is certainly something to celebrate!

Now I'm ready to start the final edits, which I intend to work on next month.  And when the book is finally marketed and published, there will be another grand party:  a 'launch' party!

PROGRESS REPORT #65: What's on Your Bookshelves?

Today I received a very special birthday gift from my friend Ingrid: Two volumes of Diodorus Siculus containing books 16 & 17 and 18 & 19, all vital to my research for Shadow of the Lion. I might still have to get 1 more volume to complete the information I need to have on hand.

The above photo is one of my bookshelves containing research books. I have another one in my bedroom. So these two new books, green hard covers written in both Greek and English, will find their new home on the shelves beside all the other books I have about Greek history, namely Alexander the Great and Macedonia.

I am working on the final chapter. Today I got two pages written and I have lots of notes. But I really need to contemplate a bit and get down deeper into the narrative. I'm just playing with it right now, still not 100% sure of if I'm on the right track.

This week I have been reading "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott which I have found interesting and inspiring. This plan of approaching your work 'bird by bird' has helped in sorting out how to begin this final chapter and what it should include. I do what she says, take a deep breath and focus on one tiny picture at a time. It seems to work!

So, my intention is to write all weekend and so far I didn't go outside once today (the rain helped) and I stayed pretty well focused. Now I'm taking a wee break from Shadow and tonight I'll study some Greek (brushing up on my vocabulary for this summer's trip) and I'll write another Planet Eye story for the Vancouver Guide. I just posted a couple of others and was pleased to learn the editor is going to use a Kuala Lumpur story I'd written and submitted as a feature (which means extra pay!) I can submit stories other than local ones and intend to do that as I have a lot of previously published work that can be easily converted and shortened and resubmitted.

If the rain stops, tomorrow I'm planning a nice long sea-wall walk which I find helpful when I'm working through new material for the novel. I might even have a picnic!

I AM A BOOK

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a book? Well, this past week I had an opportunity to be one: a "book" in a "living library". When I was first invited to participate in this unusual all-day event, to be held at a local high-school, I was not only pleased to be asked but very curious as to what this would mean and what the exact concept was of the "living library". You know that saying "You don't always know a book by it's cover"? Well, this is kind of like that. It's a unique group participation developed in Denmark to break down prejudices and misconceptions about people. The 'books' in this 'library' have many different titles, just as people have many different roles in their lives. You might look at a book and say "I don't want to read about that. That's a boring/unpleasant subject". On the other hand, once you open the book and start to read it, you might find it is very interesting and intriguing and not at all what you'd first thought just by glancing at it's cover.

Every 'book' in this 'living library' had several titles, just as there are many various titles for books that might cover similar or the same subjects. Or some books might have several different stories within it's covers. It's the same with people. You never know the whole story until you have heard/read it. You'll be surprised at what's inside some of those 'books'.

The idea of the 'Living Library" began in Copenhagen, Denmark initiated by five young people after a mutual friend was stabbed in a brutal attack. These five kids wanted to do something to raise awareness and to use their peer group to educate them against violence. So a youth organization called "Stop the Violence" was formed. You can read more about it and the history of the ''human library" at http://www.humanlibrary.org

Moscropt Secondary School in Burnaby, BC. is the only high school in North America to offer the concept although a few colleges have tried it. You can read a blog about our experiences as 'books' in the "Living Library' at www.beyondthebeadedcurtains.blogspot.com

After participating, I would say that ALL high schools should think about offering this 'living library' opportunity to their students. It might break down a lot of barriers, open up possibilities and help to eliminate prejudices and misconceptions about people. It might
help stop bullying!

The people invited to be in the Living Library were asked to come to the Moscropt School a week before the event would take place so we could be briefed on what was going to happen and what was expected of us 'books'. We chose titles (there could be more than one) and later on, wrote those titles on a paper. Then we all went around and wrote our idea of what those books were about (what kind of people those books were.) It was quite surprising to see the results, some of them rather harsh. Those comments would be later put into paragraphs for 'bios' of the 'books' and circulated to the students who would be visiting the Living Library the following week.

My titles were: "Elder" "Travel and Historical Fiction Writer" and (here's the one that caught the kids' attention! "Wanna--be Crime and Investigative Journalist."
Other titles were: "Anti Capitalist Activist" ,"Adopted as a Child", "Young Adult Gay Male Survivor of a Brain Tumour" , Costume Designer/Former Figure Skater" "Omni Sexual/Drag Queen/Photographer: "Ex Gang Member/Ex prisoner/ Ex addict
/son of a KKK father" Big and Beautiful/ Formerly size 5 and bulimic", "Politician/MLA" "Person with a Disability" Gay Lawyer/Farmer/Figure Skater" "Plumber" (this was a single parent woman!) and many others. We were given tips about"what makes a good book" and "how to be a bestseller", how to initiate discussions with the 'readers' and the general protocol of being a 'book'.

