Bernard Cornwell

Last night I made the trip down to Cape Cod to see Bernard Cornwell speak at the Osterville library.

I was slightly surprized by the venue. Osterville has the look to me of my village of Moira back home: The sort of one-street hamlet where upper middle class ladies go on a Saturday afternoon to get their hair done, look at expensive clothes and then have a cup of coffee and a bun. The library is an impressive, new building but it is still not exactly the venue you would expect to see a best-selling author with the reputation of Cornwell in. The room was understandably packed though there must have been no more than forty or fifty people there. It is rare enough to get the chance to listen in person to a man who could well be described as the master of modern Historical Fiction, but to listen to him speaking in a small room to such a small group of people was unique. In the UK Bernard Cornwell could easily fill a space the size of the whole library and draw a crowd ten or twenty times that size, so it was a great opportunity to listen and ask questions. Not only that but there were juice and cookies supplied!

Cornwell was a tremendously entertaining speaker, talking for over an hour and a half, completely off the cuff, fielding questions and keeping his audience enthralled and amused throughout. The official theme of the talk was supposed to be Cornwell’s book 1356 (or “four minutes to two” as he repeatedly referred to it, much to the bemusement of the American audience). The book has just been launched in the USA, however he ranged over a wide range of topics from how he first got published to fascinating insights into his writing process.

Someone with the writing track record of Bernard Cornwell has every right to blow their own trumpet, but despite his declarations of self-promotion, I found him in many ways quite modest and self-deprecating. Through snippets and stories about his life and career glimpses of the sheer depth of the man’s historical knowledge became clear, as well as the lengths to which he is prepared to go in the name of research. At one point he waded into an Indian river to judge its depth and see whether Sharpe and his men would have had to hold their equipment over their heads. The fact that no one beyond the residents of the nearby village would actually know how deep that river is says a lot about his commitment to veracity.

For someone like me who has been a long term fan of Cornwell the evening was a veritable cornucopia of information, like how Richard Sharpe got his name (after an English rugby player), why there is a rifleman Dodd in Sharpe’s squad or why he really stopped writing the Starbuck stories, along with hints and tips about how he got where he is today. Some things he said that particularly stick in my mind are: It’s not that hard to write something. It’s harder to write well. It’s very difficult to write something that people are interested in reading. Also, there is no such thing as writer’s block. Can you imagine a nurse phoning into Cape Cod hospital and saying I can’t come to work today because I’ve got nurse’s block?

At the time, it came as surprise to me that Cornwell is one of those writers how doesn’t plan his stories. He just sits down and writes them. However on reflection, having witnessed the man in action, it is obvious he was born with a genius for story-telling, whether it be about walking his dog passed a civil war commemoration in Charlestown or a series of books about Dark Age Britain, there is no question that Bernard Cornwell keeps his respective audience thoroughly entertained (and-dare I say-a little bit educated too).

Exciting news came in the form of his upcoming works: A non-fiction book about Waterloo then a whole new series kicking off next year.

After it was over he did not simply rush away but made time to speak to everyone, sign books and briefly chat, no matter how inane the questions or comments were from awkward, slightly tongue tied fans (like myself).

At one point in his talk, Cornwell touched on the current crisis in the publishing industry and likened it to what has already happened in the music industry. “Musicians can still get by though as they can tour,” he said. “But no one is going to pay $150 to listen to listen to me talking.”

After last night’s performance, I for one wouldn’t be too sure.

The event was organised by Books by the Sea , the excellent independent bookshop in Osterville, and I would like to thank both them for going to the effort and Bernard Cornwell for providing such an entertaining and enlightening evening.

New Book: The Spear of Crom

I'm delighted to say that my new book, The Spear of Crom, is now available in paperback.

This is the "blurb" from the back cover:

"68 AD. The XIV Legion under the command of General Suetonius and the Tribune, Gnaeus Julius

Agricola, march west on a mission to crush insurgent tribes in Rome's newest Province, Britannia.

Fergus MacAmergin is an officer in a Celtic auxiliary cavalry regiment riding alongside the Legion.

As the British tribes wage guerrilla war on the Romans, Fergus falls foul of his commander. His

punishment is to lead a squad of men on a suicidal mission deep behind enemy lines.

Joining forces with Agricola, Fergus is tasked with finding a mystical spear, said to be the weapon

that pierced the side of Jesus Christ on the cross.

As the assignment unfolds, it becomes clear that there is more to the spear than meets the eye and

he is heading directly for a confrontation with dark forces from his past."

The paperback is available here (http://www.feedaread.com/books/The-Spear-of-Crom-9781782993476.aspx) and on Amazon in a couple of weeks from now. Also in Kindle

format (http://www.amazon.com/The-Spear-of-Crom-ebook/dp/B00BFHIP7M).

New Website!

After some comments that apparently my digital footprint is rather small, I've finally got round to getting myself a website for my books, writing, upcoming news and as a way for folks to contact me. Hopefully it will take off and become the hub for my online life but this represents the first step. I'm pleased with how it looks and so far the feedback has been good. Step one was establishing it. Step 2 will be incorporating this blog into it and working out a way to syndicate it.

So please take some time to check it out: http://www.timhodkinson.com/

For those of you interested in the technicalities of how it was built, all I can say is HTML5 rocks 

On Scythed Chariots

I mentioned on an internet forum that my new book “The Spear of Crom” had “Romans, Celts and scythed chariots” and another member asked the question “isn't there quite a bit of doubt about the use of scythed chariots in Britain?”

That is a very good question. Speak of scythed chariots and the image of the statue of Boadicea in London probably springs to mind. It’s impressive but is it historically accurate?

The use of war chariots by British tribes is recorded by classical writers, e.g. Tacitus mentions them being used by the Caledonions against the Romans at the battle of Mon Graupius (which happened somewhere in Scotland round about 83 AD). Whether these bore scythes or not is a different matter. There is one specific classical reference to scythed chariots in Britain but I believe current academic opinion is that this was just Roman propaganda. There also seems to be a lack of archaeological evidence, but then there is no archaeological evidence for the druids (who also play a key role in my book), either.

