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Yuletide!
And I got not one, not two, but THREE stories as gifts, which makes me beaming as if someone reformed by face to a permanent grin. (Otoh, that sounds suspiciously like the Joker and his victims, so perhaps not the best simile. But you know what I mean.)
Here is what I got, in historical order, for lo and behold, all these stories are based on real people:
Roman History:
Scenes from something which is certainly not a friendship: Two formidable ladies from the last days of the Republic, Terentia (Cicero’s wife) and Clodia (as far as Roman historians were concerned, her total opposite in terms of life style and politics). The relationship the author builds up between them is terrifically written, the dialogues sparkle and then a quiet descriptive statement hits you in the gut with its understated emotion, and watch out for the appearance of the most famous Roman lady of the early empire, Livia, as a young woman.
Literary History:
The Sound of Thunder: the story of the Brontes begins when four gifted children start to play with toy soldiers, and it ends, all too soon, when the toy soldiers are all that is left. This author wrote me the birth of Angria and Gondal, the morning Branwell brought his new toys to his sisters and their imaginations were set on fire, and she also gave me the two survivors after all those children were gone, Patrick Bronte and Arthur Nicholls. I loved it.
Swinging London History:
A guy who really knows his way around: in which young Brian Epstein meets even younger Andrew Loog Oldham, who wants a job and maybe more. Yes, the manager of the Rolling Stones used to work for the manager of the Beatles just around the time when everyone was on the verge of getting their breakthrough, and the author – the only one of my Yuletide authors whose identity I’m fairly certain I can guess – develops a fascinating dynamic between these two men, and captures the whole dawn-of-Swinging-London atmosphere beautifully.
Now, before I dive into the rest of the treasure: I think the two stories I wrote are pretty obvious, but then, I thought that before and was wrong. If you can guess them, you get a drabble on the subject of your choice, provided I know the canon.
And I got not one, not two, but THREE stories as gifts, which makes me beaming as if someone reformed by face to a permanent grin. (Otoh, that sounds suspiciously like the Joker and his victims, so perhaps not the best simile. But you know what I mean.)
Here is what I got, in historical order, for lo and behold, all these stories are based on real people:
Roman History:
Scenes from something which is certainly not a friendship: Two formidable ladies from the last days of the Republic, Terentia (Cicero’s wife) and Clodia (as far as Roman historians were concerned, her total opposite in terms of life style and politics). The relationship the author builds up between them is terrifically written, the dialogues sparkle and then a quiet descriptive statement hits you in the gut with its understated emotion, and watch out for the appearance of the most famous Roman lady of the early empire, Livia, as a young woman.
Literary History:
The Sound of Thunder: the story of the Brontes begins when four gifted children start to play with toy soldiers, and it ends, all too soon, when the toy soldiers are all that is left. This author wrote me the birth of Angria and Gondal, the morning Branwell brought his new toys to his sisters and their imaginations were set on fire, and she also gave me the two survivors after all those children were gone, Patrick Bronte and Arthur Nicholls. I loved it.
Swinging London History:
A guy who really knows his way around: in which young Brian Epstein meets even younger Andrew Loog Oldham, who wants a job and maybe more. Yes, the manager of the Rolling Stones used to work for the manager of the Beatles just around the time when everyone was on the verge of getting their breakthrough, and the author – the only one of my Yuletide authors whose identity I’m fairly certain I can guess – develops a fascinating dynamic between these two men, and captures the whole dawn-of-Swinging-London atmosphere beautifully.
Now, before I dive into the rest of the treasure: I think the two stories I wrote are pretty obvious, but then, I thought that before and was wrong. If you can guess them, you get a drabble on the subject of your choice, provided I know the canon.