On the day that the Living Library program took place, we met at 8.30 in the school Library and were given cardboard signs with our book titles and sat at tables where the kids would come to 'read' us,. The school classes took turns coming into the library and were escorted by volunteer students to whichever 'book' they wanted to 'read'. Usually there were two or three kids at a time, although occasionally only one student came and, in the case of the ex-gangster/addict/prisoner/son of a KKK father, he had swarms of kids around him all day long. And so did the gay books. You would never know to look at the 'books' who they were or had been so it was very interesting to hear the questions the kids asked and see their reactions. I think this is an excellent way of educating people about others who live very different life-styles and in this way it breaks down those prejudices and misconceptions.

My 'readers' were mainly interested in travel, where I'd been and good ideas for budget travel for students. A few were really interested in the writing aspect of my life and were kids who aspired to be writers too. I answered questions about 'voice' and 'setting details" One special coincidence happened when a young fellow said "I don't write but my grandfather does. He used to be a writer for the Vancouver Sun". It turned out that his grandfather was a reporter/BC history writer who I had great respect and admiration for when I was a copy runner at the Vancouver Sun newsroom back in the 1950's. Another young man, who is from Bangladesh, expressed an interest in visiting surfing beaches. I told him my grandson was a surfer who lived in California. This boy has never surfed but that is his dream, and part of the dream is to return to Bangladesh where there are some good surfing beaches. One of the volunteer students sat down with me at the end of the day and it turned out he was a Macedonian Greek from Thessaloniki. We had a vibrant chat about places both he and I love to visit such as Thassos Island. I thought that he was much like my Iskander in Shadow of the Lion -- not only with his intelligence and curiosity but his looks were what I visualize Iskander to have been like.

The entire day was an amazing experience and although I came home at the end of it feeling exhausted, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I not only learned a lot about my 'readers' but I hope they learned something from 'reading' me as well.

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"WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THE STORY": Questions & Answers with author Steven Pressfield

I have been a fan of Steven Pressfield's writing for a number of years now, especially the books he has written about ancient Greece: "Gates of Fire", "The Virtues of War" "Tides of War" and "The Afghan Campaigns" to name a few.

Steve has been generous in his encouragement for me in my own work. He's also been a great mentor to many other writer's. His "The War of Art" Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles" is a popular book with techniques on writing (available on http://www.amazon.com/)

Recently I was privileged to be asked to contribute three questions to Mr. Pressfield about writing, and he would reply to them. Here's the questions I posed:

1) RE: FACTS vs FICTION and RESEARCH.
How close to the historical facts do you stick? Aside from the initial research before starting a story, how much do you do while the writing is in progress? (I know even the historians have conflicting information and I sometimes have found this really inhibiting when trying to be as accurate as possible.)

STEVE: Ruth, I'm not trying to be lazy but here's a blog piece from the site that's right on this subject. Look for Writing Wednesday #4 "A Single Sheet of Fool's Cap" It tells you all I know.

http://blog.stevenpressfield.com/category/writing-wednesdays/page/2/

This link takes you to Writing Wednesday #9 so scroll back to see page Writing Wedensday #4

Read this page. It is full of helpful suggestions and advice. "The more research you do, the less writing you do" and "The answer is 'As little as possible!". "WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THE STORY!"

2) WRITER'S BLOCK: I find that chapter beginnings and transitions between scenes can often slow me down. When you find yourself up against the wall what is your technique for overcoming 'writer's block'.

STEVE: I never mention that term. It's dangerous to even think about it. I banish it from my mind. Just keep writing. If you're stuck in one part of the story, work on another. Momentum, I've found, is a big help. If you can get rolling in one part of the story, when you come back to a 'sticking point'[, sometimes that mementum will carry you through it. Another trick is to give yourself only so long to lick the problem. Ten minutes. One hour. Something short so you don't get hung up driving yourself crazy. "We're gonna lick this between now and lunch!"

