Talking about my books, themes and ideas about life
Post-apocalyptic food. Is it ever mentioned? Rarely, except where it has been reduced to a joyless protein pill that meets all a human's nutritional needs or the terrifying Soylent Green. Speaking personally food is one of the great pleasures. I am sure, even in these neurotic times, I am not alone. Why should a recovering… Continue reading After The Deluge…Part 3: Food
Wood. The original carbon fibre composite. And still the best. Low energy, clean, green, recyclable, simple to work with and beautiful. Everything to like and universally available. A few years ago I happened across an old book, "Woodland Crafts in Britain" by an H. L. Edlin. Published just after the end of WW2 it chronicles… Continue reading After The Deluge… Part 2: Wood
Following on from my little rant in the last couple of posts - too many 'Whys'?? - about our culture's obsession with speed, at the price of quality of life and experience, I thought I would start a series of articles on what I imagine post-apocalyptic life and technology might look like, starting with travel… Continue reading After The Deluge… Part 1: Slow Train
I wanted a close, almost claustrophobic, setting for my alt. history world in 'Renaissance'. I needed a space in which it was normal that people who wished to be discreet might disguise themselves, as a matter of course, as a response to societal oppression. I turned to the example of Venice. Alley in the back… Continue reading Italian Inspiration Part 3
From the home of Machiavelli I have drawn the way in which an individual, without necessarily officially having power, can control the State. Lorenzo the Magnificent ruled early Renaissance Florence through a mixture of patronage, place men, rigged ballots and calculated violence. Yet he officially held no political office. Bronzino and workshop artist QS:P170,Q4233718,P?,Q7803, Lorenzo de Medici,… Continue reading Italian Inspiration Part 2
I am fascinated by the complex history and politics of the medieval Italian city states. Their energy, enthusiasm, violence, political and economic chicanery all add up to a glorious resource on which to draw. They were a melting pot of religious fervour, economic, artistic and intellectual ingenuity at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and northern… Continue reading Italian Inspiration Part 1
So, after thinking these thoughts about a possible post-apocalyptic world over the three previous parts, where did I arrive and why did I pursue it as the background to my novel? I have assumed that a global pandemic has wiped out ninety plus percent of the world's population in the early second half of the… Continue reading Why Post-Apocalyptic But NOT Dystopian? Part 4
The other factor in the event of an apocalyptic event or global pandemic would likely be that people turn to religion, most probably in a fairly fundamentalist form. The demands that such a form makes on the individual may make it seem more powerful, more useful, in confronting the disaster. This, I think, is natural… Continue reading Why Post-Apocalyptic But NOT Dystopian? Part 3
