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Archive for the ‘Art’ Category

New Release – Games of Rome by J P Kenwood

Posted in Art, New Release, tagged , on November 20, 2015| 1 Comment »

For those of you who, like me, have been gagging for the next episode in the five part Dominus series, Part Two, Games of Rome is available today. For those of you who haven’t tried it yet, but enjoy a highly spiced alternate history setting with masses of incident, brutality and plot, why not give it a go?

Cover by Fiona Fu

Blurb:

In this sequel to Dominus, Gaius Fabius Rufus, the victorious general of Rome’s brutal Dacian Wars, finds his loyalties and his affections pulled in different directions. Should he return to Rome and secure his claim to the imperial throne, or remain at his seaside villa and protect his pleasure slave, the fierce Dacian prince, Allerix? Retaliation for the murder of his beloved friend beckons him home, but his desire for justice could put both him and Allerix in mortal danger. As Gaius’s deceptions multiply, another tragedy strikes. Will the Lion of the Lucky IV Legion be forced to sacrifice his besotted heart to achieve his aspirations for supreme power?

Every moment since Allerix’s violent capture has tested the young prince’s fortitude and cunning. If he can kill the triumphant emperor who decimated his Dacian nation, revenge and immortality will be his glorious, everlasting rewards. But to realize his scheme for vengeance, he must deceive the Roman master whose body he lusts, the handsome, arrogant man whom he has grown to adore and admire. Can two former enemies—the conqueror and the conquered—find trust and true love, or are the consequences of war destined to tear them apart? Can Gaius and Allerix survive the perilous games of Rome?

Dominus is a plot-packed erotic m/m fantasy set in ancient Rome during the reign of Emperor Trajan (AD 98-117). Games of Rome is the second book in this alternative history saga—a tumultuous journey of forbidden love, humor, sex, friendship, political intrigue, deception, and murder.

Buy Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US | Smashwords

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Books and Museums

Posted in Art on September 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Two subjects very close to my heart. Who doesn’t get a little hot under the collar at the thought of incunabulae, grimoires and morocco bound folios?

Surely it’s not only me?

*sigh*

Some people like to dwell on photographs of young men wearing a hat and little else in order to show off a musculature as defined as an anatomical drawing , but a closed book offers far more in the way of mental stimulation, as far as I’m concerned. Also the dust jacket can be ripped and the inside filled with scrawly notations but that just makes the thing more interesting. AND you don’t have to worry about hurting its feelings or it hurting yours. Books don’t judge. Best companions ever whether hand written on vellum or $0.99 on Smashwords.

And I love museums too so was very happy to spot not one but 2 cracking book based exhibitions reviewed in the Museum’s Journal this month.

“This is what we do for the dying …” by Johnny Kelly

Memory Palace, at the V&A, is a temporary art exhibition based on a novel specially written for the event by Hari Kunzru. Memory Palace describes a dystopian future where all forms of learning and the recording of information have been banned. 20 artists were each given a different excerpt of the novel and asked to interpret it in their own way. Here is a video describing the process of putting the exhibition together.

If you’re in London before the 20th October why not take a look.

The other exhibition is open until the 27th October at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and has the delightful title “Magical Books: From the Middle Ages to Middle Earth”.

In it, parallels are drawn between the work of British fantasy writers and ancient texts from the library collection.

Fragment of the Book of Mazarbul made by J RR Tolkein in the 1940s

The Ashburnham Fragment is paired off with Tolkein’s own facsimile of the Book of Mazarbul, while C S Lewis’s description of Narnia echoes elements of the Ripley Scroll.

This 20 feet by 2 feet scroll describes in glorious illustrated detail the steps required to make the Philosopher’s Stone! Other modern authors are Alan Garner [The Weirdstone of Brisingamen], Susan Cooper [The Dark is Rising story cycle – please ignore the film, it was rubbish] and Philip Pullman [His Dark Materials]. You can also see the First Folio Macbeth, in the witchcraft section, and that’s not something you’ll see anywhere else.

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Doodle Tuesday

Posted in Art, Causes on September 17, 2013| 2 Comments »

For the past few weeks I have been contributing to the #DoodleTuesday group on Facebook. This group has been set up in support of the You Will Rise Project which aims to provide a means by which people who have been bullied, either as children or as adults, can express their experiences in any artistic means they choose. The project was started by Linda Regula and Paul Richmond, both of whom were bullied as children, and they have been joined by artist Aaron Anderson, videographer Maria Fanning and Brooke Albrecht, the Doodle Queen.

My doodles are nothing special but some of the drawings and photo manips are fantastic and well worth sharing. So see what people posted last week and if you would like to join in you can link to your drawing from Twitter, via Instagram [not sure what that is], the Doodle Tuesday and You Will Rise Facebook groups and I should imagine Tumblr as well. Just add #doodletuesday to your post to show your support of this project.

 

 

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Writing aides

Posted in Art, tagged , on April 26, 2012| 2 Comments »

Everyone has their own way of boosting their writing. Some write a detailed outline, some ‘cast’ their characters, picking film stars or models as the faces and bodies of the people they are writing about.

I don’t do this – or not often – because I draw them instead. I have a very sharp visual image of everything I write about. Sadly my artistic ability isn’t up to depicting the scenes as accurately as I would like but I try and have a good deal of fun doing so.

Here is my mental image of Cynfal riding his ‘sheep’:

(more…)

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