3) THE FINAL DRAFT: I'm almost finished my novel and already know it's far too long. How do you decide what to cut? Do you do the cuts and rewrites and then do the line editing (spell check, etc) as the final touch up?:

STEVE: This is tough. Sometimes you have to split yourself in two: the boss and the worker. The boss says, "Ruth, I want you to get 10% out of this sucker!" This gives you something to shoot for. But there's no substitute for skill and work. I was just working on a screenplay with Randall Wallace, who wrote "Braveheart". He is much better than I am. On the final day, he went through 'my' pages and whacked out massive amounts. To my amazement, everything got better. A lot better. I have yet to try that on my own stuff, without help, but it sure taught me that being ruthless can really work.

I am very grateful for this opportunity to pose these questions to Mr. Pressfield. And I know you will get as much as I do out of following his "Writing Wednesday" blogs. You can read more about him on his website http://home.stevenpressfield.com/ and order his book, "War of Art" from there as well as from Amazon.com.
http://home.stevenpressfield.com/books/war_art.asp

ME AND MY BOOKS

"If an army of monkeys were strumming on typewriters they might write all the books in the British Museum"
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington 1892- 1944
"The Nature of the Physical World"1928 Ch 4

Books books books! I recently read a blog by Marie (http://marie-deepthinker.blogspot.com)
in which someone had sent her a meme about books. I got thinking about some of the questions and decided to respond. Why don't you try it to?

Total number of books I own: I really have never counted them. But you can see some of them here on my bookshelves. This long built-in shelf under my salon windows contain most of my fiction or travel writing/memoirs books. As you can see, there are piles of them besides those on the shelves. The big brown book in front is one about Pirates I got last year for Christmas. The book shelf is decorated with artifacts from Turkey among other things like plants. Besides all the books on my bookshelves I have others stored in my closet and some in boxes that are very old books saved from my childhood. On occasions I go through them and discard any I don't want to keep though this doesn't happen often. I hate parting with my books. I don't mind lending them sometimes, but most of the books I have are the ones I treasure most. And a lot of them are research books too.

What is the last book you read? I am almost finished reading a remarkable book by a Canadian author, Karen Connelly, which is about Burma. It's titled "The Lizard Cage". Someone loaned me this book quite awhile ago and I totally forgot about it until the recent uprisings in Burma so I got it out and began to read it. Gripping! Horrifying (because what goes on in her 'fictional' prison with her 'fictional' protagonist is going on right now and went on from 1988 onwards.) Ms. Connelly became well known as a young poet, then traveled to Thailand and later Greece, Spain and France and wrote travel journals. Then she went to Burma and gathered info from people about the situation there so her characters are based on real people's stories. The writing is gorgeous, showing her poetic style in spite of the frightening subject.

What is the last book you bought? I bought a book titled "Rasputin's Daughter"
by Robert Alexander, quite some time ago but before I got chance to read it, I was given a bag of books about Venice to read before my summer holidays. So I haven't read this book as yet. I was also sent a very good book about the seige of Malta titled "The Religion" by Tim Willocks from my cousin. I have started to read it but when I came across the Burma story I set it aside for now and will finish it next. I was also recently given another book for my research collection titled "Envy of the Gods: Alexander the Great's ill-fated journey across Asia" by John Brevas. I've added it to the huge pile of "to be reads' (TBR's) that now grace the shelves of my book cases.
(So many books, so little time!)

Here is the other book shelf in my salon which contains mainly research books about Greece, Persia, Egypt, Mesopotamia and others including some books about the poet Sappho. The little curios on the shelves are from Morocco and Turkey which is the theme of my decor in my salon. The painting above it, painted by a friend, is Machu Pichare (spelling???) and Anapurna 1 in the Himalayas. I've had this painting for a long time and it's one of my favorites.

And here, below, is the bookshelf in my bedroom which contains more research books, books about writing, books about Greece, dictionaries and reference books. As you can see, the decor theme in the bedroom is Greece, with lots of pieces reminding me of Alexander and Sappho.

Name Five Meaningful Books: This is a little bit tough to answer as there are so many 'meaningful' books that I've read in my lifetime, including the Holy Bible and the Tao Te Ching. I value all the books written by Mary Reneault, in particular her Alexander trilogy (but most of all Fire From Heaven. I also treasure Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey. Of course you could name the great classics most of which I read when I was young, and they would include, for me, anything by Shakespeare and Dickens.
I also love the Greek dramatists and have several books of plays by Sophocles and Euripides and Aeschylus in my collection. As well, I enjoy poetry, especially the poetry of Pablo Neruda and I have several translations of Sappho's poems. A more recent favorite author is Stephen Pressfield. I admire his work, in particular Gates of Fire about the Spartans. These books are all meaningful to me because of my keen interest in ancient history, and in particular the history of Greece.

What about you and your books?

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Francis Bacon 1561-1626 "Essays of Studies."

PROGRESS REPORT #9: PARALLELS

A Greek Trireme



"Any excuse will serve a tyrant"
Aesop "The Wolf and the Lamb"

This little excerpt from my recent writings reminds us that history repeats itself. There are parallels between then and now. Think about it!

A month after Phokion’s execution, Kassandros’ fleet sailed into Pireaus, a mighty armada of doom: great hulky war galleons and sleek triremes, horse transports and ships bearing siege equipment so dense that it filled the three harbours forming a formidable blockade.

A misty rain was falling and the haze, mingling with the swirls of fog off the sea, cast an eerie pall over the coast. The only sounds were the grinding of the oars against the thole pins, the whack of blades as they hit the water, and the swoosh of the wake as the ships’ hulls cut through the waves. The fog lifted as the warships ploughed in and observers from the shore could see that the decks were crowded with armed men.

As the fleet streamed into the harbour, spectators who watched from the Long Walls, mainly the democrats who had strongly opposed Macedonian domination over the city, wept in despair. “Surely it bodes ill omens,” they wailed. “What is to become of us and our City now?”

By noon, Kassandros and his army disembarked. When his supporters, the aristocrats, saw Kassandros step ashore, mounting the strand with his maroon cloak and plumed helmet, they cheered in approval and welcomed him.

In Athens, panic prevailed as packs of looters rampaged through the city vandalizing statues, swarming the marketplace and overwhelming merchants as they tipped over carts and stole anything that could be carried off. The citizens cowered in alarm and watched in terror as armed troops marched into the agora and city squares beating and arresting the malefactors. There was such chaos that even the Assembly dared not meet.

Kassandros ordered that all the members of opposing factions be arrested and condemned to death, including the garrison commander, Nikanor, who he blamed for the riots. He immediately set about to establish a government that was friendly to himself, putting his ally, the aristocrat Demetrius of Phaliron, in charge. A decree was passed that the Athenians were allowed to have possession of their city and its revenues, but the citizens were ordered to give respectful hearing to all suggestions of Demetrius. Athens was now in the hands of tyrants.


North of Athens, where his army was encamped, a look of disbelief crossed Polyperchon’s face when he heard the news. His son Alexandros and the Macedonian troops he commanded had retreated from Athens and Polyperchon realized that an invasion would be impossible. There was only one thing left to do: count his losses and withdraw. Marshalling what was left of his fractured army, beaten and disheartened, he led his soldiers north. His only hope now was to return to Macedon and recruit additional troops. Without more men and arms a counter-attack against Kassandros would never succeed.

GREEK BATTLE HELMETS

I've had an interesting weekend but still managed to get started on Part VI of the novel. First I had to execute Phokion, the military governor of Athens, then I had to plan a naval battle.
It turned out there were some interesting parallels beginning with Sunday when I had the pleasure of cruising the fjords and inlets around Vancouver and on up the Fraser River to dock after eight hours of sailing. What a great way to relax and clear the mind for the week ahead!

On Monday I got back to serious writing and finished the segment where Phokion and his four friends, who are condemned to die for treason, must drink the hemlock so that their accusers can get them out of the way before Kassandros invades Athens with his navy and troops.
This resulted in a very weird dream Monday night. I dreamed that I was in charge of hiding the body of a man (a poet, or writer) who had been poisoned. He wanted his body stuffed in a sack along with his books. I was dismayed lest I be accused of his murder. Eventually when I found the sack hidden in a closet, the body had disintegrated to bones but the books were still intact. I had to hide it quickly, but all the garbage bins were full (we have an on-going 6 wk. garbage strike here) so I lugged it to the School Board office, took it to the basement and ditched it in a big trash container. End of dream.
In analyzing it there were some parallels with what I'd written and what has been going on here with the strike and all. Very weird! The poet in the dream? Well, yesterday I got a strange email from someone inquiring about a certain mad poet I know from Athens who I had mentioned in some old blogs. Long story and a very strange one. He was advertising his 'last will and testament' and looking for an executor. Obviously some kind of scam. Interesting though because I was wondering if he was still around and apparently he is.

Summer is winding down but the weather is holding up so I'm off to the beach for another picnic and then to meet friends for our usual Wednesday night jazz. The writing is progressing and I'm happy. But still there's time for leisure and fun.

"When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader."
Plato 428-348 BC

"Republic" bk VIII