My rather brief description on the forum, however, was inaccurate on 2 counts: What appears in my book is not hordes of "scythed chariots" but an instance of a war machine called a "sickle chariot". The hero of my book is a Hibernian based very loosely on an ancient Irish hero called Conal Cernach combined with another character from Irish history who may or may not have hung around with  Gnaeus Julius Agricola in the 1st Century AD. As mentioned in my last post about the druids, in writing the book I used a lot of research from early Irish literature, particularly the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the Táin Bó Fraích and the Táin Bó Flidhais. While the existing texts of these works are very early medieval the language used is much older and the setting is traditionally around the time of Christ, so bang on for the period my book is set.

I took my rather outlandish depictions of the druids (e.g. wearing cloaks made of bird feathers or bull hide) from these sources rather than the modern new age idea that seems to be based on 19th century revivalism. It was in Thomas Kinsella's translation of the Táin Bó Cúailnge that I found a description of a rather impressive device used by the hero Cú Chulainn called the sickle (as opposed to scythed) chariot. That vehicle is described as being covered all over with spikes and sharp points, rather than revolving blades on the axles, and the "sickle" name seems to come from the power it gives Cú Chulainn to mow down his enemies.

Probably like those ancient Roman propagandists, I loved the idea of ancient Celts in scythed chariots. However the actual effectiveness of those revolving blades on the axles of the chariot always bothered me. Then shortly after arriving here in the USA I saw a show on the Discovery Channel where they tried to re-create a scythed chariot based on designs created by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th Century. It worked, but the key difference was that the blades rotate horizontally to the ground, like helicopter blades, not vertically (as in if they stick straight out from the main axles). It struck me that scythe blades swooping round this way much more align to the idea of a "sickle chariot" that reaps a bloody harvest than the conventional idea.

Anfad, the villain in the book, is a druid with connections to Ireland (he studied druidry there) and wanted to give him something that made him an even more formidable opponent for Fergus the hero. The idea occurred to me that a sickle chariot inspired by a combination of early medieval Irish literature and Leonardo da Vinci’s designs would be tremendously cool  :-) Yes, I know that probably makes him more of a Bond villain but that maybe gives you an idea of what the book is like. Heck, there is also a magic spear in it- though hopefully the book explains just enough of the science behind it to make it plausible. 

The idea of the chariot also led to tremendously gory final battle which was an absolute joy to write (and hopefully read).

On my portrayal of the Druids

When (if) people read my new book, The Spear of Crom, sooner or later they are bound to wonder what I have against the druids. Its fair to say that the druids who appear in my book are frightening, strange and superstitious and at least two of them are villains in the piece. Fergus, the hero of the book, hates the druids and with very good reason. As a Celt, shouldn’t I be portraying those Iron Age religious leaders (and leaders of the British opposition to the Imperial might of Rome) in a more favorable light? 

The common picture of the druids is of philosopher/gurus with long white hair and beards and robes to match, full of New Age wisdom and the authentic lore of the land. Where did I come up with these strange priests dressed in animal hides or bird feathers, with odd haircuts, distinctive head dresses and a predilection for human sacrifice?

In a word, research. I should start by saying that I am fascinated both by Celtic culture and religion (I studied it at under graduate level) and also by modern New Age revivals of the old pagan faiths. Each month I very much enjoy the new episode of one of my favourite podcasts, Druidcast (http://www.druidcast.libsyn.com/). Nor do I see Roman “civilisation” as a favourable alternative to the native culture. In the book Fergus has to come to terms with the realisation that the Roman army he has joined is every bit as “barbaric” as the tribes they are fighting. However the issue with our modern perception of the druids is that it is just that: Modern. In reality we know very little about the ancient druids and most (almost all) of what we now think of when we talk about them is a modern construction. I don’t believe this will get me in trouble with OBOD (the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids) as they openly admit that the roots of their order lie in the twentieth, rather than the first, century, though they are inspired by older sentiments.

What we do know about the druids from contemporary sources comes largely from classical writers who came from the Greek and Roman cultures. Given that the Romans were largely responsible for the suppression of the druids, their opinions need to be viewed in that light. Apart from classical references there is precious little other written evidence. The reason we have no druid records is because they did not write anything down- the ancient Celts had an oral culture and the druids were responsible for safeguarding the history and lore of the tribes preserved in their memories. The problem with that is that when the person dies, the knowledge dies with them, unless they have passed it on. There is, however, a body of not contemporary but certainly very old literature that contains many references to druids. Early medieval Irish literature has a host of tales in which druids appear and it was from them, and particularly the Táin Bó Cúailnge, that I decided to base my depiction of the druids. You are probably wondering why I thought these would be more trust worthy than classical authors. After all these tales were written down by Christian monks who would have had an axe to grind against their pagan predecessors in the religious hierarchy. However they were at least  descendants of people within the same culture as the druids (or at least the Irish druids anyway) leaving the possibility of the descriptions being at least half-remembered traditions. We can also guess that the tales are a reasonably authentic record of pagan traditions as the 11th century monk who compiled one version of the Táin felt obliged to add a disclaimer that the contents included  “deceptions of demons”, lies and things for the enjoyment of fools. 

I chose not to follow the standard portrayal of druids as clad in white. I am unsure where the idea of the long hair and beards come from -most memorably portrayed by Getafix in Astrix the Gaul- but the white robes seem to have come from the Roman writer Pliny the Elder’s description of a particular druid ritual, i.e. something they only wore at a certain time of year. Instead I followed the medieval Irish depictions of druids clad in the hides of animals, particularly the bull or the horse, or wrapped in cloaks made from the feathers of birds. To me this relates better to the possible shamanic origins of the druids. 

Another concept I chose to include was a weird haircut. It seems the druids possibly had a form of tonsure in the same way Christian monks do. One of the bones of contention in the dispute between the Celtic church and the Roman one that resulted in the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD was the difference between the way the clerics of the respective churches wore their tonsure. What the differences were is obscure but what is obvious is that the Celts did not wear their hair in the the way modern monks do with the top of their heads shaved. They were accused of having their hair cut in the “tradition of Simon Magus”, and it is surmised that in Ireland the Christian church had carried on the tradition of the druids in the way they had their hair tonsured. Simon Magus, while a villainous magician of the Christian tradition, in early Irish literature is often a sort of euphemism for druids. There are various theories about what this haircut looked like (no descriptions have survived) but I went for the one where the druids shaved the front of their heads, leaving a strangely high-looking forehead and elongated face. 

The druids commitment to human sacrifice is recorded by classical writers and Christian hagiographies and also seems born out by archaeology. The numerous bog bodies found across northern Europe are reckoned to be testament to this practice. I will deal with this topic further in a future post about the God Crom, who also appears in the book.

