The Girdle of Melian

traordinary blogging agent Nathan asks , how did you come up for the idea for your work in progress? My stories always seem to arrive the same way - either a phrase or an image sparks a scene, and from there, with a faint sense of the characters and location, I start feeling my way in by writing in chunks. The Face of A Lion all started with the image of a boy walking down a road, with the sea following him as he went. Rose's story also started with the image of a journey, but was more about an idea; it came about when I re-learned that the expulsion of the Jews from Spain occurred in the same year as Columbus' first voyage. I still find fascinating the dichotomy of discovery and exploration versus fear and anger. How about you?

ay he rest in peace. Here 's the New York Times obituary.

veryone appreciates a free book! Thanks to Marsha , Nicky Schmidt sent me a copy of her new novel, Naked in Knightsbridge . I received my copy on Tuesday and have been gleefully following Jools Grand’s adventures ever since. Look for my promised review here and on amazon.co.uk soon. Meanwhile, here’s a link to my review of Marsha's own 24 Hours London , featured in Bizim Anadolu. Off to another pub quiz tonight – anyone want to test me?

ahoo! One thousand words this morning! Rose is in France; from here she sails to Constantinople...

op on over to the Blogger's Choice '10 Awards and vote for All The World's Our Page in the Best Pop Culture Blog , Best Blog About Stuff , Best Hobby Blog and Best Blog of All Time categories. Then vote for Sophie's Journey in the Best Health Blog and Best Parenting Blog categories. I think Yogrum should be nominated in the Best Foreign Language blog. Which one should I go for?

ew on The Girdle of Melian ... Blog roll! Here's what's going on in the writing world this week (if I've missed you, let me know): All The World's Our Page features Part 7 of their serial story A Kill in Time - A Jack the Ripper tale with a time traveling twist Linda Gerber has a new contest (win a new YA!), and Karen features another Outlander Challenge If you haven't yet visited How To Write Badly Well and need a refresher course in what not to do with your novel, visit now! Cross posting on the knitting side, check out India Drummond 's series of adorable critters and read Pam Patchet 's yarn about spinning (then scroll down and take a gander at her lovely scarf!) Marsha Moore tells a story featuring a lost coffee bag, and the kindness of strangers Have you ever seen snow in Georgia? Visit ZanMarie for some photos! 2009 end-of-year book posts from Nina and Jen Back on the writing side, Kait Nolan talks about finding time to wri...

oughties or Uh-ohs, whatever they're being called; my decade wrap-up hasn't been written yet. But it's been a while since I detailed where I'm at with Rose's story, which takes place in 1492, the year that Jews were exiled from Spain. I'm about 25,000 words in and have a ways to go, plus all my research to start. Not to mention, I need a proper title! Besides Rose, a young Jewish girl living in southern Spain, I have a monk, who may be a Benedictine or Cistercian, a distant cousin of hers by marriage that she's falling for - who's Jewish but enamoured by knights and the ideals of chivalry - and a new addition, a Muslim artist, returning from studying art in Italy, to Constantinople, to the family that disowned him. Rose's "uncle", a friend of her parents', is sailing with Christopher Columbus; before he leaves, he reveals that he's actually Rose's father - which makes her Catholic not Jewish. There are a lot of journeys in...

A novels are celebrated in this contest , and there couldn't be a better time for it, coming on the heels of Jen's celebration of YA on All The World's Our Page and her *hush hush* plans for world domination . I entered a diary entry based on Rose's thoughts as she's sailing toward Constantinople, thinking of her family, and her "Uncle" Santiago's revelation that he's actually her father. A couple of weeks ago I was worried that taking Rose to Constantinople would make the novel longer and unwieldy, but I typed up 3/4 of my handwritten scenes (only 5 scenes left to type!) over the holidays, and I'm only at 25,000 words, which means I've got lots of room to expand on her tale and take her to all sorts of places!

. R. R. Tolkien, whose birthday was yesterday. The toast is hosted by the Tolkien Society . Meanwhile, today is Isaac Newton's birthday. Their birth dates were separated by 249 years.