So. It has come to this. Part II: gratitude.

[hawkwing_lb]

After posting "So. It has come to this," last night, I went to sleep.

I logged on today, twelve hours later. Guys. I am gobsmacked and speechless at your generosity. You've given me more than I asked for - twice as much as I dared hope for.

(In consequence of said twiceness, only let me know and I will refund half of the donation.)

You are all amazing, and I am humbled and grateful.

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I promised rewards. Let me talk about the timeframe for fulfilling my promises.

I will write the 500-word review of a book chosen by the person who donated most (I will be in touch to confirm who you are) before the end of July.

I'll write the 500-word review of Lucian's True History also before the end of July.

I'll write the 500-word review of G.W. Bowerstock's The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars On The Eve Of Islam (Oxford University Press, 2013) before the end of August.

I'll write the 750-word review of Mary Renault's The King Must Die also before the end of August.

I'll write up every session I attend at the conference within two weeks of coming home from said conference.

I'll review with as much detail as possible Paul Roberts' Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum (Oxford University Press, 2013) before the middle of September.

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Any funds remaining after I have covered conference costs, I will donate to a good cause. There being so many worthy causes, I will investigate and report back which one(s) after the conference is done.

Comments

[glinda-w.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am so very, very pleased by this. (Am myself at the too much month, too little money stage already, and it's only the 14th; next infusion of social security disability is July 3rd.)

Are you going to post those reviews, or will they be private? Because I'd love to see your take on the Renault. (Love her books. Love love love.)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

I was going to blog the reviews. I've never read Renault, you see.

I'd be in a good money place this spring if it weren't for sodding bad luck. Sigh. I despise money.

(But only when I haven't got it.)

[glinda-w.livejournal.com]

Yeah, lack of money - and no way to get more - really sucks. *sigh*

Huh. I think my Latin teacher introduced me to Renault; was in my... early 20s maybe? when The Persian Boy was published. *wanders off to look at publication dates* ah yes, I remembered correctly, 1972. I've got most of her books, though the non-historical novels mostly weren't released in the US and I've had trouble finding affordable copies.

After reading other comments, am now even more interested in your take on her writing, whether there's a generational shift involved in levels of appreciation. :)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

We shall see what passes!

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I'm so pleased; I was poised to drop some money in the bucket myself, if swifter folks hadn't overflowed it already.

On account of the coincidence of your appeal with the latest SFWA meltdown, and the purpose of your appeal too, you might think of sending some of the excess to the Olivia Butler Scholarship, to help someone else travel somewhere they really want to go?

(And also, I too am looking forward to the Renault review. And a little astonished that you haven't read her yet. Is this generational, do we think? She was ... pivotal to me, to the extent that I was in correspondence with her when she died. She may not carry the same weight with you young things, perhaps?)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

The Octavia Butler Scholarship is certainly a cause of much goodness, and I would certainly hope to support it.

I suspect it may well be generational. Also of location: I have only lately begun to look outside the SFF section for my reading for the first time since I was ten, and Renault is not shelved therein. Too, I did not discover myself passionate for, or even really interested in, the ancient world until I began to study it (ancient history was my consolation degree for history) - so I may have missed her that way, as well.

[between4walls.livejournal.com]

I'll write the 500-word review of Lucian's True History also before the end of July.

I'd never heard of this till yesterday, now am v. curious. Sounds like fun.

I'll write the 750-word review of Mary Renault's The King Must Die also before the end of August.

I quite liked The Mask of Apollo (Renault's mental axioms are so weird, but what a beautiful book) but could not get past the first few pages of The King Must Die. Then again, I never liked Theseus. What a moron, re his wife and son. Did you read it for the Minoan presentation?

[between4walls.livejournal.com]

Seeing this now,
I've never read Renault, you see.

Huh. I strongly suspect you won't get on with her much. Even taking into account that she was writing in the fifties. But I could be wrong.

The Charioteer, which I've been dipping in and out of, is absolutely exquisitely written. Her mind is an odd place, though. Interesting to visit, wouldn't want to live there.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

If I knew I'd get on with her, the prospect of writing a review wouldn't be half so interesting. :)

[between4walls.livejournal.com]

But of course. :-)

[between4walls.livejournal.com]

And because I clearly can't get my thoughts together in one comment- I didn't catch this till recently, but the first sentence of Kushiel's Dart is a call-back to the opening of Renault's The Persian Boy. (Another one I haven't read.)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Such a thing is what the follow-up comment is made for!