--- title: Author Crystal King's Blog - Tasting Life Twice | Crystal King (6) description: "Author, FEAST OF SORROW @TouchstoneBooks/@SimonSchuster. Public speaker, Italophile, #SocialMedia Professor @HubSpotAcademy, Culinary Enthusiast, Lover of Ancient Rome & Renaissance Italy (6)" --- # Tasting Life Twice Author Crystal King muses on life, history, writing and food. Browse by All Blog Books italy ancient rome Italian History Recipe Writing When in Rome food Feast of Sorrow fun historical fiction Bartolomeo Scappi Viva Italia! The Chef's Secret reading history Apicius Italian Language Renaissance 52 books Boston Cinquecento Publishing italian recipes grub street renaissance recipe roman video Ancient Roman Food Colosseum Culinary Delights books set in italy renaissance italy Ancient history YouTube authors cooking fiction music 52 books in a year Author Book Christmas Language Learning Maine Poetry Pope Roman Forum Scappi The Renaissance Venice Writer Writers Resources fantasy learning Italian travel writers Anne Rice Art Book Clubs Christmas carol Christopher Castellani Circus Maximus Florence Gillian Flynn Greek Harry Potter Honey Italiano Italo Calvino Latin Literary agent Marcus Aurelius Marcus Gavius Apicius Muse and the Marketplace Pantheon Papal conclave Pope Benedict XVI Research Roman Empire Sardinia Sistine Chapel Turkey Ursula K- Le Guin Vestal Virgin Wine ancient recipes architecture baking beauty blogging book recommendation book review christmas gift cibo cookies crystal king gelato giveaway holiday ice cream interview italian cooking literary literature middle ages new year's resolution rejection renaissance Italian food recipe roma rome sci-fi shopping social media special event summer television xmas 100 favorite books 1950s 1960s 1970s 2016 2017 320 AD 3D Achilles Aelia Agostino Chigi Alice Alina Reyes All This Talk of Love Amanda Palmer Amaryah Orenstein Anais Nin Ancient Greece Ancient Roman architecture Andrea Bocelli Anita Shreve Anjali Mitter Duva Anne Carson Anne Rampling Antonio Latini Arch of Constantine Arts Artusi Astrology Augustus Author Life BBC BDSM Baldassare Peruzzi Baroque Bell-ringer Bells Benvenuto Cellini Black tea BlogHer Bloggers Bologna Boodles Byki Cake Catholic Church Cellini Charles Dicken Chuck Palahniuk Clark Frasier Colleen McCullough Cologne Colum McCann Concord Cook Cookbook Corsica Cosimo de Medici Critical & Creative Thinking Dante Dante Alighieri David Bowie David Wishart De Re Coquinaria Doge's Palace Dormouse Durham Cathedral E-L- James Earth Egypt Eleonora Galasso Emily Browning England English language Ernest Hemingway Erotic literature Etsy Faint Promise of Rain Fifty Shades of Grey Fight Club Flamingo tongue snail Forum Forvo France Francesa Michielin GO Literary George Orwell Germany Gone Girl Gone Girl (novel) Google Translate Got Milk Grasso Grub Grub Street Muse Gunter Grass Hairstyle Harvard Harvard University Henry David Thoreau Henry VII of England Hunger Games Independence Day International Space Station Isabella Dalla Ragione Italian American Italian food J-R-R- Tolkien James Wood Jane Austen Janet Fitch Julius III July Justin Rowe Karl Lagerfeld Katie Caldesi Kennebunkport Maine Kessler Twins Keurig Kindle Deal Kit Harington Kurt Vonnegut L'Amore Esiste La Cucina Leicester Leonardo Da Vinci Linguistics Livia Lucca ## Posts by Crystal King: ![Glykinai - Sweet Wine Cakes (Crackers)](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/spring-08-004.jpg) [Recipe](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/recipe) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [roman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman) [athaeneus](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/athaeneus) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [cooking](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cooking) [crackers](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/crackers) [Culinary Delights](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/culinary-delights) [food](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/food) [glykinai](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/glykinai) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) [Wine](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/wine) This is an ancient cracker recipe from [Athenaeus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenaeus), a rhetorician and grammarian who lived in Rome in the 3rd century AD. This recipe is a delightful, snacky interpretation of a cracker that was most likely served at taverns in ancient Greece and Rome. The original recipe doesn't give us much direction, but they were likely somewhat similar to the recipe below. *Glykinai*: "The cakes from Crete made with sweet wine and olive oil.”  - Athenaeus in The [Deipnosophistae](http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Athenaeus/home.html) ![How Many Writing Rules Do We Need?](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/henriette.jpg) [Writing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writing) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/kurt-vonnegut) [neil gaiman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/neil-gaiman) [Writer's Rules](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writers-rules) [Zadie Smith](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/zadie-smith) [authors](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/authors) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [George Orwell](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/george-orwell) [J-R-R- Tolkien](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/j-r-r-tolkien) [Janet Fitch](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/janet-fitch) [Margaret Atwood](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/margaret-atwood) [Mark Twain](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/mark-twain) [novelists](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/novelists) [Ray Bradbury](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ray-bradbury) [rules](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/rules) [Rules for Writing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/rules-for-writing) [Writers Resources](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writers-resources) Holy writing rules!  There are so many out there that it's hard to know where to start!  I compiled the quotes that I have run across over the last few months and pulled out the ones that really spoke to me.  