Hell on Earth: the European drought of 1540

Cora Buhlert tweeted a link to a very interesting article in the German magazine Spiegel Online. The article is in German, but I found an English article about the German article, with some of its own conclusions. This is not a translation, rather a commentary. Unlike the English article, I’m…

Continue reading

Ghostspeaker Chronicles book 2: setting

A while ago, I posted some pictures of this house in Amsterdam, which I’ve used as model for Johanna’s house in the first book of the Ghostspeaker Chronicles. In book 1, Johanna goes into the store room to eavesdrop on her father in his office with a guest from the…

Continue reading

History: inside one of the old canal houses in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is known for old houses like these. Many of them were built in the Golden Age, which started around the 1600’s. Some of the most elaborate and pretty houses can be found at the Herengracht, built back in the 1600’s to house the city’s nobles (Heren = Lords). Walking…

Continue reading