That coule be double edged comment. :-)

Vance:

"We want you to make a decision about your future with no outside forces pressuring you or telling you what to do. I'm not telling you exactly who to vote for."

Vance 20 minutes later:

"Go to the polls at the weekend. Stand with Viktor Orbán!"

Impossible to disagree with a single word that Ben Rhodes (Obama era NSC official) is saying here:

I'mdue a research trip this year all being well. Difficult getting flights from the West Country. Hope it was a good experience. A part of the world I'm unfamiliar with.

I get a dozen emails/day offering to promote my work at fake festivals/radio and bookclubs. For anyone starting out as an author there's also this scam impersonating editors at publishing houses including Pan Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Hachette. New authors be aware.

COVER REVEAL: 1604. Headstrong Richard and his sister Elizabeth are torn from their Devonshire home by slavers. He vows to save her but first, he must survive the snakepit that is Venice...

THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE by @davidgilman.bsky.social is out 13 August 2026 from @headofzeus.bsky.social.

I planted a nice patch of crocus and my resident pheasant trampled them and then ate all the flowers. He'd better watch out or he'll be on borrowed time.

Poster for a free panel event at Cheadle library on 19th March at 18.30

Any readers in south Manchester or Stockport on 19th March, come along to Cheadle library and be entertained by a group of crime writers. @cazengland.bsky.social @matthewboothauthor.bsky.social @thedecentbrief.bsky.social

We are so excited to share that @essiefox.bsky.social will be speaking at the YMCA Theatre about her newest release #Catherine: A Retelling of #WutheringHeights💙🕯️

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!
🗓️ Friday 5 June 2026
🕛️ 12:30pm
📍 Queen Street Methodist Church
🎟️ £9
🔗https://tinyurl.com/ybdsxv4n

Rome's Capitoline Museums offer free tours in English of exhibition La Grecia a Roma Rome's Capitoline Museums will offer free guided tours in English of the exhibition La Grecia a Roma every Sunday afternoon at 16.30, until 12 April 2026.

Rome's Capitoline Museums offer free guided tours in English of the exhibition ‘La Grecia a Roma’ every Sunday afternoon until 12 April.

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

Read this if you’re thinking of travelling to the US. Absolutely shocking.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

When has POTUS ever got his facts straight?

THE ENGLISHMAN by David Gilman
A former Foreign Legionnaire takes on the Russian mob. Classic @davidgilman.bsky.social. Teak-tough thriller ranging from the backstreets of Britain to the snows of central Russia. Immersive and uncompromising. Full review: paulfinch-writer.blogspot.com/2021/11/neve...

Some good news from Germany. My German edition of Rage of Swords -- 'Schwerter des Zorns', has just gone into the top 20 at Der Spiegel best seller list. Thanks to all my German readers and publisher Rowohlt Verlag

Book Review – Rage of Swords by David Gilman @AriesFiction @HoZ_Books About the Book 1368. Amidst the Hundred Years' War, alliances must be brokered. The Duke of Clarence, second son of King Edward III, journeys from Paris to marry the daughter of the powerful Lord of Milan. Little does he know that he is heading into a trap. Luckily the Duke is preceded on the road to Milan by Sir Thomas Blackstone, Master of War, on an urgent mission of his own.

My review of action-packed historical adventure Rage of Swords by David Gilman @headofzeus.bsky.social @davidgilman.bsky.social #books #bookreviews #historicalfiction #booksky

David Gilman's new novel, Rage of Swords, is the latest in his Master of War series and sees Thomas Blackstone in action in Italy. Congratulations, David!
He tells Historia about the ideas and research behind his book at historiamag.com/historia-interview-david-gilman @davidgilman.bsky.social

Publication day today for the 9th book in my Master of War series, so a signing session at @goldsborobooks.bsky.social for these first editions.

Just unpacked the latest Master of War pre publication date 3rd November. It's always a moment of satisfaction to see the effort all tidied up.

While researching Castelvecchio in Verona I discovered this wonderful library. La Capitolare is the oldest library in the world. Once a Scriptoruim dating back to 517 A.D. 100,000 books,1,280 mss, 11,000 parchments. My illuminatrix in Rage of Swords would have had her work archived here.

An excellent opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of La Serenissima and the insight and intrigue of splendid crime writing. And there's a bonus of seeing the casino in the Hotel Monaco where Casanova gambled, a room that is seldom open to the public. And it's all free. A real gift.

Venice. A delight for individual shops. Here's Shanti Daan down a narrow Calle. Hand made Italian designs & clothing (among other things). Stefano & his cat Ravi. (Stefano studied sitar with Ravi Shankar) When in Venice & your wife's birthday looms make sure your credit card is fully loaded.

I'm researching my next book in Italy and I see there's a fuss at home about the English flag. In Verona's Castlevecchio art gallery is the Resurrection of Christ, Jacapo da Valenza 1478-1509. Now, I know it's said 'God is an Englishman' but this suggests it might run in the family. Just saying.

In Venice for 2 weeks researching novel due next year (The Knife Maker of Venice). Always fun to find something new (to me at least). Saturday market in Campo S. Maurizio is wonderful. And in Museo Carrer good to see Venetian resident & author @pgjonesvenice.bsky.social propped up nicely.

It's not long now...here's @davidhewson.com to tell you all about this year's Venice Noir!

The full paperback cover of The Four Deadly Seasons. Many thanks to @philipgwynnejones for the smashing quote.

I'm in Venice on the 9th looks as though I'll miss it.

Had a fab time chatting with the wild guys at Rock Paper Swords. Still trying to get the hang of how BlueSky works!

Against a blue background, the text: ""Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms such as you have named... but a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters... This symptom is especially serious in that an individual displaying it never thinks of it as a sign of ill health but as proof of his/her strength". Robert Heinlein - 'Friday' (1982)"

Something to make you think - from Robert Heinlein.