On the 3rd of March, the archive of Cologne collapsed. About 18 kilometres of books, manuscripts, letters and documents now lie in a huge crater in Cologne city - most of it probably mashed to a pulp. Many old documents are lost, and with the damaged paper that can be recovered, a whole generation of paper conservators will find work enough for the next twenty or thirty years.

This leaves me speechless. Go google for news about it and mourn. In the Middle has already posted about it, too.

I've just re-ordered the gadgets and finally managed to substitute the blogroll (that can't be divided into parts with different titles) with link lists. You can now see whether it is a writing & publishing themed blog or a medievalist blog that you are about to click, should you be willing to leave this blog via another one.

In case you wonder why I have this type of blogs on my reading list:
I stumbled over most of them when I was preparing the book proposal for my thesis. I had tried before to get my master's thesis to a publisher, and luckily I made all the beginner's mistakes then, and not this time around.

Having grown not only older and bolder, but a bit wiser at the same time, I read a lot of how-to texts and do-and-don't-lists before sending anything out. And while doing this, I found a few blogs that had helpful advice and nicely written texts. Since I enjoy reading nicely written texts, I stuck around.

And while I'm writing about the book biz:
One of my favourite funnies about the business is a video by Jackson A. Pearce, where she shows how she once imagined the writing and publishing process. It's wonderful. I watch it regularly to have the good feeling that I am not the only person who once had a much too optimistic view about the publishing business - and that I am in good company indeed.
Here you go - enjoy!

Yes, there is no way to ignore it: Another blog has seen the light of day, struggling for readers. Do we really need this? Do I hear a "Yes!" there? Somebody?

So, welcome to this sparkling, nice, brand-new blog. I am a medieval archaeologist specialising in textiles or, more specifically, in medieval garments and their reconstruction. For a living, I am currently giving talks and workshops, writing about medieval garments, tailoring garments for museums and exhibitions, and I am fully enjoying myself doing it. I have a few nice things for next year in planning too, and you will hear about them here as these projects take shape. In addition, I will blog about all kinds of freelance things here, garment reconstruction and research, gadgets that spice up my computer and that I don't want to be without, and whatever else I can think of. I have no idea how this will all turn out - but as with every brain child, I hope for the best!