The Zadie Smith quote in particular is key for me. I need to eliminate all distractions!  Click on the headline to go to the article for all the rules by that author. [George Orwell's 5 Writing Rules ](http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/george-orwells-5-rules-for-effective-writing/) ![The Renaissance Papal Conclave: What Did They Eat?](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/sstne.jpg) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope-benedict-xvi) [Scappi](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/scappi) [Swiss Guard](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/swiss-guard) [Bartolomeo Scappi](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bartolomeo-scappi) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Catholic Church](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/catholic-church) [cibo](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cibo) [Cinquecento](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cinquecento) [conclave](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/conclave) [food](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/food) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Julius III](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/julius-iii) [Papal conclave](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/papal-conclave) [Pope](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope) [Pope Benedict](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope-benedict) [pope resigns](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope-resigns) [Renaissance](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/renaissance) [scandal](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/scandal) [Sistine Chapel](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/sistine-chapel) [Western Schism](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/western-schism) The last month has been a month of massive tumult for the Catholic Church. For the first time in 400 years a Pope is resigning. There have only been [five Popes to resign](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_resignation) and all of them resigned under great duress, or in the case of [Gregory XII](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_XII), he did it to end the [Western Schism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Schism). This is the first Pope to cite "health" problems as a reason to resign and the first to revise rules regarding the convening of the Papal conclave so that it can be convened sooner than in the past (usually they have to wait 15 days).  I have a bunch of my own speculations about that, but there are a million other places that the woes of the Church can be debated. ![Book Review: All This Talk of Love by Christopher Castellani](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/allthistalkof.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [italian](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [literary](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/literary) [literature](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/literature) [Maddelena](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/maddelena) [All This Talk of Love](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/all-this-talk-of-love) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Christopher Castellani](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/christopher-castellani) [family](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/family) [Grasso](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/grasso) [grub street](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/grub-street) [Italian American](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-american) With all this talk of love, I have to begin by saying that in one's life there are always certain people who you feel proud to know, who you want all your other friends to meet, and who you wish could always come to every party. One of those people is [Christopher Castellani](http://www.christophercastellani.com/), who I still thank the stars that I met many years past. Christopher is a rare soul, and the hundreds upon hundreds of people in the book industry that know him (he's a key driving force at the magnificent [Grub Street](http://www.grubstreet.org) writing center) are likely to tell you that. I have grown to know Christopher more and more over the years but after our initial meeting, my first foray into understanding a little about him was by reading his first book, which still ranks among my most memorable reads in my life, "[A Kiss From Maddelena](http://amzn.to/YXlMlB)." In it we meet the protagonist of all three of his books, Maddelena Grasso, a sweet, shy and beautiful woman who is swept away by the circumstances around her-- the ending of WWII and a father who wants to arrange her marriage, but not to the boy she loves. I can still picture Maddelena as a girl, flying through the town on her bicycle. I can feel the emotion of the clandestine moments with Vito, the boy who steals her heart. I can still remember the roller coaster of emotions that first book put me through. ![A Bird's Eye View of the Roman Forum - 3D Video](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Italy-March-2010-185.jpg) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [Arch of Constantine](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/arch-of-constantine) [roman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman) [3D](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/3d) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Colosseum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/colosseum) [Forum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/forum) [history](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/history) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Marcus Aurelius](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/marcus-aurelius) [Roman Empire](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman-empire) [Roman Forum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman-forum) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) A little while ago [I showed you some photos](http://home.surewest.net/fifi/index50.html) of an incredible miniature of the ancient [Roman Forum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum). Here's an amazing 3D rendered video of the Forum. Talk about sparking your imagination for times gone by! It's such a shame that so much of the Forum fell into disrepair and that eventually medieval and [Rennaissance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance) nobility and the Papacy pulled them down for their metals and marble. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4PACYJKxic ![Palathai - Easy, Quick and Delicious Fig Cakes](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/cutfiggy.jpg) [Recipe](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/recipe) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Cake](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cake) [Culinary Delights](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/culinary-delights) [dried figs](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/dried-figs) [easy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/easy) [Egypt](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/egypt) [fig cake](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fig-cake) [figs](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/figs) [food](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/food) [Greek](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/greek) [Turkey](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/turkey) This is, without a doubt, one of the easiest recipes you could ever try your hand at making. These cakes are still made in Egypt and Turkey, and have been around since early Greek and Roman times.  You can find similar fig cakes sold at cheese shops and Whole Foods for ridiculously astronomical prices for what they are. A 10th century encyclopedia, the *[Suda Lexicon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suda)*, chronicles the ancient recipe as: ![Learning More About Renaissance Chef Bartolomeo Scappi](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/bartolomeo.jpg) [Recipe](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/recipe) [italian](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian) [Bartolomeo Scappi](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bartolomeo-scappi) [BBC](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bbc) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Cinquecento](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cinquecento) [cooking](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cooking) [food](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/food) [italian cooking](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-cooking) [Pope](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope) [Renaissance](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/renaissance) [risotto](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/risotto) As readers of this blog already know, the novel I'm currently writing is about yet another cook, [Bartolomeo Scappi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeo_Scappi), who was a Renaissance chef to several cardinals and Popes. The [BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/) has a great special called Carluccio & The Renaissance Cookbook which aired a few years back. You can check it out here though. Fascinating! Looks like I'll have to go to Dumenza at some point to check out the Scappi menu at that restaurant! In the meantime, I'll definitely be trying that risotto and the mushroom tart! ![A Tiny Tiny Roman Forum](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/forumov.jpg) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [roman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman) [Augustus](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/augustus) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [history](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/history) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Marcus Aurelius](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/marcus-aurelius) [miniature](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/miniature) [Roman Empire](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman-empire) [Roman Forum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman-forum) [Temple](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/temple) [Vestal Virgin](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vestal-virgin) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) A few months ago I stumbled upon [a site](http://home.surewest.net/fifi/index50.html) that showcases some photos of an incredible miniature of the [Roman Forum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum) made by a Robert Garbisch in 1982. Apparently it "took two and half years to complete. 95% of the 350 statues in the model were made by Robert Garbisch out of clay. There are over 720 Roman citizens living in this model and carrying on with their lives. This particular day in the Forum is the last visit by the good Emperor [Marcus Aurelius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius) to [Rome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome) during the summer of [179 AD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/179)." Here are some of the photos of this amazing miniature. Apparently it's on view at the Brandeis library in Waltham and that's a stone's throw from me so I may have to call and see if they still have it on display. ![The Vestal Virgin Hairstyle, Recreated](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/vestal_v.jpg) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [roman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman) [Vestal](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vestal) [Ancient history](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-history) [beauty](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/beauty) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Greek](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/greek) [hair](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/hair) [hair styles](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/hair-styles) [Hairstyle](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/hairstyle) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Vesta](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vesta) [Vestal Virgin](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vestal-virgin) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) The [Vestal Virgins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_Virgin) were among the most important individuals in [ancient Rome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome). They were priestesses of the [goddess Vesta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesta_%28mythology%29), whose