Kate Sheehan-Finn
@katesfwriter.bsky.social
Stories sprinkle stardust on our lives. Writer, Archaeology, Roman Empire, Ancient Greece Winner Jericho Writers FNL24; LL Flash500 Novel Comp 2025; SL HNS First Chapters Comp 2026
The barn owl was out early last night. This fuzzy shot is my phone from about 40 M away. It could be an omen. The #owl is a symbol for a main character in one of two novels I’ve written. Is this is the one I need to focus on finessing in the second half of 2026? #AmWriting #WritingLife 📷 my own
This is one of several bronze shields from the Idaean cave, #Crete. The shield dates from the late 9th/early 8th C to mid 7th C BC, roughly the same era when the oral epics, The #Iliad and The #Odyssey, found their more fixed written form. My 📷, Heraklion Archaeological Museum #Archaeology
After the rain, it was a beautiful evening. I heard a Sparrow Hawk and took in the sun as it set over the parched fields. Then, back home after my walk, I sat down to write. #AmWriting #WritingLife 📷 my own, #Northumberland
This beautiful and bittersweet love story is testament to the power of a book to inspire and create real human connections. #Books www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
A moment that changed me: I found a forbidden novel – it led to a dangerous, lasting love
Growing up in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, romance was frowned upon – as was much of my Uyghur culture. But one day, exploring a strange house, I found a gateway to both worlds
theguardian.com
DOMINA VOTUM and DOMINA MALACI - inscriptions recorded by scholars in a cave in Valencia and deposits of spindle whorls tell the story of a goddess and women who followed her. She is otherwise unattested in #Archaeology. 1st-2nd C AD. #EpigraphyTuesday #Rome archaeology.org/news/2026/07...
News - Latin Graffiti Recorded in Underground Cave - Archaeology Magazine
VALENCIA, SPAIN—Some 120 Latin inscriptions on the walls and ceiling of Cova Dones, an underground […]
archaeology.org
Roman sarcophagus with relief carving of individuals praying, Jesus’s baptism in the river Jordan, and the prophet Jonah. Made in a Roman workshop, AD 250-300, it is one of the first sarcophagi that is explicitly Christian in nature. #TombTuesday #Rome #Archaeology My 📷 Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome.
A 2nd C AD Roman mosaic floor in a communal latrine. The building may have been used by a collegium or guild for meetings and functions. The mosaic shows hunting and fishing scenes. I’m impressed by the marble toilet seats. 📷 my own, Italica, near Seville. #Rome #MosaicMonday #Archaeology
Italica’s Roman amphitheatre was built by Hadrian, who was born in Italica, ruled AD 117-138. 25K people watched regular gladiator fights, wild beast hunts, and presumably criminal executions. It was the Dragonpit, Kings Landing, S7-8, Game of Thrones. My 📷 #RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology #Rome
It’s all about #Odysseus and #TheOdyssey right now. Last October I saw this fresco in the museum at #OstiaAntica. It depicts Odysseus tied to the mast, his crew with their ears plugged, as they sail past the deadly Sirens. Romans loved #Homer too. From the Domus Fulminata, 3rd C AD. 📷 my own.
Italica’s Roman amphitheatre was built by Hadrian, who was born in Italica, ruled AD 117-138. 25K people watched regular gladiator fights, wild beast hunts, and presumably criminal executions. It was the Dragonpit, Kings Landing, S7-8, Game of Thrones. My 📷 #RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology #Rome
It’s all about #Odysseus and #TheOdyssey right now. Last October I saw this fresco in the museum at #OstiaAntica. It depicts Odysseus tied to the mast, his crew with their ears plugged, as they sail past the deadly Sirens. Romans loved #Homer too. From the Domus Fulminata, 3rd C AD. 📷 my own.