I realise that its probably a risk to portray the druids in an unfavourable light. However I think that we have a tendency to think that anyone who is opposed to something we are opposed to is automatically like us or at least have values that match ours. Unfortunately there are many examples from history and the present day that show this is not the case. If we look for a modern analogy to the druids resistance to the Roman army in Britain, the concept of a religiously motivated priesthood leading a guerilla insurgency against the most technically advanced military machine of the time inevitably points in the direction of Iraq and Afghanistan. I really wonder how this will go down with readers. At the HNS conference in London last September, the common reaction of agents and publishers to my pitch that I had portrayed the druids as “a bit like the Taliban” was greeted with almost universal consternation, or in the case of one bes selling novelist, a sort of half shocked laughter.

However while I've gone slightly against the grain, I have striven to create an image of the ancient druids that I believe to be as authentic as I can make it based on the research I undertook. Hopefully no one will take offence, as at the end of the day its just a novel anyway. All that said, the druids in my book are not all bad. The female druid, Ceridwyn could well be seen as the heroine of the book. 

. 

The Spear of Crom is available now from Amazon on Kindle and is coming soon in paperback.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Spear-of-Crom-ebook/dp/B00BFHIP7M 

The Spear of Crom - Cover

My editor has almost finished work on my new book, "The Spear of Crom" -a tale of Romans, Celts and pagan religions. I'm also tremendously pleased to say that Paul McDonnell of Three Creative has yet again produced a magnificent cover for me. Here it is:

Interview with Douglas Jackson

At the Historical Novel Society conference in London I had the pleasure of meeting Douglas Jackson, authour of the best selling Roman historical novels about G. Valerius Verrens and a man described by the Daily Express as "One of the best historical novelists writing today".

You can now read my interview with him on the HNS website:
http://historicalnovelsociety.org/douglas-jackson-speaks-with-tim-hodkinson-about-the-inspiration-of-rome/

Book review: The Memory of Scent by Lisa Burkitt

This is not the sort of HF I would normally read. My wife suggested I try it in an effort to broaden my mind a bit and after some initial protests (e.g. “there are no swords on the cover!”) I decided to give it a go, and I have to say I am glad I did.

Bohemian Paris in the 1880s with its cafes, salons and the social milieu around the impressionist movement provides the backdrop for the novel. Lisa Burkitt manages to evoke the period admirably. There is plenty of historical detail. The reader is brought into the conversations of the likes of Degas, Renoir, Monet and Toulouse Lautrec, smells the scents of artist’s studios and explores the finer side of cuisine in the company of a gourmand.

Beginning as a murder mystery, the book follows the fortunes of two models, Fleur and Babette whose lives are changed dramatically when the artist they pose for is murdered. Fleur knows Babette only by the smell of patchouli she leaves behind in the artist’s room and becomes fixated on finding her.  Themes such as the relationship between men and women, poverty, art and mental illness are explored as the narrative shifts between the initially elegant Babette and her descent into prison and prostitution while Fleur moves through the world of impressionist art and music. It’s probably not giving away too much to mention that the narrative device of the unreliable narrator is used with great success.

The book is many layered and full of intrigue and secrets. It shows both the glamour and the poverty of the Bohemian lifestyle. I enjoyed it and it certainly did make a change from battles and gladiators. 

The Memory of Scent is published by The History Press Ireland. This review was of the Kindle Edition.

Did the Romans come to Ireland?

I'm currently writing the final chapters of the first draft of what I like to refer to as my attempt at a Y.A.R.N.- Yet Another Roman Novel :-)


I know the market is currently flooded with Roman militaria, but once I had started writing it was so enjoyable it just had to be completed. Its now at the point were I can start talking to people about it and in that spirit I discussed it a bit with Trudy my wife the other night. 
"What is the hero called?" she asked.
"Fergus MacAmergin," I replied. 

The look on her face said it all. It sounds so ridiculous it will never sell. Who is going to believe there was an Irishman in the Roman army? Worse, how likely is it that he would have been involved in the occupation of Britain and fought during the revolt of Boudicca (61 AD)?


Well its not as far-fetched as it might at first sound. 


One of the main characters in my book is a Roman called Gnaeus Julius Agricola. Agricola was a historical figure who later made his name in conquering the Caledonians in what is now Scotland. Back in the year 60 though, he was a young Tribune assigned to the XIV Legion engaged in the subjugation of the Silures tribe in south Wales. 


We know a lot about Agricola, and that's because he was lucky enough to have a son-in-law who was a famous historian, Tacitus, and he left us an account of his wife's father's life. Suffice to say, he was a very effective general who achieved considerable success in Britain.
As well as that, Tacitus mentions that Agricola kept an exiled Irish king as a companion, and "pretended to be his friend" with the view to using restoring him to his throne in Ireland as an excuse for a future invasion of the island by Rome. That invasion, of course never happened and it would be another millennium before Strongbow  successfully used the same strategy in 1169.
All these events happened twenty years after my book is set, but they provided enough seeds to allow the creation of my story. Who knows where it will go, but creating it has been an enjoyable experience.


Agricola was also the origin of the (in)famous quote that Ireland could probably be conquered by one Roman Legion plus auxiliaries. 

So how did he come that conclusion? In chapter 24 of his history, Tacitus reported that while campaigning in south west Scotland Agricola "crossed the water" in a ship and defeated tribes previously unknown to the Romans. The rest of the chapter discussed Ireland and this has led some people to speculate that this meant Agricola made an expedition to Ireland, with a tentative identification of a legionary fort on the headland of Drumanagh, in Count Dublin. I tend to disagree about Drumanagh. If he ever did cross the Irish sea, the most likely spot Agricola would have set up a beachhead was somewhere on the north Antrim coast, particularly given the passage from Tacitus that mentions he was in the Dumfries/Galloway region when he set up a forward base "on the shores facing Ireland" with an eye to a future invasion. The sea is so narrow there you can see across with the naked eye. In face, a crazy South African just swam across it. The last book I wrote, Lions of the Grail,  was about the Scottish Invasion of Ireland in 1315, and that was the route Edward Bruce's army took. 

