Ave, Canem

If you read Pompeii Fire, you’ll remember a character called Buon-Cane; he was also Invictus during the historical chapters. Buon-Cane/Invictus was a dog who lived in the Pompeii ruins; he was based on the dog in this photo, Argo. Argo followed me all over the village and kept me (and many others over the years) company in the archaeological park. In the photo above, Argo had kept my group company up all the stairs to the top row of the theatre, and was sleeping behind me in the sun.

Today, the staff at the Pompeii Archaeological Park shared that Argo, who was more than 15 years old, has left us. People are sharing their fond memories of him on Facebook, and I also wanted to honor him here.

He really was a good dog. Rest well, Argo; I am sure that your spirit walks among many others in Pompeii.

Story Board, “Highland Fire”

Hi, everyone. Just for fun, I’m sharing the story board for my current WIP. I like using Pinterest to store visual references for my books. Check it out!

Music Monday: “Glencoe”

Hi, everyone. Today’s song, performed by the late Alex Beaton, tells the tale of the Glencoe Massacre of 1692. Highland Fire, the last book in the series (Bayou Fire, Pompeii Fire) will be set around this event. The ballad is indeed sad, but beautifully written. Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Question: What’s The Big Idea?

Hi, everyone. It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means it’s time for a question from the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours predominantly come from?

They can come from anywhere. A piece of music. A theatrical production. A phrase that occurs to me (that was the honest-to-Diety inspiration for “Gaul is Divided,” one of the stories in Around the World in 80 Pages). A writing prompt. A news article. A non-fiction work.

If you want to see some direct examples, please check out my posts under the Author’s Inspiration category.

July 5 – Sun Shone On A New ‘King’

I wrote about Elvis and some other early influencers in It Happened in Memphis. Happy anniversary to “That’s All Right!”

A Sound Day

If today’s birthday boy, Huey Lewis (73 today!), sings about the “heart of rock and roll,” another event today perhaps signifies the “start of rock and roll.” The “King”, Elvis Presley recorded his first single this day in 1954. If you didn’t know that, “That’s All Right!”.

It’d been a long road towards stardom for Elvis by that point, even though he was only 19 at the time. Young Elvis was obsessed with music as a kid, and growing up originally in Tupelo, Mississippi, he grew up listening to a lot of Black music on the local radio. Around the time he was 10, he picked up a guitar and began to teach himself to play. By his teen years, he’d moved with his family to Memphis and in time began to hang out in the Beale street clubs and listen to a lot of the country music…

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