Murder and Mayhem is a boxed set of four historical mysteries written by members of the Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative that will be only 99 cents between March 22-27. ♠♠♠♠ These four mysteries range in time periods and settings from I. J. Parker’s The Hell Screen, set in Medieval Japan, to Anna… Read More »Murder and Mayhem: Four Historical Mysteries
In case you haven’t heard of them, StoryBundle offers readers a chance to discover quality books by independent authors in a particular theme. These bundles are put together and are available for a limited time. The reader can look at the basic bundle and decide how much they would like to… Read More »Historical Fiction StoryBundle
Sumptuary laws are way for the upper classes to restrict the symbols of their wealth and power. In rigidly stratified societies, knowing a person’s social status is essential; sumptuary laws allow this vital fact to be determined at a glance. And persons aspiring to be taken for greater than they… Read More »Honored in the breach: sumptuary laws by Anna Castle
I began the Akitada series in the mid-eighties. Progress was extremely slow. I was still teaching full-time and would be for another fifteen years. Besides, I had never written fiction before, let alone a mystery, let alone one set in eleventh-century Japan. But Robert Van Gulik had done the same… Read More »The Series Protagonist by I. J. Parker
Normally I write a mystery series set in eleventh century Japan. This invariably causes strangers to ask me, “Why Japan?” Their curiosity is due to the fact that few people take an interest in Japanese history before WW 2. In a way, it is even stranger that I chose to… Read More »Splendor, Scandal, and Murder by I. J. Parker