Book Review: Outlaw by Angus Donald

I have to admit I have avoided reading this book for a long time through a misguided combination of jealousy and the desire to avoid disappointment. The jealousy spring from my own desire to write a novel that portrayed Robin Hood in a realistic light that was true to the spirit of the original medieval ballads about him. In those works Robin is about as far from Kevin Costner’s version of the character as you can get. There is plenty of robbing-not necessarily just from the rich-and very little giving to the poor. Murder and mutilation is a fact of life (as it was at the time) and unlucky people who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time-rather than in some way “deserving” their fate-often end up with their throats cut by our the band of “merry men”, in one episode regardless of the fact the victim is a child. In many ways Robin acts like a modern day gangster and that is exactly what comes across in Angus Donald’s book.

He does much more though and manages the almost impossible. Alongside the original ballads pretty much all the various (and at times contradicting) traditions that have grow up around Robin since are incorporated into one compelling, action packed and plausible narrative. So there is a Mariann and a Tuck, as well as a Guy, Robin operates both in Yorkshire and Nottingham and the “purist’s” problem of a medieval sheriff somehow acting like a baron is elegantly dealt with. The author creates an authentic picture of Twelfth Century England in which all these elements play and keeps the reader enthralled there as the action (and there is plenty of it) unfolds. The violence is frequent and unflinchingly brutal, but the tale is told from the perspective of Alan a Dale, following his development from thieving boy to accomplished Trouvère, which allows elements of medieval culture to be incorporated beyond the swordplay and fighting. As a bit of a language nerd, I particularly enjoyed the way the author demonstrates the medieval origins behind some of the idioms we use today such as “fast and loose” and “being caught red handed”.

In many ways this is the quintessential novel for fans of the medieval period. Like a modern Ivanhoe, all the elements you would want to see are here: Outlaws, castles, knights, a Jewish character, damsels in distress, dungeons, sieges, battles, witches and Templars, its all here but woven together in a way that avoids cliche.

The marketing for the book draws parallels with The Godfather, and this is particularly apt but it is more than just a tale of gangsters in chain mail: At times it slides deep into the territory of that other classic of 1970s cinema, The Wicker Man. As these are two of my favourite films, suffice to say that I was far from disappointed by the book.

Suffice to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and my regret now is that I avoided it for so long. The good news is that I now have a whole series of these books to look forward to.

Book Review: The Bleeding Land by Giles Kristian

If war is Hell, then civil war must be Hell’s nastier, more vindictive sister*. This is the message I took from Giles Kristian’s historical novel “The Bleeding Land”.

I’ve been waiting a long time for some quality historical fiction set during the English Civil War. A few years back I posted a question on Bernard Cornwell’s forum asking if he would ever tackle the subject. He said he had no plans to but finally a writer of equal quality has come along to take up this banner.

Giles Kristian plunges the reader straight into the opening volleys of the battle of Edgehill. Mun (Edmund) and Tom Rivers- the book’s protagonist brothers-are on opposite sides. The cavalry begin their charge and the reader is hooked immediately as the action withdraws back through time to relate how the characters got into that situation. I remained engrossed as the narrative made its way inexorably back to Edgehill and the carnage that followed.

The book primarily relates the story of the Rivers family, members of the English gentry, and the effect the war has on their relationships, both internally and with their associated circle of relations and neighbours. Don’t worry though: This is no turgid soap opera and there is an abundance of action and fast moving excitement. There are several levels of conflict: The war itself between King and Parliament, and then there is the internal strife within the Rivers family which leaves the brothers on opposing sides. The author does not shy away from the cliché of “a family torn apart by civil war”, but that is where convention ends. It is very human feelings of revenge and family loyalty that ultimately lead to Tom ending up a rebel while Mun and his father join the King’s army. In many respects this is what makes the book so engaging. It’s a human story rather than an exploration of 16^th century politics. Men join the fight for very personal reasons that happen to align with the macrocosm conflict rather than blindly falling into line with arguments from a conflict now long past.

I may have read it wrong but it seems that the author deliberately does not “pick sides”. There are bastards in both armies, as there are men of integrity. Bravery and foolishness appear in equal measure, and that-along with the way the politics of the time play a background role-make it hard for the reader (well this one anyway) to discern any possible bias. If anything this brings across the true tragedy of a land ripped apart by a civil conflict.

The sights, sounds and especially the smells of 17^th century England and London are vividly described and the reader is drawn into the time setting and kept there. Giles Kristian has obviously done his research well and there is plenty of technical detail to delight the history nerd and military buff, particularly in the area of weapons and armour. Something I personally applaud is his inclusion of historical facts that may make some readers uncomfortable, because (while true) they don’t fit with conventional portrayals of the past that are actually based on modern perceptions. For example, some folk may wonder why an Irishman is fighting for the King of England and I imagine that it will not just be the characters in the book who might be surprized by the King’s Scottish accent.

A host of memorable characters bring the story to life and their portrayal ensures the reader is gripped because he or she cares about them while being dreadfully aware that they are in the middle of a very dangerous situation and not all of them can survive it. As an added bonus, fans of Giles Kristian’s Raven novels will be delighted to spot a couple of familiar faces (presumably descendants) lurking in some scenes.

Tension is maintained throughout the narrative by the constant anticipation of the inevitable, relentlessly approaching battlefield meeting that must eventually occur between the two brothers. Blood proves thicker than water on a couple of occasions but the reader is always wondering just how long that can last, particularly as the bodies mount and the experience of war hardens the brothers’ hearts.

There is a plenty of violent, bloody action. This land is not so much bleeding as drenched in the gore, bone shards, splattered brains and entrails of the slaughtered.

I mentioned Bernard Cornwell at the start of this and it was not completely by accident. It’s probably Cornwell’s style of work that this book evokes for me most, but Giles Kristian adds several layers of depth to create a much richer experience. To give an example of what I mean, when all the boys-own adventures for the male characters are over, Kristian goes on to portray the consequences for the women who were left behind.

All in all, a cracking read. “The Bleeding Land” is an excellent, gripping book and I am looking forward very much to the next book in the series.

Book Details:

Title: The Bleeding Land

Author: Giles Kristian

Publisher: Bantam Press (26 April 2012)

ISBN-10: 0593066146

ISBN-13: 978-0593066140

*I’m referring to the Old Norse belief that Hell was a woman who ruled the underworld where the unworthy dead went, not being sexist

Running the Marathon

As I struggled to manage 3 miles on a treadmill this afternoon it occurred to me that exactly one year ago I was preparing myself to tackle all 26 miles of the Belfast Marathon. It seems like a distant dream now, or perhaps a half-remembered nightmare, but for the benefit of those people out there who are today facing the same prospect, or perhaps to a future version of myself (if I ever decide to do it again) I thought I would record my thoughts about what I leaned from the experience.

