Scott Oden

I mean, do we need to double-dog dare them?

Image of the book covers with the text "The story of Alexander before he became 'The Great'" Available at Riptide Publishing

Gonna be shameless & promote myself. Alexander the Great novels including his time w/ Aristotle from an Alexander/Macedonian specialist. Yes, Netflix, there's an alternative from somebody who knows the country/history + 4-star Goodreads ratings. #classicsbluesky #ancientbluesky #alexanderthegreat

The Last City Acre on the Eve of Ruin, Spring 1291

A look at Frankish Acre on the eve of its fall . . .

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A Welcome Surprise Late in the evening of 1 March, the kind of hour when sensible people are already asleep but writers are still staring at their screens, I got an email notification that brought a grin to my face.

I did NOT see this one coming . . .

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So, the douche canoe with the Jerusalem cross tattooed on his chest is yelling "God wills it!"?

"Lance Boils" was author Paige Turner's greatest creation. Alas, her passing from injuries sustained in a chaotic milk-frothing accident is still keenly felt by espresso murder mystery enthusiasts . . .

The Gospel of the Stolen Day Creative Procrastination at its Finest

Some days, doing nothing at all is the right call . . .

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How do we know what to trust??! YouTube video by Let's Talk Alexander the Great & Ancient Macedonia

Seems trivial at present, but FWIW... At least it discusses propaganda. I dissect difficulties evaluating stories in our sources. How much is Alexander the Great's own marketing, how much later Hellenistic/Roman-era overlay & what truth lies beneath? #blueskyancient #classicsbluesky #ancientbluesky

I mean, the Nacho Supreme Court could be convened . . .

This is a great article that really speaks to me as a writer of both fantasy and historical novels.

I think historians & SFF writers share something else, which is that they work in worlds that hinge on realities, but because they no longer exist/never existed, can be visited only in imagination.

There's also this: whenever the Right tries to make right-wing coded entertainment . . . it's shit. Utterly unwatchable shit.

This reminds me of the wacky fringe theory that the Devil's Tower is a giant tree stump.

The Weight of Stone On Description, Setting, and Making Places Real

Weaving details into historical fiction (without overwhelming the reader or stopping the narrative).

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In Conversation with Myself Sometimes, you just have to listen to Brain

That time me and my brain had a sit-down . . .

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A Quarter Turn On Guy Gavriel Kay and the Space Between History and Fantasy

Headlong down a GGK-shaped rabbit hole!

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Something else to remember: these aren't the brightest bulbs in the chandelier. They're not playing 4-D chess or anything of the like. They're stupid sycophantic racists led by an absolute moron.

The Book Is Right There A Defense of Leaving Well Enough Alone

"It's a shame they never made it into a movie."

No, it's not. The book is RIGHT THERE! Go read it.

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It was never a pee tape. It was a snuff film.

Writing with ADHD The Itch I Can’t Stop Scratching

Wherein I answer the "why not go back to S&S" question . . .

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Not me! I ask my ouija board, consult my horoscope, and pull a three-card Tarot spread before making ANY decisions :)

I, for one, am excited to try out the Torment Nexus!

A Moment's Pause Let Your Voice Be Heard . . .

Let's take a moment to catch our breath, hydrate, and ponder what you'd like to see in the pages of my newsletter! There's a poll!

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More people should read Howard Andrew Jones.

Do you read much in the way of modern S&S? Got any favorites?

Appointees and other officials who backed the Mango Moron should be barred from ever holding public office again. They should be reduced to sackcloth and ashes and made to walk the earth in repentance. Or, like the ancient Athenians, we can exile them for ten years :)

I'm torn. On one hand, sure they were lied to; on the other hand, they're also willfully ignorant of even the most basic functions of the government. They're also fine with brutality and racism.

"Fix your heart or die!" is a good slogan, I think.

The Theatre of Royalty A Day in the Life of Darius III

Most of us view kings through the lens of Alexander, or through their fictional counterparts. The late Achaemenid Persian kings lived their lives in a state of scripted and stage-managed seclusion. Witness the average day in the life of Darius III . . .

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Consumptive Capitalism On MAHA and Expensive Suffering -- A Guest Post by Sara Silverstein

I think this is a symptom of the same problem discussed here:

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