Malcolm David Logan, Author

Understanding the Barbarian Mindset

In crafting a story about the Fall of the Roman Empire I wanted it be as true to real events as possible. To that extent it was necessary to avoid tired old stereotypes about the various peoples who inhabited the world of that time. Nowhere is this more the case than with the barbarians. Who were these people? What did they want? And what were they thinking?

What the Fall of the Roman Empire Has Taught Me About Immigration

We tend to think of immigration as something new in our times. Indeed, when we would look at the racial and ethnic make-up of our 21st century communities, we must acknowledge a rapid evolution from a half century ago when the majority of Americans were of northern European stock. However, we would be wrong to think this is something unprecedented. As in so many things, the Romans were there before us...

Sneak preview of "The Desecration of Fortune"

They came in their thousands, a great rolling horde that stretched out on the plain before us like a slow-moving tide. They came on foot and horseback, tromping through the dust amidst the sounds of creaking leather, clacking greaves, and rattling swords. They came in curious wagons topped with sheepskin tents and peaked roofs from which rippled long pennants. They came driving their livestock, swarming herds of sheep, pigs, and goats. They shepherded them along with whips and staffs, more like nomadic migrants than an advancing army. They came with their families, squealing children, beckoning mothers, and shouting men. They came with their slaves, the squalid, dejected remnants of defeated tribes, once proud men and women who had made the unforgivable mistake of asking them for mercy. They came with their plunder, wagons piled high with the treasures they had stripped from the towns and cities they had demolished, riches they had torn from the hands of weeping victims and plucked from the bodies of the dead as they stood ankle-deep in blood. They came with their siege engines, the mighty machines of war...

Laying the Groundwork for a Sequel

If I write a sequel with a male as the main character, my female readers may be disappointed. So I need a woman. I can’t use Galla Placidia, because she’s already told her story in “The Wind in the Embers”, and I can’t use Justa, because the historical material about her is scant, and, besides, she is the ideal antagonist (she is such a conniving bitch). I need someone else. So I start researching female historical figures whose lives touch on my story. And I don’t have to go far...

Outlining the Plot for a Novel

A plot line, for those who don’t know, is the plot of a projected novel condensed into twenty or thirty pages. It is the authorial equivalent of a painter’s sketch before embarking on the actual painting. It allows the artist to position things and get some sense of relationships and proportion. When the actual project begins, it is a touchstone to keep the artist on track. I have just spent the past week immersed in the plot line for my next novel, and, I must say...