1. BEFORE THE RACE

It will sound strange, but I found this the absolute worst time of all. Never mind the months of training, the almost constant pain, the exhaustion, the injuries or the gruelling, heat-exhausted 26 mile slog on the day, the hardest bit by far for me were the few days before it. The previous one hundred and sixty days had been spent in almost constant training, then for the last week: nothing. A couple of very short runs and a long walk was the height of my last week’s exertions. Never mind the fact that muscles used to enduring hours of punishment were itching-screaming-for exercise, I felt like a mountain climber confronted for the first time by the north face of the Eiger. The sheer scale of what was about to be attempted became very real and after the training I was in no doubt what it would be like. Self-doubt crept in. The only word I can think of to describe the feeling was “daunted”. I genuinely wondered could I could really do it? This is not something I am used to experiencing. What got me through this? Telling myself to pull myself together and get over it was a start. Fate also intervened and that very week the Finnish Viking Metal band Turisas released the song “Stand up and fight” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7woW7DmnR0E ) which I found truly inspirational. This will probably not work for anyone else though. If nothing else works try listening to “He’s a pirate” from Pirates of the Caribbean ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUnrWo6z9WY&feature=related ). If that doesn’t work I don’t know what will.

2. Morning of the race

Drink and eat early enough that it will, shall we say, have passed through you. You don’t want a Paula Radcliffe moment. Also by the time you get to them, the port-a-loos on the route will resemble latrines at the battle of the Somme so best to get that all out of the way before the start.

3. Start of the race

The start of the marathon is an amazing experience. There are so many people crowding at the start of the City Hall you won’t even get jogging until way past the end of Chichester Street. DONT START OFF TOO FAST. I can’t say that enough. I was told that by so many people but still on the day when everyone started running I got carried away and took off like I only had a couple of miles ahead of me. Trust me, you will pay for it later. I did. Forget about everything from running with a friend the whole way to what time you will finish in. All those are irrelevant if you don’t even manage to finish. The biggest hurdle is simply to finish the marathon, and the speed you start off at will have a direct effect on whether or not you even achieve that, so bear that in mind.

As you run up East Bridge Street the sight that opens up before you of thousands and thousands of runners completely filling the road from footpath to footpath, as far as the eye can see, as the sun rises before you is quite simply amazing and totally unforgettable. Bear in mind that the only way anyone can get to see it is to do what you are doing, except maybe if you are a Kenyan, when I imagine that what you just see are miles of empty road ahead of you.

4. Middle section: Bridge end, Falls, Shankill, Crumlin road, Antrim road, Gideons Green and back into Belfast through Boucher. A lot of folk worry about the last section, but for me this was the hardest part. What got me through it all were the people of West and North Belfast. Wee mini-spides in celtic and rangers tops run alongside you, cheering, giving you high-fives, cups of water, blue juice, orange slices and at one point offering a drag on a cigarette (or possibly a joint). I don’t smoke by the way but I appreciated the demonstration of fellow feeling. Between them, these people may have been partly responsible for much of the 30 years of violence we went through, but I’m eternally grateful for the support they gave me last year. The flipside is the route itself. Other marathon organisers go out of their way to showcase the best parts of their city. The London route, for example includes the Mall, Tower Bridge, Big Ben etc. The Belfast organisers treat runners to Dunnes on the Crumlin road, a massive bonfire site, miles of derelict housing and a completely deserted industrial estate. Thanks for that. By the way, if you find yourself struggling, alone and wondering how you are going to carry on, then you start to hear loud pumping rave music in the middle of nowhere, you aren’t hallucinating: it’s a Cool FM booth. In the middle of nowhere, aka Boucher industrial estate.

5. Last section: A lot of folk dread this bit. There is no doubt its hard. By the time you get to Clarendon dock there are only six miles left and you know you can do that. The downside is that if you think about it, that probably means another hour of running and you’ve already run twenty miles. The upside is that if you’ve done all the training you know you know that six miles is not a problem: It’s a lunchtime run. The organisers, however, have one more cruel trick to play. They bring you into Ormeau Park, where the finish is, then you have to run out again. And there are still more than two miles to go. Thanks for that. Trust me: even though I have told you this, and you know that it will happen, I guarantee that when you run into Ormeau Park you will think “Maybe they’ve changed it this year. Maybe this really IS the end!” Its not. Its a cruel joke. Worse is to come. You have to slog all the way up the Ormeau road-uphill all the way-to the roundabout. You have to drag your weary legs past all the bastards who have already finished, sitting outside the Big house and the Errigle Inn, supping ice cool pints of beer and cider and shouting encouragement like “Go on big man: You’re nearly finished.” Don’t listen to them, you’re not. There are still a two miles to go and every step of them is going to feel like all of the previous 24.

Just keep going. No matter how bad it is, if nothing else there really is no point in giving up now. After all those months of training and all 24 miles up to now, are you realistically going to give in at this point? At this point it’s legitimate to start thinking about finishing and what you can look forward to at the end. Hopefully the thought of this will keep you going to the finish. What awaits is massive relief, a huge rush of euphoria that will last until the early hours of the next morning and a genuine sense of achievement at completing a challenge that very few of your friends and relatives can-or ever will be- able to say they have overcome. That and the free packet of Tayto cheese and onion crisps they give you at the end.

And then it’s done and you have to find something else to fill your days and focus your energy. Even if you never run again, you will always be able to say that you completed a marathon. Even today, not that many people can say they have done that. Looking at last year’s stats, less than 24% of those who started, actually finished.

6. A word about pain: The marathon is a day of pain. There is no getting round that, but it is perhaps not the type of pain you might expect. Muscles ache, chronic injuries to knees, hips, shoulders, feet will all present their challenge on the day as if the sheer effort isn’t enough. But that is what the Gods created Ibuprofen for. The real challenge is emotional pain. As you run, all around you, you will be surrounded by other people running with teeshirts bearing the picture of mothers, fathers, sisters, little kids, usually with a label that says “I’m running for..”. They are pictures of the dying and the dead, the terminally ill who need the money raised by the runners to make their final days  tolerable. For these folks, every day is a marathon. Thinking about that puts your own current predicament in perspective somewhat. It also presents another challenge though: The more tired you get, the harder it gets to hold back anything emotionally that you’ve been bottling up inside yourself for all those years. Whether it be bereavement, relationship breakdowns, guilt, whatever: when you’ve nothing left physically it becomes hard to hold back the tide of anything you’ve buried in your own psyche and refused to face. The good news is that once its out, you can let it go. This is one thing to give into. Stop running from it and finally run away from it.

