Today was going back over the most recent chapters and adding intro quotes (as well as some general tightening up). Still not sure whether to stick with fictitious quotes, or try to source genuine period ones to replace them. Sadly the only period chemistry book I could find was dull as dishwater. I may look further though.

Tightening up the chemistry in the first half of the book – plot-critical compound X is still pure fiction, of course, but at least it’s consistent, and the surrounding rationale for developing it is good. And considering I get the full facts about it out before the halfway mark in the book, I think I can be forgiven a bit of artistic license in the actual chemical. Next task – bumpers/overview rewrite of the last five chapters, then it’s into the final third of the book.

Today, in the penultimate chapter of the Brief Guide To Byzantium, we look at the impact of plague on the Byzantine empire. I had a lot of fun finding the paintings to go with this article.

Today is another entry in the Brief Guide To Byzantium section, as I discuss the Sieges Of Constantinople. The doom of the empire is fast approaching, but I may wind it back for a look at daily life in Constantinople, before I move on to the end.

Except now I want to redo all the bumpers with genuine quotes and do some more research to make my plot-driving chemistry more realistic. (Oddly, it did turn out to be a bit more realistic than I thought, but it could definitely do with some work.)

One pub conversation away from finishing chapter 20, yay!

This chapter, it turns out, can be salvaged almost entirely as it, simply by making the existing conversations happen between different people. Which does mean they all have to be rewritten, but at least I know where each of them goes.

Another entry in the Brief Guide To Byzantium. This time I dip my toes in the murky world of Byzantine Politics.

Today, another addition to the Brief Guide To Byzantium – it’s a look at the first pivotal battle in Byzantine history, the Battle of Yarmouk.