I realise that it might not be a fashionable view. Indeed I know some people who would disagree vehemently with me on this. They will boast of their wide circle of acquaintance, and the fact that should they want a decision making in their favour in high places, they merely have to drop a hint … More It’s not who you know, it’s what you know.
I discovered the Bridge Tower on one of my perambulations around Partann. Some people say it isn’t in Partann, in that it’s on the right bank of the Dharant, some way south of Fluance but north of the road from Avitas over the mountains to the East. Still, whilst geographers, cartographers and the inhabitants of … More Water under the bridge
There are many things about Port Naain which are not obvious to the outsider and which we perhaps don’t talk about. It wasn’t until a stranger to the city asked me about the large iron-hulled steamers that tie up at the deep water berths that it even occurred to me to mention them. It’s because … More Thoroughly married
On occasion I ask myself whether Aea in her Aspect as the Personification of Justice has a rather dark sense of humour. Certainly there are times when I suspect I have heard her chuckle quietly as she deals with one situation and then turns to the next. Thus it was in the case of Madam … More The dark machinations of Flontwell Direfountain.
Shena and I hadn’t finished breakfast when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and to my surprise I was greeted by a very junior footman wearing the livery of Mistress Bellin Hanchkillian. He bowed slightly and asked, “Mistress wished me to enquire if you know the story of the automated caricordia … More The automated caricordia of Darset Dweel.
Dilkerton was a member of the great Thallawell legal family. To be fair his life was comparatively conventional, if only because he was somebody who instinctively tried to conform. So he went into the family legal practice, married a nice young lady and they had two delightful daughters. So whilst he worked hard, he made … More The alternative career of Dilkerton Thallawell.
I realise I might occasionally have been disparaging about performance art and street theatre. It’s nothing personal. Admittedly I feel that some performance artists ought to realise that merely standing on one leg shouting your verses into a howling gale doesn’t make them better verses. Similarly, with street theatre; it still works better if you’ve … More Performance art
I have often said I would never accept a position with the old aristocracy. It is not that they don’t pay. It isn’t even as if they don’t value poetry. After all many of them are perfectly accomplished in the older forms. It’s just that they are not content to let you be a poet, … More Oblige
Far be it from me to mock musicians. After all, some of them are competent, accomplished, excellent company and masters of their art. Indeed I would swear to this in a court of law, because I’ve worked with all three of them. Of the others that I have worked with, there are still some whom … More Noteworthy
In a roundabout way it’s all the fault of the Widow Handwill. If the widow had been more discerning about the savants she employed to entertain her guests, she wouldn’t have had a necromancer attempting to sacrifice an upstairs maid to some demon. Admittedly he failed and the maid was rescued but still, the room … More It all comes out in the wash
Tallis Steelyard 