hearth was always lit. Their privileges among women of the day were many. They were able to own property and did not have to bear children, they had the best box seats to any event, they had the right of way in the streets, they had personal bodyguards and they had the ability to free slaves and prisoners with a mere touch or command. We know a lot about the Vestals but we don't know much about what their hair looked like under the elaborate headdresses they wore. Janet Stephens, a Baltimore hairdresser and amateur archaeologist became fascinated with a statue she saw of a Vestal and decided she would find out. It took her seven years of research and now she believes she's figured it out. Take a look: ![When the Past and Present Merge: Finding Richard III](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/King_Richard_III.jpg) [legend](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/legend) [Leicester](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/leicester) [medieval](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/medieval) [middle ages](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/middle-ages) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [England](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/england) [Henry VII of England](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/henry-vii-of-england) [history](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/history) [Richard](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/richard) [Richard III](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/richard-iii) [Shakespeare](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/shakespeare) [War of the Roses](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/war-of-the-roses) [York](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/york) "Now is the winter of our discontent." Over the last week or so, the Net has been in a frenzy over the finding of the bones of [Richard III](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_%28play%29) (October 2, 1452 – August 22, 1485), who was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485. He's a famous name primarily because of [Shakespeare](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare), whose tragic play about the man fated to bring about the end of medieval times has remained popular since it was first performed in 1591. ![The Fun Side of Research](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/IMG_2814.jpg) [Writing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writing) [Astrology](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/astrology) [Trastevere](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/trastevere) [Villa Farnesina](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/villa-farnesina) [Agostino Chigi](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/agostino-chigi) [Baldassare Peruzzi](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/baldassare-peruzzi) [Bartolomeo Scappi](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bartolomeo-scappi) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Cinquecento](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cinquecento) [horoscope](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/horoscope) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Renaissance](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/renaissance) [Research](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/research) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) I'm working on research for my next book, on Renaissance chef, [Bartolomeo Scappi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeo_Scappi). I find the whole research side of historical fiction fascinating. It's like peeling back layers of paint on an elaborate painting to discover the essence of the people who inspired and created such masterpieces. One of my characters is related to [Agostino Chigi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agostino_Chigi), one of Rome's wealthiest bankers in the early 16th century. Some tourists may be more familiar with him as the man who built the Villa Farnesina on the banks of the [Trastevere](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trastevere). It sports paintings by Raphael, [Baldassare Peruzzi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldassare_Peruzzi), and [Sebastiano del Piombo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastiano_del_Piombo). But for the most part, it is often left off of itineraries of busy travelers who head straight for the Forum or the [Trevi Fountain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevi_Fountain). This is a good thing, in my opinion, because it makes the visit so much more pleasant for those who want to bask in the sumptuous frescoes without being jostled by too many others. ![Italy from Space](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/italyspacelong.jpg) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [Mediterranean Sea](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/mediterranean-sea) [NASA](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/nasa) [Sicily](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/sicily) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Corsica](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/corsica) [Earth](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/earth) [International Space Station](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/international-space-station) [Sardinia](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/sardinia) [Space](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/space) Magnifico!!  