7. The secret of how to succeed and finish the marathon

Basically, you put one foot in front of the other. Repeat til the end, no matter how long it takes. That’s all there is to it. Whatever you do, don’t stop. Its very hard. If you feel you can’t keep going, slow down. If you really can’t run any more then walk. Whatever you do, don’t stop moving forwards. As long as you are still eating up the yards you are still making progress towards your goal. If you stop, you are at serious risk of letting in the demon of doubt that will beat you, and it will be virtually impossible to start running again.

People will tell you about gels, energy drinks and other such magic secrets but the reality is that the only thing that will get you to the finish line is whatever is inside you that keeps your legs going. People will tell you that its God, the Gods, or its all in your head, or some sort of self hypnosis. Whatever gets you through to the end is definitely something more than physical conditioning and requires something that will keep you going beyond the point when every last scrap of carbohydrate in your body has been exhausted and there is nothing left to create energy from. Who knows? I would say its actually in your heart, or your guts. Basically wherever sheer bloody mindedness and the refusal to give in comes from. On the day, I took a couple of gels and they made me feel really sick. If you haven’t trained using them, don’t think they will work some sort of magic. Trust in yourself and you will get through it.

8. And finally

Hopefully none of this has put anyone off. It wasn’t meant to. The intention is to give you a realistic portrayal of what it will be like, and if you are prepared for it, then you will be able to face it. Have no doubt about it: what you about to face is a massive challenge of quite simply crazy proportions. But imagine what it will feel like when you defeat that challenge, a feat that most people baulk at even the idea of trying to attempt.

As Hamlet said, “The readiness is all…” 

Norse Doom

Some more musings on Norse pagan gods this week. I’ve discovered we are all doomed (maybe) and the Vikings knew all along.
I’ve been fascinated by the Vikings for most of my 40 years but one thing that strikes me is that the link between constellations and other objects in the night sky and Norse mythology is perhaps underplayed these days. I started looking into it recently and came across a possible clue to the origin of the viking’s myth of the end of the world, and maybe even hint of impending doom from the sky.
In many cases, a lot of the origins of seemingly obscure Norse myths look like they are actually staring us in the face, or rather we are staring up at them in the night sky. For example “Bifrost”,-for the Vikings the road or bridge from "earth" (midgard) to "heaven" (asgard)-is widely believed (including in the marvel comics version of Thor) to be a rainbow, but the name translates as "trembling/shimmering road". To me, the Northern Lights or the Milky Way makes more sense as to what Bifrost was, particularly when the Eddas also say that Heimdall (the bright/white god) guards the end of Bifrost from his house "high up in the sky". That suggests that "Heimdall" is probably a very bright star somewhere at the end of the milky way or in the northern sky, perhaps the planet Venus. Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after the moon and in the evening and morning could well be perceived as being at the "far end" of either the milky way or where the Northern lights touch the horizon.
There are other specific stars that are related to incidents in Norse myths where bits of giants or gods (toes, eyes or whatever) got chopped off and placed in the sky by Thor or Odinn. Orion's belt was also possibly called "Frig’s Distaff" (Frig was Odin's wife) in the past but I can't find the origin of this theory beyond the internet, so it might just be a wiki-truth.
Famously, the Vikings thought the world was doomed. A final cataclysm called Ragnarokr (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar%C3%B6k) will destroy the earth, men (and women presumably) and the gods themselves as they fight a last desperate battle with jotunns and monsters of chaos let loose on the world. Again perhaps there is some half-forgotten sky lore in this tale. For example, in Old Norse, the constellation Hyades was called "Ulf's Keptr," Wolf's mouth and given that the Hyades is close to the ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun, is reminiscent of the Norse myth that the wolf Skoll (treachery) pursues the Sun across the sky and at the end of the world would catch and eat it. A slight shift in the earth's rotation on its axis perhaps?
The constellation Auriga was called the "Battlefield of the Aesir*" (asar bardagi) and the obvious battle that all the gods are in is Ragnarok. Something appearing to come from that region of the sky like an asteroid could have happened and given rise to the Ragnarok myth. The Edda relates that at the climax of Ragnarok the sun becomes black, the sea rises to cover the earth, the stars vanish, steam rises and flames rise up to touch the heavens. To leap deftly into the realms of speculation, a huge firestorm, a dust cloud that blots out sun and stars and a Tsunami are reminiscent to me of a comet strike on the earth. Could the myth of Ragnarok be a half remembered memory of a comet or asteroid coming from the constellation of Auriga and striking the earth sometime in the dark ages?
The fact that the comet Hartley 2 appeared at its closed point to earth in the constellation of Auriga in 2010, and will return in 2017, suddenly gives a bit more pause for thought.

Happy Easter. Happy Freya’s day?

It’s one of those curious paradoxes that Easter, like Hell, was originally a pagan word. Setting Hell aside for a time (hopefully a long time J ), I’ve been thinking about the origin of Easter lately, and probably because I’m choc-full of Easter eggs this morning I’ve decided to write them down.

The English historian Bede, writing in the seventh century, recorded what little we know about the pre-christian English calendar in his work “The Reckoning of Time”. He also explained how we came to use a pagan term for a Christain celebration. Translated, chapter 15 of his work outlines how the fourth month of the Anglo Saxon year was called Eosturmonaþ-Easter Month- "after a goddess of theirs [the Pagan English] named Eostre". He goes on to say that the reason the name persisted into Christian times was that feasts or celebrations were held in honour of this goddess in that month, and that the English kept the name for traditional reasons: "calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance".

