Dean Hamilton
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tyburntree.bsky.social
Dean Hamilton
@tyburntree.bsky.social
320 followers 530 following 940 posts
...I am Fortune's fool. Author of The Jesuit Letter, Black Dog and Thieves' Castle. Marketer, writer, cat wrangler, walker of bear-dogs.
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Reposted by Dean Hamilton
This little bird survived a volcanic eruption!

Buried by volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, this Roman fresco of a little bird pecking at fruit re-emerged looking as delightful as it did some 2,000 years ago!

Villa Poppaea, ancient Oplontis, Italy
📷 by me

#FrescoFriday
#Archaeology
Reposted by Dean Hamilton
"Here is a man
thoroughly solitary ―
a shadow of oblivion
drifting one place
to another, flowing on and on" Bokusui Wakayama
(images: Hasui Kawase / Koson Ohara )
Most fiction embedded in the Tudor era tends to be tales of Court intrigue, set amidst the silken splendor of palaces. Mine tends to hang about in ale-soaked taverns, muddy streets and fetid back-alleys where cold-steel by lantern light offers redemption or grim death by turn.

#Questpit #Q #HF
“a 16th century Richard Sharpe…”

Kit Tyburn, ex-soldier turned play-actor, fresh sprung from Newgate Prison, dives into the arcane killing of a would-be sorcerer.

But London’s back-alleys hide so very many secrets… including a dangerous pair of killers on the hunt.

#Questpit #Q #HF
Someone is killing the sorcerers of London.

Kit Tyburn, ex-soldier turned play-actor, is tasked to investigate an arcane killing, and finds himself entangled in a vicious plot that may threaten the Crown itself.

London’s back-alleys hide so very many secrets…

#Questpit #Q #HF
If you are looking for an excellent book on how Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Plot roiled up into the cultural/literary side of things, James Shapiro's "1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear" is a fantastic read!
For a brief, fleeting moment, I felt good...and then it just got worse.

Wordle 1,600 5/6

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I had two days visiting Florence last month and everytime I went around a corner I remembered another incredible, informative bit of history. Fabulous piece of work!
Unfortunately the sixth book in the series has never been published in an English translation, which is ...frustrating.

Clearly I must learn Spanish.

You can also enjoy the movie - starring Viggo Mortensen, who brings a characteristic flair to the moody swordsman.
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One of my favorite book series is Arturo Pérez-Reverte brilliant, under-rated Captain Alatriste series.

A surprisingly poetic, thoughtful set of adventurous historical fiction books set in the Golden Age of Spain. The series follows a quixotic former soldier turned sword-for-hire.
Well, Trump's "Canada is the 51st state" bullshit did a great job bringing the Liberals back from a 25% support dive and helped shitcan Poilievre and the Conservatives up here.

Won't be surprised to see it happen again.
Reading the brilliant book 'Inventing the Renaissance' by @adapalmer.bsky.social, and I think she coined a phrase for the ages:

"History, unlike fiction, doesn't have to be plausible."
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Damn, that sounds fun. To be honest, I spend more time poking about all the historical sites in games like Assassin's Creed, then I do trying to play the game.

If only the various guards would stop trying to kill me everytime I wander into a place...
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The Doge's Palace in Venice has a very impressive Armory.

I now have sword envy...
Did you ever finish writing a book and then sort of put it in the drawer because the apathy of agents to all your queries is just so soul-deadening and crushing that you’d rather write another book then deal with selling this one?

Yeah, it’s that sort of day.
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Reposted by Dean Hamilton
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
This is just to say...

Ozymandis, King of Kings, has eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

Look upon their pits, Ye Mighty,

and despair - no breakfast for you!
Some pics from my wandering Piazza San Marco, early morning - damp, rainy and mostly empty but...atmospheric!
The UAE needs to be held to account for their funding and support of RSF. With the current US administration, that won't happen, but the rest of the world needs to step forward and put the pressure on. This conflict isn't as visible as Gaza or Ukraine, but it is exacting a horrific cost.
Well, you've always been a bit of a mystery wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in darkness and uncertainty, a worn cardboard box sealed with packing tape, waiting on a long-lost UPS truck, parked in an an abandoned lot, tucked away on a lost continent of kaiju, so to speak...
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