Glass luxury perfume bottles with wavy coloured and gold bands. Bottles with gold band and white lid with a hole for the perfume are rare and were probably made in an Alexandrian glass workshop. Crete, Hellenistic (3rd-2nd C BC). My 📷, Heraklion Archaeological Museum. #FindsFriday #Archaeology
Socks and sandals; proof the Romans were at it long before Gen Z, especially in chilly North East Britannia. This little razor handle with herringbone pattern sock and ‘solea’ sandal was found in the River Tees near Darlington and now lives in Durham Archaeology Museum. #FindsFriday
Glass luxury perfume bottles with wavy coloured and gold bands. Bottles with gold band and white lid with a hole for the perfume are rare and were probably made in an Alexandrian glass workshop. Crete, Hellenistic (3rd-2nd C BC). My 📷, Heraklion Archaeological Museum. #FindsFriday #Archaeology
Each Roman fort had an aerarium (strong room) sunk below the rear rooms of the Principia (headquarters). The room provided secure storage for soldiers' pay, cohort savings, and valuable administrative records. My 📷, 1. Corbridge, 2-3. Chesters Fort. #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology #RomanBritain
Light relief for #ReliefWednesday 🏺 Structor ('master builder') Diogenes signed his limestone panel showing tools of his trade, eg trowel, plumb line, cudgel or axe/hammer, scalpel - and the essential apotropaic phallus. Clearly proud of his trade... From Casa del Marinaio, Pompeii, in Antiquarium
Each Roman fort had an aerarium (strong room) sunk below the rear rooms of the Principia (headquarters). The room provided secure storage for soldiers' pay, cohort savings, and valuable administrative records. My 📷, 1. Corbridge, 2-3. Chesters Fort. #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology #RomanBritain
Roman legions and auxiliary cohorts were divided into centuries that contained 80 soldiers. Each century had its own standard carried by a standard bearer. The standard symbolised identity and honour. This relief shows a standard. 📷 my own, Corbridge. #RomanBritain #ReliefWednesday #Archaeology
The final of three episodes about #JaneAusten dropped on the Hidden Heroines of History #podcast today. We discuss the possibility that a portrait of Jane Austen, given to historian Paula Byrne, is authentic. Find it on Spotify, iHeartRadio, iTunes & YouTube. Link to YouTube in the comments!
Roman legions and auxiliary cohorts were divided into centuries that contained 80 soldiers. Each century had its own standard carried by a standard bearer. The standard symbolised identity and honour. This relief shows a standard. 📷 my own, Corbridge. #RomanBritain #ReliefWednesday #Archaeology
An interesting and helpful blog post on dealing with the fear of the blank page: #AmWriting #WritingLife #WritingCommunity x.com/katesfwriter...
Kate Sheehan-Finn🇮🇪🇪🇺✍️📖🏛🏺 (@KatesfWriter) on X
An interesting and helpful blog post on dealing with the fear of the blank page: #AmWriting #WritingLife #WritingCommunity https://t.co/vbQylhRm9a
x.com
Roman mosaic showing a masked actor in a tragic play. It is 2nd-3rd C AD, found below modern Cordoba. Possibly representing Oedipus, the actor wears theatrical cothurni (knee high boots) and holds a staff, as blind actors often do. He wears a short tunic and cloak. My 📷 #MosaicMonday #Archaeology
This is the place to be in a heatwave. Here, the heat is a ripple. 📷 my own, Applecross peninsula. #scotland #westerros
When did rain become a precious commodity in #northumberland? I’ve almost forgotten how the earth smells after a summer deluge. 📷 my own. #climatechangeisreal #weather
A #Roman clay tile, on which someone wrote out in Latin cursive the first lines of the 'Aeneid' before it was fired - well, that's one way to get some handwriting practice in! It was found in Italica (Spain), where it was written about 2000 years ago #Archaeology #AncientBlueSky
Out now, Claire Fuge’s debut novel is historical fiction with heart for anyone who loves a story about women navigating the world they inhabited at a time when women of high status were pawns in power games played by noblemen. At the same time, these women had agency. #historicalfictionbooks #books
I can’t believe I did not read I Let You Go until this month 12 years after it was first released. @claremackwrites.bsky.social wrote a book that kept me guessing all the way. #Books #AmReading
