Whereever you are in the world, I hope it’s not as hot as it is now here in Italy. Granted, I was a penguin in a former life, but I really can’t stand this.

Anyway!

Just wanted to let you know that my book is half price on the Smashword store for the entire month of July. That means you can get it at 1,50 instead of 2,99. You know, in case you want to get it 😉
I invite you to have a look at Smashword in case you don’t know this store. I love it because it provides all kinds of format for any reading device (yes, including the .mobi file for Kindle), which is what I really love about it. In a book environment where bookstores tend to sell only their own ebook format, I love the freedom Smashwords allows.
My book is part of a huge Summer/Winter Sale so, head over and have a look.

Even if you don’t feel like getting my book, maybe you feel like help me getting the word out? Just visit my book’s page, so that the algorithm sees that there is interest in the title. Maybe tweet my book’s page, share it on Facebook or send a message to a friend you think might enjoy the kind of stories I write. It would be such a huge help for me.
I thank you for any help you can give. It means a lot for me.

1919 Live

This is a Twitter account that tweets news of one hundred years ago (and so are now tweeting news from 1919) from all over the world. Always accompanied with photos. Simply fascinating.
I know there are many of this kind of Twitter accounts, I came across a German one too, and I find it such a great idea. One way to show that history isn’t a dead thing.

(The photo above is from today’s feed 7th July 2019)

James Joyce reading his work (1924/1929)

This recording of Joyce reading was made in 1929 by C.K. Ogden (the linguist, philosopher, and inventor of Basic English) in the studio of the Orthological Society in Cambridge. Ogden boasted of the two biggest recording machines in the world and wanted to do a better recording of Joyce than the Ulysses recording of 5 years earlier which he regarded as being of very poor quality

Everything that comes from the past fascinates me, but especially recordings and films. They have this magic of really making seem the past still living.

Robert Quilter Gilson, TCBS – a documentary

In the Forward to Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote that  ‘by 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead’. The closest of his friends were the member of the TCBS (Tea Club, Barrovian Society) whose original members were Robert Quilter Gilson, Geoffrey Bache Smith, Christopher Luke Wiseman and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.
Rob and Geoff were at the battle of the Somme like Tolkien himself, but unlike him, they never came back.
This documentary looks more in depth to the life of this young man who was an artist with a great gift for creating bonds and friendship.

Robert Quilter Gilson (1893 – 1916) was a friend of J.R.R. Tolkien, and an original member of the T.C.B.S. at King Edward’s School in Birmingham. He was an artist, and contributed to the society accordingly.

He later attended Trinity College in Cambridge, and despite the outbreak of World War I in 1914, finished his degree and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1916. He participated in the Battle of the Somme, where he was killed by a shell explosion after taking charge following the deaths of his commanding officers.

The Good Cop by Peter Steiner

Munich, 1920. Detective Willi Geismeier has a problem: how do you uphold the law when the law goes bad? The First World War has been lost and Germany is in turmoil. The new government in Berlin is weak. The police and courts are corrupt. Fascists and Communists are fighting in the streets. People want a savior, someone who can make Germany great again. To many, Adolf Hitler seems perfect for the job.

When the offices of a Munich newspaper are bombed, Willi Geismeier investigates, but as it gets political, he is taken off the case. Willi continues to ask questions, but when his pursuit of the truth itself becomes a crime, his career – and his life – are in grave danger.

Sarah Plugs Her Own Stuff

It has been sometimes since I last plugged anything of mine, isn’t it? So this seems like the perfect occasion to do just that.
Trisha Faye, a member of the 1920s Book Club and the awesone curator of the Facebook Group Pages of the Past, as well as the newsletter of the same name, has interviewed me in the Author Spotlight of the June issue of the newletter.

I have to say, Pages of the Past is a fantastic newsletter for any historical fiction fan, full of news and insights.