A shot of Italy from space, [courtesy of NASA](http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2349.html), taken by one of the "Expedition's 32 crew members aboard the International Space Station flying approximately 240 miles above the Mediterranean Sea on Aug. 18, 2012." ![Italia in Primavera](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/gelato.jpg) [firenze](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/firenze) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [la musica](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/la-musica) [Lucca](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/lucca) [travel](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/travel) [Vanessa Peters](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vanessa-peters) [Vatican museum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vatican-museum) [Venice](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/venice) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Bologna](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bologna) [Florence](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/florence) [primavera](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/primavera) [roma](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roma) [spring](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/spring) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) The planning has begun! For our tenth anniversary (and for research!!), my husband and I have decided that Italy is definitely in our future for a week or so in the spring. We'll spend some time in Rome for sure, because it is where our heart of hearts reside, but [Florence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence) is also on the agenda, with perhaps a stint in [Siena](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siena) for a night. ![Creativity Begets Creativity: The Writing Group](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/nautchphoto1.jpg) [Writing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writing) [Writer](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writer) [Writer Resources](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writer-resources) [Writing circle](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writing-circle) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Boston](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/boston) [grub street](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/grub-street) [Publishing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/publishing) [Ursula K- Le Guin](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ursula-k-le-guin) [writing group](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writing-group) For the last four (nearly five?) years or so I've been meeting with my writing group, not quite like clockwork, but about every two weeks. The three of us have hacked and slashed and encouraged each other's novels from start to finish, and gone through query letters, agent pitches and publishing challenges during that time. And of course, best of all, we have become close and dear friends as part of the process, bolstering spirits as we deal with family, illness, relationships, weddings, work woes and the ilk. I will know [Anjali](http://www.anjalimitterduva.com) and Jen until I'm quite old and wizened, I am convinced. Awhile back I thought I read that [Ursula K. LeGuin](http://www.ursulakleguin.com) has been in a writing group for many many years (if I'm remembering right she talks about this in [Steering the Craft](http://amzn.to/OXlND9)). At the time I remembering thinking, wow, someone as accomplished as she is still meets with others to go over her work?! I was impressed, but at the time, I didn't really understand the power of having ongoing encouragement that comes from being part of a small group that truly cares about your work. It's invaluable. Because of my writing group I don't get lazy. I moved immediately from finished to researching my next book. I feel compelled to move on the next chapter. I get excited to turn in work for feedback. I get lost in the worlds of their books. In short, because of this group I am on the continuous hamster wheel of writing creativity and as those of you know, if you fall off, it's a massive PITA to jump back on. ![Off to BlogHer 2012! Plus my guilty secret - Martha Stewart](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/blogher.jpg) [Writing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writing) [Keurig](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/keurig) [Martha Stewart](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/martha-stewart) [New York City](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/new-york-city) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Bloggers](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bloggers) [blogging](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blogging) [BlogHer](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blogher) [conference](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/conference) [Got Milk](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/got-milk) [Wikipedia](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/wikipedia) Tomorrow I leave my husband and my kitty to hold down the fort while I head to [BlogHer](http://www.blogher.com) 2012 to check out the action. It's a business trip primarily; some of you may already know my full-time-awesome-paying-the-bills job is managing social media for [Keurig](http://keurig.com/), the leading single-brew coffee maker in the world. There will be some Keurig action at the [Got Milk](http://www.gotmilk.com) booth, so I'm heading down with [one of my colleagues](http://www.twitter.com/msmollykelley) to say hi to the crew there. ![Beautiful Book Art: Justin Rowe](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/still-no-soul-appeared-upon-her-decks.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [Justin Rowe](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/justin-rowe) [Visual Arts](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/visual-arts) [beautiful](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/beautiful) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Book](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/book) [book art](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/book-art) [Etsy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/etsy) [paper sculpture](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/paper-sculpture) I ran across this [Seattle PI article](http://blog.seattlepi.com/bookpatrol/2012/07/17/book-art-from-a-bookseller/) this week, about a wonderful paper sculptor, Justin Rowe, and I had to share. As a bookseller, Rowe was looking for ways to decorate his window. And suddenly, an artist was born. ![Can You Imagine What Ancient Rome Was Like?](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Map_of_downtown_Rome_during_the_Roman_Empire_large.png) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [Apicius](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/apicius) [320 AD](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/320-ad) [Ancient history](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-history) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Circus