With The Barrow now out and available for a couple of months and reviews coming in, it occurred to me to begin using my blog on Sword & Barrow as, well, a blog. So I’m planning on posting a series of mini-essays on different aspects of the book, to write about inspirations, antecedents, and writing strategies that influenced or appear in the book to help give readers some context, points of discussion, and hints of things to come. Be warned there will be some mild spoilers on occasion, so proceed at your own risk. I figured I would start at the beginning of the book, which I suppose only...