Following on from my post on death scenes, I noticed that the BBC featured an article on the 10 strange ways Tudors died, which is morbidly amusing:
The occupation of “gong farmer” sounds quite cheerful until you realise it was what the Tudors called people who were paid to clear out the sewage from cesspits.
So what can be said about the drunken Cambridge baker who, while relieving himself, fell backwards into a cesspit on 2 June 1523? He died horribly. What a way to go.
You don’t get many of these in novels. They seem rather ignoble ways to go, I guess.
There’s an interview with me over at the Mad Hatter’s site. Take a look at the nonsense I continue to spout:
Suffice to say, though, that I subscribe to the Watchmen school of heroes – that beyond the powers, superheroes are still people with stuff going on in their own lives. But power happens to be a central theme to the novel – it’s contrasted with political and democratic power (such as with the anarchists, who choose to decentralise to minimise the negative impacts of power). If anything, it’s structures of power that are what I choose to tackle, and superpowers are an extension of that metaphor.
And here are a few more words from Leo Cristea on the latest release:
Simply put, Lan was one of my favourite characters. Not only was she fascinating, but she was also exceedingly normal. That was the point. Newton had to force the issue that Lan is a normal character, and he does this remarkably well. Her transition features briefly, and following this, Lan is Lan. Her change is not the focus of the story. It’s not important. What is important is her new life and her role in the events transpiring in the city—a city facing destruction from inside and out.
Now enough of me. Go and enjoy the sunshine.
