Fiction provides a secondary and creative outlet for ideas developed through or encountered in my scholarly pursuits, although I never confuse these two very different expressions and neither should the reader. My fiction borrows heavily from (sometimes obscure) Egyptological facts and speculation but it is not intended as a presentation per se of these. The Egypt of my fiction is the Egypt of any fiction:  an inspiration, a source of motifs and setting, a fictional construct out of history, one that can be manipulated, folded back upon itself to reflect not merely the antiquity that inspired it but modern life and times as well.

I have often said that Akhenaten is a Rorschach test for any author, scholarly and otherwise, who treats him. In fact all of Egypt can serve a Rorschach test, being endlessly reinterpretable in highly personal ways. Elements of the ancient culture have entered modern times through avenues far beyond the archaeological. Even archaeological remains uncovered with the purest of academic intentions feed the influence of Egypt through channels (dug either by proper scholars or others) that lead into realms of modern culture far removed from the academic and the factual. This is Egyptomania, expressions of fascination with the land of the pharaohs extending beyond anything intended by -- or indeed possible through-- scholarship. The heritage of Egypt is not merely its ruins and its writings, the names of its kings, and the impact its conquests and defeats have had on the course of human history. The heritage of Egypt is also its profound influence on painters, philosophers, poets, sculptors, and novelists who worked long after any pharaoh sat on the throne. We have been Egyptianized.

This Egyptianizing influence can be a source of keen frustration:  any Egyptologist who has had to deal with members of the public whose knowledge of Egypt derives primarily from the "fringe" (the influence of which is extremely pernicious, as outright fiction is not) has felt this.  But this Egyptianizing influence is equally a source of entertainment and artistic achievement. It is to the latter goals that I have devoted the greater part of my fiction career. If I offer my scholarship to further knowledge, I offer my contributions to Egyptomania with the hope that others will enjoy them and perhaps think about Egypt (and things beyond Egypt) in ways that they might not have before.

Most of my stories can be classed as historical fantasy. "Ankhtifi the Brave is dying." is the most recent offering in this vein. Sometimes a fantasy might have a contemporary setting ("The Chapter of the Hawk of Gold") and on occasion I abandon the magical (almost) entirely for an historical mystery ("The Execration").

And while Egypt remains simultaneously my anchor and my sail, I do occasionally step ashore to explore other lands. Among my published oeuvre you will encounter a magical medieval Russia ("The Dovecote") and an alien planet where the rules of physics might be the same as those we know in our everyday lives but the rules of engagement are something else again ("Trading Places"). 

My editorial efforts in fiction have resulted foremostly in The First Heroes: New Tales of the Bronze Age, an anthology of original speculative fiction by some of the top writers in the field, coedited with Harry Turtledove.  It has garnered considerable praise from the critics, and I'm grateful for the talents of my co-contributors. Coming soon is Otherworldly Maine, from Down East Books, a collection of original and reprinted sf&f stories, by authors as diverse as Mark Twain and Stephen King, all set in my home state.

I take on work as a freelance editor (and, of course, author) of fiction and nonfiction, for which inquiries are welcomed.

I am now represented by Vaughne Lee Hansen. She may be contacted at this address: