Aquila

This is a copper engraving by the Dutch artists Willem Janszoon and Joan Blaeu, based on Giovanni Antonio Magini’s original of 1598. Many thanks to Paolo Ferruzzi, who keeps this map in his Academy of Works of Art in Poggio. Funnily enough, Silvanus’ map, though less elaborate, looks far more accurate to the modern eye.

Aquila – Can Silvanus Escape That God? is a work of historical fiction, set on the Isle of Elba in the 6th century.

I’ve tried something new – a reading from my WIP, in which the runaway slave girl Virna tells Silvanus how she came by those ominous lashes. If you watch to the end, you’ll even see what she looks like… Here’s the video. I’ve done this in aid of a Philippine project to make books available…

I just discovered a map Silvanus must have made, showing his treks across Ilva. How do you like it? Actually, it was made for him by a brilliant cartographer in Russia, Polina Vorontsova.

My brain was addled and my neck ached. I had been sitting too long in front of the computer. I couldn’t even motivate myself enough to procrastinate. And then I saw the sun was shining. Why not grab one of the tasty korvapuustit my wife had just baked and head for the woods? Who would have…

I’ve come to a juicy episode, part of chapter 6. And the strange thing is that I feel deep emotion for the character I’m creating. The chapter introduces a runaway slave, whom Silvanus finds in the woods. Listen to the story and let me know what you think… “Aren’t you afraid of Jupiter and Mars…

I doubt that Silvanus saw many motor boats from his hillside home on Elba. But he certainly watched the birds and shipping. And dreamed of adventure in the big, wide world. Perhaps that is what inspired me to take a day off work and go ‘sailing’ in the MS Panta Rhei on the Zürichsee. In spite…