So who was Eostre? There is a fair amount of speculation about it, but most works tend to say that her origins are "obscure", mainly because there does not seem to be any other references to a specific female goddess of that name, nor an equivalent in the Old Norse pantheon. However, a little bit of conjecture can lead us to a reasonable (well to me anyway) conclusion. As we are in the territory of historical irony, the ancient northerners (anglo Saxons, norse etc.) seemed to think their gods came from the East. It must cause some degree of discomfort to modern day white supremacists that the Vikings they think of as their ancestors referred to their Gods as "Aesir"- quite literally "Asians". It’s also cognate with Easterners or "From the East" which again is usually referred to as for reasons now obscure. I have a theory about this too: It’s relevant to stars in the night sky, but that’s for another post sometime. Or maybe the great Viking novel I’ll hopefully someday get round to writing.
This concept seems to go right back into the mists of time to the roots of the Germanic pagan religion (or maybe further) as the pagan Anglo-Saxons who became the English used the term "Os" for their deities, which also denotes the East. Eostre (with the root of our modern word "East" fossilized in it) is a female variation of the same concept, so to me the likely conclusion is that "Eostre" was not the actual name of the goddess, but a term referring to one of the female pagan gods we already know about. There were a few female pagan Germanic monsters (like Hell), but not that many goddesses, and really it comes down to just 2 main ones: Frigg (after whom the day Friday is named) and Freya. There is lots of further speculation that these two were probably originally the same persona, only split apart in the later dark ages, so in the time period we are talking about for the pagan anglo-saxons (4th or 5th century) the chances are that they were one.
So the most obvious conclusion is that if Frig/Freya was important enough to name a day of the week after, then she was probably also loved enough to have a spring festival called after her. So happy Easter, and happy Eostre.
Given Frigg/Freya’s associations with fertility, it makes me look at those eggs again too

Review of "The Lion Wakes" by Robert Low

The Lion Wakes by Robert Low

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For most people who did not grow up in Scotland, Mel Gibson’s movie “Braveheart” is their first introduction to the events of the Scottish Wars of Independence. That, or hearing “Flower of Scotland” bellowed out around Murryfield, never more louder than when the opponents are from south of the border. For anyone who is aware of the actual complexities, brutality, contradictions and real-life heroics and very real villainy of those violent decades around the turn of the Fourteenth Century, Gibson’s portrayal of events is enjoyable, but ultimately an over simplified version of events that somehow leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Sort of like the steaks you get in the cheaper restaurant chains in America: they are large and juicy but full of artificial sweeteners, tenderisers and growth hormones and ultimately bland. In real life, heroes can sometimes be villains, and sometimes even villains can act bravely.
So it was with some trepidation that I picked up Robert Low’s “The Lion Wakes”, which deals with the same events. Low’s “Oathsworn” series of Viking books were fantastic and something I thoroughly enjoyed, but what would he do with the Anglo-Scottish wars?
I need not have worried. If “Braveheart” was USDA steak, pre-tenderised for easy digestion, this is pure Aberdeen Angus beef, cooked rare and still bloody, with plenty of gristle to chew on and bursting with flavour.
The style of the narrative is episodic, showing vignettes of action and characters across the years, sometime landing right in the middle of the action when the fighting has already begun, but when trying to cover such a vast sweep of history it is an effective device and manages to keep the narrative moving at a fast pace.
A host of memorable individuals, both historical and fictional, populate this book from the nameless Dog Boy to Robert Bruce himself. There are no cardboard cut-outs or “stock” characters here. Throughout the novel, Robert Low manages to bring these medieval people back to life and shows how they change and grow with the events around them (well the ones who survive anyway). For me the most interesting character was Bruce himself, who transforms from a medieval equivalent of a feckless rich playboy to someone who led his country to freedom. This seems to be a theme in the book: What really is the nature of heroism? What makes “heroes” and what motivates them. Are any of our heroes as clear cut as we think? William Wallace appears here too, but in a big, violent, frightening and ultimately more recognisable guise than Gibson’s simplistic messianic portrayal.
Robert Low does a great job of portraying the reality of life in late Thirteenth Century Scotland. Castles are cold, drafty stone and wood tower houses rather than Disney-style Camelots, armour rusts in the rain, boils itch in the sweaty heat and the freezing cold of the Scottish winter almost leaks from the pages.
There is no doubt the language used in the dialogue can at times be challenging. Robert Low chooses to use authentic Scots and there is no easily accessible glossary (at least in the Kindle edition). However, it is still English, and like arriving in any new country once you become accustomed to it, not only is it perfectly intelligible but it undoubtedly adds to the authentic flavour of the book.
So in short a great read. Its not an easy read, but then any challenging piece of writing that seeks to both tell a story and explore the underlying themes and motivations of the people involved in real events never is. If you want your history fed to you half chewed on a plastic spoon, this is not the book for you. If you want something more satisfying then this is it. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.

View all my reviews

1315

1315 Kindle copies of Lions of the Grail sold: Co-incidently the year that the book is set!

large step

So I haven't retired yet. On the other hand, I've sold nealry 71 copies in the first month and a half. Apparently a self published book can expect to sell about 300 copies so I'm 24% there already!
The big news is I've taken a significant step into the world of print and invested in 250 printed copies of LOTG .
Lets see how this goes

Adventures in publishing

Today marks the first month of my self-publishing adventure. As most people say, its a fast moving, fast-learning experience.
My novel Lions of the Grail has been available for the kindle at Amazon since mid-June, on Smashwords for 5 days, as well as in printed form from lulu
So hows it going?
Well I'm not a millionaire yet :-) , however I'm pleasantly surprised to report that I've sold 32 copies, which isn't bad I suppose for starters. Also things seem to be settling down to a steady one or two copies a day. Hopefully this will start to multiply as folk read and recommend it.
Things I've learned so far:

• Time spent proof reading before ordering any printed copies is time VERY well spent. I've gone through 4 versions of the book and wasted money on mistakes on the cover, unintentional blank pages etc.



• "Standard Manuscript Format" is NOT print format. I submitted my manuscript as I would to a publisher or agent: 12 point font, A4, double spaced. A printer kindly pointed out that printed novels dont look like that. Removing the double spacing and setting the page size to A5 knocked 40% off the price of printing the book.



• The profit margin on kindle way outstrips printed books.



• Its very hard to make any profit selling hard copies: High street book chains like Waterstones won't order books from independants and you have to have an account with a book distributer like Gardeners or Bertrams that they will order through. That means you must have an ISBN (which costs money). Distributors also expect a 60% discount. The average price for a paperback fiction book is £8.99. If you sell the book to Gardeners at a their expected discount rate that mean syou have to find a way of printing the book at £3.50 before you can break even (don't forget postage etc!)



