Today I was interviewed by Louise Rule for The Review, a blog which also has a Facebook group. The interview can be found at…

http://thereviewgroup.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/louise-e-rule-interviews-richard-abbott.html

The topics covered a lot of ground but interestingly we talked a fair bit about the similarities and differences between my fiction writing and the academic thesis which came out first.

The interview opens with…

Q. You have an obvious passion for the ancient Middle East. Could you tell our readers what drew you to that time, what was it that captivated you?

A. Originally I got intrigued by the chronology of the ancient world, and looked into both mainstream views and some of the more alternative ones. But as I started to read actual ancient sources, initially in translation and then more directly, I abandoned chronology in favour of literature, especially poetry and its various forms. It is so much more fascinating! Plus, of course, it gives much more direct insight into the minds of people in the ancient world, rather than just modern ideas of how best to create an exact timeline…



Then we got into matters like whether researching a novel was the same as researching a thesis, the development of character and structure, ancient writing and its forms – even the Northern Line got a mention!