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Showing posts from October, 2018

#HistFicThursdays - The Triumph of Maxentius - Free Short Story

Today for the #HistFicThursdays blog, I'm sharing my Alternative History short story The Triumph of Maxentius . It looks at the possible outcome if Constantine had not been victorious at Milvian Bridge. This was one of those key moments in history where everything changed direction... but what if it had gone in a different direction? If you enjoy this story, have a look at my other Roman Alternative History story, Vercingetorix's Virgin , in the Historical Writers Forum 's anthology Alternate Endings . The Battle of the Milvian Bridge (1520–24) by Giulio Romano.  The Triumph of Maxentius Ignatius had not watched his father’s execution. He had been present, hoping to avert the sword’s terrible movement as it delivered its fatal blow but, upon being recognised in the gathering crowd, he had fled. For several weeks he had hidden from everyone he knew and run from those he did not, dreaming of the day he could free his father and quit Rome altogether. But he had never found hi

"Dear Mr Pop Star" by Derek & Dave Philpott

For more than a decade, Derek Philpott and his son, Dave, have been writing to pop stars from the 1960s to the 90s to take issue with the lyrics of some of their best-known songs. But then, to their great surprise, the pop stars started writing back... Dear Mr Pop Star  contains 100 of Derek and Dave's greatest hits, including correspondence with Katrina and the Waves, Tears for Fears, Squeeze, The Housemartins, Suzi Quatro, Devo, Deep Purple, Nik Kershaw, T Pau, Human League, Eurythmics, Wang Chung, EMF, Mott the Hoople, Heaven 17, Jesus Jones, Johnny Hates Jazz, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Chesney Hawkes and many, many more. When I agreed to review this book and be part of the blog tour for the launch, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. This book's subject and way of writing is most unusual...but it works! What a great hobby to write to celebrities, and greater still that some of them would reply, often matching the cheek and wit that was init