• An agent just told me that if I've published on kindle no publisher will now touch my book. Oops. One thing I should mention is that before heading down the self publishing route, make sure you've exhausted the "traditional route".

Tomorrow I've an advert on kindleboards.com all day, so it will be very interesting to report how that goes.

What happened to scary vampires?

So vampires are now the new Rock and Roll. The characters of “True Blood” have appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, provoking the desired Pavlov’s dog-like outrage in the conservative media.

As a long time horror fan and lover of vampire films and literature, True Blood (and the rest of the “vampire fantasy” genre it belongs to) offends me in a different way.

Today, the undead have lost their bite. Once a terrifying creature, risen from the grave to feast on the blood of the living, the vampire has become of late little more than a vapid supermodel whose “heroin-chic” look has gone too far, leaving him or her to wander aimlessly through tedious teen soap opera-like TV shows, more worried about relationships, moral dilemmas and generally looking good as opposed to what they are supposed to be doing: Draining mortal blood and scare the bejesus out of us.

What happened to genuinely frightening vampires? How did the Prince of Darkness become a creep from Beverly Hills 90210?

If anything, becoming “the new rock and roll” is the kiss of death for anything that once could call itself edgy, dangerous or even (dare I say it?) frightening. Pretty much like the band that shares the magazine’s name, having your picture on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine basically means you are now in the mainstream: You’ve been absorbed into a corporate world, sanitized, made-over to take off your rough edges and repackaged to make you acceptable for mass consumption. Your main purpose is now to make money. Not that there is anything wrong with making money, but when its at the expense of something I have a high regard for, then it irks me, to say the least.

For me, some of the most genuinely terrifying moments in literature and on the screen have involved vampires in some way.

I’m pretty sure most people my age (I’m hitting 40) still have the odd nightmare about the vampire kid floating outside the window in Salem’s Lot that they first saw on TV thirty years ago. There was something inherently creepy about that pale face combined with the spine wrenching masterstroke of having him scrape his fingernails down the glass that hit a very raw, very primal nerve and has haunted our sleep ever since.

Salem’s Lot’s Lord of the Vampires, Barlow, managed to overcome having what must be the most un-horrific name of any of the un-dead by recreating the appearance of that most frightening of all vampires to have appeared on screen: Count Orlok from the seminal horror movie, Nosferatu. Let’s face it, there’s no way that particular vampire could be mistaken for someone from the cast of “The Hills”. The first appearance of the Count as he emerges from the shadows with his bald head, pointed ears and rat-like fangs still manages to provoke a little shiver. Not bad for a movie that is close to 90 years old.

TV version aside, the written version of Salems Lot surpasses it in terms of scariness. Without the pictures being supplied, there is nothing that can scare you as much as your own imagination. The same can be said for Bram Stoker’s original novel Dracula, or to give it its other title “The Great Undead”. The whole book is an incredible read, both as a thriller and with some genuinely horrific moments. I urge fans of the modern sexy, disinfected vampire genre to give it a read and see what pale imitations of this Victorian masterpiece present day vampire fiction has become. And if you like it, for something both weird and frightening, go further and read the novella that was one of Stoker’s influences, “Carmilla” by Sheridan le Fanu. This has it all. Creepy castles, undead that stalk the night, dream-like scenes that merge into nightmare, eccentric vampire hunters, stakes through the heart and all spiced up with distinct overtones of lesbianism. Beat that “Twilight Saga”!

I recently watched the Hammer Horror film “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” (for some reason now in the public domain) and realised that by the 1970s vampires had become a bit of a clichéd joke. Something had to change, but did it have to change in such a depressing way?

I was trying to identify where the rot set in, and at first I thought it was with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but to blame Buffy would be like poking a stick at a much loved pet puppy. Buffy never took itself seriously, which is where all these new shows go wrong. Probably the worm at the heart of all this was Anne Rice. In my opinion it was her modern gothic fantasy tales (and the film versions of them) that did most to create this modern plague of impossibly good looking vampires who are overwhelmed with the moral dilemmas involved in gaining immortality through killing others. Did Christopher Lee look like he was burdened by ethical questions when he rose from the grave, red eyes blazing and fangs barred? Did he Hell.

But why does this annoy me? What is so bad about making vampires “more accessible”?

I guess it must be a combination of becoming a grumpy old man (as I said I’m hitting 40) with the general feeling that somehow True Blood, Twilight and their like are vampires-lite, saccharine substitutes for the real thing.

The fact is I want to be scared. I enjoy it. I love the ghost train at the amusement park and the creepy feeling of walking past a cemetery at night. I love ghost stories and I still recall the sheer thrill of listening to them as a kid round the campfire at cub camp. Its cathartic and its, well fun, probably childish fun, but what’s wrong with that?

If you take away the frightening aspect of a vampire all you are left with is a quite frankly ludicrous concept of a corpse risen from the dead. Vampires need to be scary, otherwise they are just plain silly, mere goblins or elves that belong with the creatures from the Lord of the Rings, rather than demons from Hell who belong with the Children of Cain who stalked the night in Beowulf. They are like alcohol-free beer: with the fun bit taken out, all you are left with is something that does not do you any harm but you do not really enjoy.

Qcon London 2007

So, it’s a week since attending QCon and with seven days to reflect on everything, what were the main things I took away from the conference?

Probably the clearest impression left on my mind was the conviction that web development is changing, and changing very quickly. State, Rich functionality and some business model are moving to the client and server side components are becoming data servers. The model is evolving towards the old client server one. What technology will dominate here is presently unclear, but eventually there will be a few big winners, and given there are currently around 500 Ajax frameworks about, a lot of losers.

Other nuggets of gold:

• If you can’t feed a software development team with 2 pizzas, then it’s too big! (Amazon.com)
• 2 Phase Commit is a barrier to availability, having a relational database can be a barrier to scaleability.
• RPC is not scaleable
• Transactions in highly available systems need to be more BASE than ACID
• Ebay has no application code transactions.
• M&S.com, NBA and host of other websites all actually run on the Amazon.com platform.
• Don’t make any decision until it’s the right time to make it: The last responsible moment.
• Concentrate on keeping your domain model clean and up to date is the best policy.
• Automate your testing
• Try and make all your decisions reversible, and thus get rid of “architecture”

London warmth

Why is it so warm in London?