Just a quick post today. I’ve been home from the office with a bit of intestinal crud for the past couple of days, which has not exactly been conducive to getting any writing done either. Still, I’ve managed to get another two or three kilowords down on Twice-Crowned since the weekend. I’m not at all happy with the text as it stands – I’ve got more loose plot threads lying on the floor than you can shake a stick at – but better to get the story roughed out in full, and then go back and start polishing and trimming. The overall shape of the story is working out fine.

I should call out a source that’s been remarkably useful, and will probably continue to be so: a book titled The Seer in Ancient Greece, by Michael Atiyah Flower, published 2008 by the University of California Press. Although my protagonist is not at all a typical Hellene of her time, it’s very good to have a solid understanding of what other manteis did in the real world, and how they interacted with the society and culture around them. Somewhat specialized, but highly recommended if you have an interest in classical Hellenic religious thought.

Watching this blog for the past few days has been a bit surprising. Today has been the busiest day the blog has seen since I reinstated it back in April, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. For some reason, I’ve suddenly been getting dozens of hits from Facebook, which is odd since I don’t cross-post and don’t even maintain an active account there. Haven’t a clue as to where the hits are coming from, either, and neither Google nor Facebook’s native search engine have been of any help. Not that I’m complaining, to be sure. Still, a small request to any readers who might be coming this way from Facebook: could you leave a comment on this post to indicate where the link is coming from? I’m kind of curious what’s up with that.

Tomorrow, with any luck, I’ll be back on an even keel health-wise and ready to get back to the office. The writing that needs to be done there is piling up too.