Maximus](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/circus-maximus) [Colosseum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/colosseum) [history](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/history) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Pantheon](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pantheon) [Pantheon Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pantheon-rome) [Roman Forum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman-forum) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) If not, now you can! This video was set about 200 years after my novel's central character lived, but it still gives a great flavor of what [Rome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome) would have been like in ancient times. While the [Colosseum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum) wasn't there, nor the [Circus Maximus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_Maximus), most of the other major buildings were there in the time that [Apicius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apicius) lived. He would have walked on the stones of the [Roman Forum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum), visited the [Temple of Jupiter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Jupiter_Optimus_Maximus), looked up through the oculus of [The Pantheon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon%2C_Rome). Such power there is in history! http://vimeo.com/32038695 ![Crunchy Tasty Dormice](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alice-27.jpg) [Recipe](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/recipe) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [Apicius](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/apicius) [Slovenia](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/slovenia) [The Hatter](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/the-hatter) [Alice](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/alice) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Culinary Delights](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/culinary-delights) [De Re Coquinaria](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/de-re-coquinaria) [delicacy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/delicacy) [dormice](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/dormice) [Dormouse](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/dormouse) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Wonderland](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/wonderland) In my novel, one of the treats served up by Apicius to his guests (from [De  Re Coquinaria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apicius), Chapter IX, 396) is [stuffed dormice](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_dormouse). They were generally eaten as snacks and were a favorite at the* tabernas* and *popinas* (taverns and bars) but were also popular with the upper class. Nowadays the lucky little dormouse isn't eaten (although apparently they are still in [Slovenia](http://www.glirarium.org/dormouse/cult-slovenian-persic.html)!) but way back then they were often stuffed, fried and eaten whole, bones and all. Below is the recipe found in the cookbook which bears Apicius' name. ![A new trend? Ancient Roman baby names? Really?](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Cornelia-and-the-Gracchi.jpg) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [Livia](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/livia) [roman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman) [Roman naming conventions](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roman-naming-conventions) [Aelia](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/aelia) [baby names](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/baby-names) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Hunger Games](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/hunger-games) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [names](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/names) A [recent article on the Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-redmond-satran/the-best-ancient-roman-ba_b_1619829.html?utm_hp_ref=parents&ir=Parents) dares to make a bold prediction when it comes to trends in baby names--that monikers from [Ancient Rome](http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome) will soon be popular. She cites the [Roman names](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_naming_conventions) in the *[Hunger Games](http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439023483%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dcreatofcircu-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0439023483)* as proof of the new trend. She may be right in that regard. God knows how many Bellas and Edwards are in the world now than before *Twilight* became popular. The readers of my manuscript draft were often thrown when they found that one of my characters was named "Melissa." They thought it was too modern, but I just chuckled. While it's not Roman, but Greek, it's a name that is several thousand years old. Angela, Amelia, Bryce (which was a Greek girl's name), Laura and Patricia are also ancient names. ![On the Fourth of July...](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Thoreaus-Cabin-Exterior.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [July](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/july) [Walden Pond](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/walden-pond) [Walt Whitman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/walt-whitman) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Boston](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/boston) [Concord](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/concord) [Henry David Thoreau](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/henry-david-thoreau) [history](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/history) [Independence Day](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/independence-day) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/nathaniel-hawthorne) [Scarlet Letter](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/scarlet-letter) No, this is not an [X song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHBaOiQ3J8)! Instead I thought it was a good day to remind of you of a few writely events that had nothing to do with fireworks, baseball, or apple pie. ![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1481231558851356&ev=PageView&noscript=1)