Alexander Marriott's Blog

I was notified by The New England Quarterly today that my submission for their annual Whitehill Prize, “Republicanism at War – Worcester, Massachusetts and the War of 1812” had been a finalist for this year’s prize.

While I did not win the prize, being a finalist is a humbling honor in its own right, and I am pleased to further share that the NEQ is sending my essay out to reviewers for publication consideration.

I appeared on the Dad Lit Podcast with my pal Daniel Roberts. We discussed our current writing projects and did some workshopping. It’s a good listen!

Episode 76: Writing Workshop with Alexander Marriott (Author and Dad)

My friends Jeffrey Siger and Daniel Roberts got together to discuss writing and Jeff’s latest novel–A Study in Secrets. Check it out!

My review of Maria Angela Diaz’s A Continuous State of War: Empire Building and Race Making in the Civil War-Era Gulf South (University of Georgia Press, 2024) has been published in the January issue of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly.

Project MUSE – Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Version 1.0.0

Virgil Colvin’s third adventure, this time in Chicago, is shaping up quickly. The first bunch of chapters is off to my first outside reader. Chapters with names like: ‘Graceland,’ ‘Wright’s Village,’ ‘Greek Town,’ and ‘Thumbs.’

17,500 words in–we’re just getting going!

Off to ‘Wrigley’!

In case you thought the plot and sub-plots of Murder with a Glass of Malvasia were pure fiction, think again!

The article below will take you to the very latest between Greece and Lebanon, and Turkey’s objections.

https://greekreporter.com/2025/11/27/turkey-condemns-cyprus-lebanon-eez-deal-regional-energy-landscape-shifts/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOVqq1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR74zlU1KtQyolTDZAFMnTuyP_9KjInCLVvKx4SbIB49cOPaGx7Zq7u4Lkpy3g_aem_VQsGP2-AixgFLQgkBvpBMA

I think one thing that fans, friends, and family don’t really appreciate about the writing business is how critically important ratings and reviews are. Algorithms, search engines, and advertising are often intricately and intimately connected with the number of reviews, and the more positive and specific the better, that a book has. It resembles, in many ways, the imperative restaurants have to accumulate good Yelp reviews and ratings.

If you really like and enjoy a book–let the author and other readers know about it, and know the reasons why. You don’t need to compose an opus, a sentence or two is usually enough. Ever since I got into writing my own books and seeing them published, I have been more sensitive to this and have made it a business to review the books I’m reading in multiple venues.

If you haven’t rated or reviewed my novels–and you read and liked them!–please do so at the following places. I appreciate your help in getting these works before a bigger audience of potential readers!

THE SCHOOL OF HOMER

Amazon – https://a.co/d/dd6coJw

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122990019-the-school-of-homer

The School of Homer | Alexander Marriott | Work | LibraryThing | LibraryThing

MURDER WITH A GLASS OF MALVASIA

Amazon – https://a.co/d/gzmGTlj

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/235771438-murder-with-a-glass-of-malvasia

Murder with a Glass of Malvasia | Alexander Marriott | Work | LibraryThing | LibraryThing

Last night’s drafting saw the completion of the prologue as well as the completion of the first scene in Chapter 1.

This week, drafting will see the completion of Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2.

Daniel Roberts, our friend at The Dad Lit Pod, is greatly looking forward to reading this novel in draft. The aim is to provide him with arcs–which breaks down this way:

Prologue – Chapter 5, Return to Chicago and the opening moves of the investigationChapters 6 – 11, Building the case and growing suspenseChapters 12 – 15, Murder DayChapter 16 – Epilogue, Climax and resolution

Virgil Colvin is back in Chicago to catch the killer of his former Homicide partner, Bruce Kopack. What information does Chief of Detectives Dick Borneman have for Colvin? What culinary delight of his former home should Colvin eat first?

More soon!

This October 29, at 6:30pm, I will be discussing mystery novel writing at the Friendswood Library. Please come join us if you’re in the area!

I will share whatever insights I have gained from my first two novels as well as discuss my ongoing project: MIDWAY TO DEATH!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BayAreaWritersLeague/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

Always great to see new work and new discoveries at the site where it all began in my imagination as a mystery writer!

https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/06/10/ithaca-school-homer/#:~:text=The%20%E2%9CSchool%20of%20Homer%E2%9D:,flint%20tools%20and%20pottery%20fragments.

The School of Homer, Ithaki, Greece