During my recent trip to Palermo and its death-defying roads, a Bible in Welsh was displayed in the hotel's reading room. No one knew why it was there. I suspect it's from the mid-1800s. Did the Welsh ever emigrate to Sicily? Or was it there to try & comfort us wary pedestrians?

An exquisite video showing the creation of Lama d'Ombra: The Glass Blade That Will Crown Venice Noir 2026 from @davidhewson.com Llama-dombra-venice-noir-award/

Lama d'Ombra: Venice Noir's 2026 Award Sculpture

Unveiling of Lama d'Ombra — the blood-red glass and charred-wood sculpture Andrea Morucchio made as the festival's 2026 award.

davidhewson.com

Just finished. Superb. #Blueskybooks @davidgilman.bsky.social

Thanks to Annie for spending time with me on this interview. Always a pleasure to share thoughts on writing.

Left on the Shelf Book Blog@leftontheshelf1.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I'm thrilled to welcome #author @davidgilman.bsky.social onto the blog today to answer some questions about his new book The Knife Maker of Venice. @rararesources.bsky.social @headofzeus.bsky.social #booksky

It's Publication Day for The Knife Maker of Venice and I'm pleased to announce the book's blog tour programme. Thanks to everyone involved.

‘Dark and compelling’ – S.W. Perry THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE by @davidgilman.bsky.social is out today from @headofzeus.bsky.social!⚔️ A young Englishman captured by slavers must survive the snake pit that is seventeenth-century Venice. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

It's #LefthandersDay! ✋ Today's #newbook highlights ✨ The Knife Maker of Venice by @davidgilman.bsky.social The A-Listers by #BerlinWick My Twin Sister by #AleshaDykema #booksky

In The Knife Maker of Venice, brother and sister, Richard and Elisabeth, live in Dartmouth when Barbary pirates arrive. This fortification was known as Bears Cove (now Beyards Cove). It's upriver from Dartmouth Castle and was manned to protect Dartmouth town.

This is outrageous. Newham Bookshop is a beacon of learning and social involvement. Please support this fantastic institution. It has certainly supported me and I will be writing to the Mayor and Sir Stephen Timms MP. Please share and circulate.

Newham Bookshop@newhambookshop.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Please read and share widely.

Why we won't be using the new "Reading" Banner on Instagram just yet www.tripfiction.com/why-we-wont-... It's not fit for purpose #blueskybooks #booksky

Why we won't be using the "Reading" Banner on Instagram - TripFiction

There has been a lot of enthusiasm - apparently - for the "Reading" Banner on Instagram, which has quietly been introduced on the platform in recent

tripfiction.com

In my latest book, ‘The Knife Maker of Venice’, one of the characters tells our hero he served during the sea battle when the English defeated the Armada. I was in Exeter last week and found Drake’s favourite watering holes from those days. The Ship Inn. It’s still there in St Martin’s Lane.

Day 2 and I have given up on the “Reading” banner over on Instagram #amreading The Knife Maker of Venice by @davidgilman.bsky.social and you don’t get very far with only 20 characters 🤔 and never room for the author’s name #notfitforpurpose #blueskybooks #booksky @headofzeus.bsky.social

There were two notorious pirate captains in early 17C, the time when The Knife Maker of Venice is set. Jack Ward, had Tunis as his base, and a Dutchman, Simon de Danser,in Algiers. Here are some amazing figureheads used on tall ships - displayed in the Maritime Museum, Amsterdam.l

Always a good read and at this price? A giveaway.

Philip Gwynne Jones@pgjonesvenice.bsky.social · 2mo ago

For those of you in the UK....there's a cracking offer this month with the ebook of "The Venetian Candidate" at just 99p for the whole of August! There's a bit of history, a new enemy is introduced, Nathan goes ice-skating and...just what lies within The Visconti Box?

Many thanks to author Kate Furnivall for her review. 'I absolutely loved it. Every page is thick with tension, ablaze with fear and thrilling action... a story driven by a love so strong, a mighty evocation of seventeenth-century Venice...A story that will stay with you for a long time.'

Thanks to Boyd & Beth Morrison for giving my new book a super review. @boydmorrisonwriter.bsky.social @blakefriedmann.bsky.social @headofzeus.bsky.social @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social

March 1594 - North Atlantic "He did not want the sea to be his mother, he insisted. The men around him laughed but his father’s voice was stern. They would sail for Newfoundland." davidgilman.com/site/knifema... @blakefriedmann.bsky.social @headofzeus.bsky.social

There's a Waterstones promotion for my new book The Knife Maker of Venice starting today until the 24th July. Please quote the promo code if your order.

The Knife Maker of Venice, my new novel, has a different narrator from my Master of War books. I had the pleasure of meeting and then being interviewed by the multi-talented Ben Cura. Actor, writer, director, who's done a wonderful narration of my book. @HoZ_Books @BlakeFriedmann #Venice

🖤OUT NOW!🖤 #Dangerous by @essiefox.bsky.social is a dark, dazzling historical thriller for readers who love gothic atmosphere, real-life literary figures and twisty mysteries😱 GET YOUR COPY NOW! 🔗https://geni.us/dBOXX

A piece by me on "The Venetian Redemption" for "Aspects of Crime" magazine.

The Venetian Redemption by Philip Gwynne Jones - Aspects of Crime

Nothing will ever prepare you for the late-night phone call from a familiar number. My mother had been very frail for many years. I would go back to visit her in her nursing home in South Wales for a ...

aspectsofcrime.com

Back from a busy time in London. Interviewed at @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social & @headofzeus.bsky.social for my new novel The Knife Maker of Venice. The audio version narrated by the multi-talented Ben Cura. Then a book signing at @goldsborobooks.bsky.social. Thanks Pavla!

On this day, Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Gardening therapy. Perfect after a hard slog.

David Hewson@davidhewson.com · 5mo ago

Next year's book delivered. 99,000 words of something old and something new. Now to plant courgettes before heading off to Venice for meetings, stuff and possibly the odd spritz.

There's a promotion to help support indie bookshops for my new standalone novel due Aug. Pre-order a copy of THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE from Bookshop.org between 13-17 May and save 20% with the code PREORDER20. Every sale supports real independent bookshops across the UK! #Venice #HistoricalFiction

The paperback edition of Rage of Swords my 9th book in the Master of War series is being published on 7th May. And there's a bonus chapter added at the back = Chapter 1 of my new standalone novel The Knife Maker's Apprentice.

Vance: "We want you to make a decision about your future with no outside forces pressuring you or telling you what to do. I'm not telling you exactly who to vote for." Vance 20 minutes later: "Go to the polls at the weekend. Stand with Viktor Orbán!"

Impossible to disagree with a single word that Ben Rhodes (Obama era NSC official) is saying here:

I get a dozen emails/day offering to promote my work at fake festivals/radio and bookclubs. For anyone starting out as an author there's also this scam impersonating editors at publishing houses including Pan Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Hachette. New authors be aware.