Steven Saylor Detective writer

Steven Saylor is an American author who was educated at the University of Texas. He writes historical novels about ancient Rome and a series of detective novels set in the time of Julius Caesar. The detective is Gordianus the Finder. Steven is gay and married. He has also written a couple of modern novels.

Beds and Blue Jeans by Nadine Sutton

This story is available on Amazon. It is a modern story of country music life in Nashville, about a young bar singer called Sam who plays for tips and makes a living at it. He and his girlfriend have had a baby, and their relationship is not going well. Sam finds himself tempted by fans in the bars, but he feels a bit guilty about it, and wonders if he can make his relationship work.

Mystical Paths VI

Perry reveals that he has a gun and tells Rachel and Nick that he had been in love with Christian but that Christian had rejected him. But before he can shoot them Rachel hits him on the head and klls him. She is horrified by what she has done, and Lewis turns up to save the day. He is angry with Nick for getting her involved in this situation and decides to cover up the crime for her sake. Nick goes along with it and they get away with it. Its adjudged that Perry was killed by a hitchhiker. However Rachel is traumatised by the horrible experience and does not want to see Nick ever again. Chastened, Nicholas accepts that he's made a lot of dreadful mistakes, and he accepts Lewis as his mentor. He marries Rosalind but the marriage has its ups and downs. He looks after Jon till his death and goes on with the ministry of healing.

Mystical Paths Part V

Nick realises that Lewis is an expert on the paranormal and that he can help him to cope with his problems... just as Cuthbert Darcy was a mentor to Jon. He and Lewis have long talks and Nick begins to understand that while his father is a wonderful man in many ways, he has his faults, and one of them is that he cannot really cope with family life. Lewis advises him that he may well be suited to a ministry of healing.. that just because Jon did not make a success of it does not mean that he will be a failure at it. Nicholas also has to admit that his sexual relationships have been very selfish and wrong minded, using working class girls to satisfy his needs while dating posh girls. He begins to wonder if his decision to investigate Christian's death was to try and avoid his own doubts about whether he should be ordained or not, and what field to work in. However he and Lewis still decide to look into his death. They visit London and see Perry Palmer, Christian's best friend who had taken him sailing and was on the boat when he was washed overboard. Perry is a quiet rather dull man who works in the Foreign office and there are rumours that he might have an intelligence job. When they call on him, Perry seems very stressed out. Lewis tries to approach him tactfully but Nick pushes him and puts Perry on his guard. Annoyed, Lewis takes Nick back to his own home in Starmouth, to keep him quiet, and he introduces him to his daughter Rachel who is a beautiful languages student. Nick is very attracted to her. He persuades Rachel to work with him to catch a murderer. Perry arrives in Starmouth and makes it clear that he was involved in Christian's death, and Nick guesses that the body is hidden in the coal cellar of Perry's flat.

Mystical Paths Part IV

Nicholas then starts to think about how Christian might have gotten out of the life he was leading... and comes up with the idea that (given his religious background) he could have decided to join the Fordite Monks, under an assumed name. He had studied theology, and although he had earlier professed to be an agnostic, Nick thinks that he might have changed his mind as he found that his worldly success did not satisfy him. He could have become a monk, gotten away from the cloying attentions of women, and led a life of scholarship in a monastery. Nick goes back to his father's monastery to pursue the investigation but then he has a weird experience, believing that he saw a monk in the garden who resembled Christian.. who then disappeared. He gets frightened by this apparent supernatural experience and the Prior sends for a local expert in the paranormal, to help calm him down. He meets Lewis Hall.

Mystical Paths Part III

Nick talks to Katie alone and she tells him that the marriage was not that happy. Christian found her boring after the initial romance had faded, and he became involved with Marina Markhampton. He was not having sex with her because Marina did not like sex, but she kept him amused and happy and she and Katie were fond of each other. Katie can't bear to think that Christian might have committed suicide but she does not quite believe he died in an accident. In their emotional conversation, Nick finds himself trying to console Katie by making love to her. Afterwards he feels disgusted with himself and leaves. Marina takes Katie home and gets her into a nursing home. Nick goes on with his investigation, talking to Christian's brothers, James and Norman. He also talks to Charley Ashworth, Charles' son who is now a curate in a rural parish, and finds to his shock that Christian had had a brief affair with Nick's own half brother Martin, who is a gay actor. He pursues his brother who does not want to talk about it but eventually admits that he was in love for a time with Christian but that Christian ended the affair brutally. He thinks that Christian was a self hating homosexual. Nick is not so sure but as they discuss things, he begins to wonder if Christian had indeed faked his own death, with the help of his boating friend Perry, who worked in the Civil service... This begins to seem plausible that Christian, bored with his life and his marriage but lacking the courage to make an open break, had decided to get out of the rat race by disappearing.

Mystical Paths Part II

Nick is at a loose end. He had decided to go on a gap year before Theological College. So he wen to Africa to work for a Christian organisation. That did not work out and he came home to work in a charity in Starmouth. That too did not work out and Nick went on to Theological college and is now waiting to be ordained. He is a bit bored, and although he feels guilty about it, he engages in a sex life.. though he knows his father would disapprove strongly. He goes on dates with nice upper class girls, but have his flings with working class girls. In hopes of making himself more respectable, prior to ordination he gets engaged to Rosalind Maitland, a nice upper class girl, who does flower arranging. He is very unsure about her and this is why when Marina tells him about Katie, he decides to try and help her. He talks to Katie and finds that she is doing heroin, and that she's a complete mess, and perhaps the only way to bring her closure is by finding out whether CHristian died by accident or might have committed suicide.

Mystical Paths part I.

This is the 5th Novel in the Starbridge series and like Glamorous Powers its not one of my favourites. Im uneasy with the supernatural tendency. It is set in the 1960s, and it follows the early life of Nicholas Darrow, Jon Darrow's son by his second marriage. Nick has some of his father's psychic gifts.. He has visions, and finds conventional religion dry and boring. His father has always wanted him to go into the church, but because he himself made a mess of his ministry of healing, he feels that Nick should not go in for that area of work. Nick's mother, Anne, an upper class girl many years Jon's junior, died in middle age, and that removed her robust common sense from the family. Nick feels her loss. He is like his father in being a loner, and he's annoyed when he gets pushed into the set of socialites headed by Marina Markhampton, a beautiful upper class girl who has been living temporarily in the Cathedral Close. He does like Venetia Flaxton who is at that time, Marina's flatmate. Then a tragedy occurs in the group. Christian Aysgarth Neville's eldest son, takes up sailing and is drowned. Marina comes to visit Nicholas and tells him that Katie, Christian's wife, is a total mess and she thinks that Katie needs to find out exactly what happened to her husband or she will never recover.

Constance Markievicz Part II

Constance continued to balance between Dublin society and her new nationalist friends. She tended at times to irritate both sides of the divide. Casimir visited his home in Poland and pursued his artistic interests. Gradually the couple grew apart. Maeve, their daughter was brought up by the Gore Booth family and rather resented her mother's involvement in her own pursuits. She felt that Con saw her once a year, and was fun to be with but then she was off about her own life. Con felt that the children of the poor needed her more than her own daughter. In 1916, she was one of the women who were involved in the Rising, some worked as couriers, or nurses. But Con was used to handling guns and she took a more active part. She led a troop and fought in the Rising. She was sentenced to death, but was reprieved because of her sex. After a period in prison she went on with her fight for Irish freedom, but when the Treaty was debated she took the Anti Treaty side with Eamon De Valera.. and went on opposing the Treaty. THis led to the Irish Civil war which caused a bitter divide in the Irish political nation. Constance was much loved by the Irish poor, because she gave up such wealth as she had to support the Republican cause and to help the poverty stricken. For some time she contintued to oppose the Treaty and like the other TDs in De Valera's party she refused to take her seat in the Dail. However it was an unrealistic position, and could not go on indefinitely. In 1927, Kevin O'Higgins, a prominent minister in the Free State Government, was shot on his way from Mass, and WT Cosgrave, the Prime Minister, brought in a bill that stated that all TD's must take their seats and that meant taking an Oath to the British King. Constance was very reluctant to do this, but De Valera was more hard headed and decided that now the oath was merely "an empty formula" and that he and his TDs would take it. He found a way of wriggling round his conscience.. and led his party into the Dail. However Constance died before she had to face this dilemma. She had had health problems and had 2 operations for appendicitis and she died in a ward for the poor, on 15th July. Less than a month Later, Fianna Fail entered the Dail. Constance was often naive and foolish, but she had a warm heart and devoted herself to the cause she had chosen... and gave away most of her possessions to die with the poor. Her husband had gone back to the Ukraine but he came to see her before she died.

Glamorous Powers Part IV

Jon begins to get on better in the church, and he then finds that his children both turn up for a visit. He tells Martin that he is aware that he has many faults and he'll try and be a better father.. and the 2 of them begin a better relationship. Martin likes Anne as she likes literature and plays and he's an actor. Ruth visits and tells her father that her husband has been having an affair but she is trying to make the marriage work. Jon begins to feel closer to his children and to Ruth's 2 young children. After a few months, he is offered a job at the Theological college and he decides that in spite of his previously shying away from teaching because his father wanted him to be a teacher, he will take on the job. He begins to enjoy the job, but then Anne tells him she is pregnant again. Their baby will be born at Christmas. Jon finds that he feels very ambivalent. He wants another child, and hopes that if they have a son, it will make up a bit for the loss of their first child Gerald.. and make Anne happy. But he's scared. He wonders if this child will be the one in the vision.. but resolves to do his best.

Glamorous Powers III

Jon is shaken and embarrassed by his breakdown, in front of a crowd, but he tells Francis he must go to Anne at once. He Meets Alan Romaine at the hospital, the doctor who is Charles Ashworth's natural father. Anne has her baby, a boy, but the child is premature and having breathing difficulties. Jon baptises him and realises that he is going to die. He is shaken and grieved by the infant's short life. He talks to Alan and Francis, and tells Francis that he never got on with his own father. His father was a schoolteacher and wanted him to teach and he resented being pressured. Also his father did not send for him in time when his beloved mother died. when he sees Anne, he and she come to an understanding. She tells him she loves him - and he has always been scared that any woman he loved would leave him, like his mother did. Francis is sympathetic to Jon now, and tries to help him cope with the loss of the baby and his breakdown, but he advises his friend that he should go back to his role as parish priest and try and do better this time. Jon feels at first he cannot face the humiliation of having to admit his own folly and mistakes but Francis is insistent. He starts to try again to be a good husband to his wife and not to treat her like a child bride, and he returns to the parish work. He realises that he made mistakes in pursuing the healing services, that they were a boost for his ego but not really good for him. He also understands that he was wrong in trying to push his congregation into Anglo Catholic practices and he begins to adopt the Middle of the Road services that were more popular in the church of England.

Glamorous Powers Part II

Francis has taken on the role of mentor to Jon.. and tells him that he was sure that he would fall in love - albeit he had led a celibate life for many years and seemed fulfilled by it. Jon feels however that he cannot propose to Anne unless he has some kind of job and an income. He manages to get a position as clergyman of the Starbridge Parish where Anne lives as the previous clergyman had joined the army. However being used to worshipping in a monastery he finds parish life difficult. People disagree with him, especially with his Anglo Catholic views.. and he finds that many of the parish ladies seem to take a fancy to him and pester him with their innocent but tiresome attentions. Francis not being mystic minded, finds Jon's claims to have visions somewhat off putting.. and he thinks that Jon should have looked for a job teaching, rather than becoming a parish priest. However Jon dislikes the idea of teaching, since his own father, with whom he had a difficult relationship was a teacher. There is a theological college in Starbridge but Jon shies away from it. He believes that he has a gift for healing, but he knows that Cuthbert Darcy and Francis Ingram feel that healing is a very difficult calling and that the healer needs to be very humble and Jon is a proud and arrogant man by nature. Jon finds that his children are not too happy with the idea of his getting married again. Ruth resents him marrying an upper class woman. But he and Anne marry and for a short time they are happy enough. But Anne begins to resent Jon's dislike of socialising and she finds that his Anglo Catholic views are causing dissension in the parish, of which she is an active member. She becomes pregnant and Jon feels very ambivalent, as he knows he was not a good father to his children, and he's not sure if he can do better now. He has a vision of a child, called Nicholas, and wonders if this is a sign from God that he will have a son who will make him happy. Accidentally he gets involved in a healing situation again... He helps a cleaning lady in the church who has a bad back.. and he begins to hold healing services. This gives his ego a boost but again it causes dissension. He is under a lot of strain and then collapses at a healing service in front of everyone, and in the ensuing crush to get out, Anne falls and starts in premature labour.

Glamorous Powers by Susan Howatch

Glamorous Powers is the 2nd novel in the Starbridge series...It is set during World War II, and the narrator is Jon Darrow, an Anglo Catholic priest who has counselled Charles Ashworth during his breakdown. Jon has a mystical streak and he sometimes has visions, and concentrates on the supernatural side of religion. At the start of the novel, he is the Abbot of the Fordite monks, but he had been married in his young days, and produced 2 children, Ruth and Martin. He is now 60 and has just lost his mentor, the arrogant Fr Cuthbert Darcy... and then he has a vision which makes him believe that God wants him to give up his monk's life and become a priest in the world again. He has to go to London to see the head of the order, Fr Francis Ingram, who has been a rival of his for many years, with both of them vying for senior posts. Francis is upper class and Jon who comes from a humble background, has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about his fellow monk's superiority in class.. Francis talks to him about his past and his religious life and he learns that Jon's marriage was not a happy one. He married largely to have a permitted sex life, and married a girl whose father kept a small shop. Betty was a rather silly woman and she and Jon did not get on well, and she died when her children were young. Jon waited till they were grown up and then went into the Fordites, and he doesnt get on too well with his children... Martin his son is homosexual and has a drink problem. He became an actor, and he and Jon rarely meet. After some in depth conversations Francis tells Jon that he thinks the vision is indeed a sign that he's meant to leave the order. Jon visits his daughter for a few weeks and does not get on too well with her either. He then goes to a hotel which caters to clerical people and students and tries to adjust to the world outside and the war. In the hotel he meets a young woman, 20 years his junior, who is plain but interesting. She owns a small estate and manages it herself, and she and Jon fall in love.

Constance Georgina Markievicz Part I

Constance was born in 1868, to a Victorian Anglo Irish upper class family Sir Henry and Lady Gore Booth. Her home was at Lissadell County Sligo where her parents had an estate. She was one of the first women to become involved in Irish politics. Her family knew the young Yeats and were interested in art and culture but they were part of the landlord system, and accepted the social divisions of Victorian life. Her family tried to be good landlords, and the children grew up knowing the local poor and trying to help them. Eva, Constance's sister, was a gentle soul but she became a radically minded socialist and pacifist and moved to England to work as a reformer. She lived with a woman friend, who shared her radical views, called Esther Roper. She also wrote poetry. Con was a more energetic active girl who loved country life and horses and was happy enough to take part in the social rituals and to enjoy sports such as hunting. Constance took part in the Social season and was something of a tomboy... She was also interested in art, and after a few years she married a Polish Count, Casimir de Markievicz who was also artistically minded. He had been married and had a son, Stanislas. Her family were very dubious about her marrying a foreign aristocrat, but the marriage went ahead and they had one child, Maeve. Constance had an aristic salon, and tried to unite upper class Anglo Irish society with more liberal minded Nationalists. She and Casimir did not have much money. Gradually she became more radical in her politics, more of a republican socialist.

Beds and Blue Jeans by Nadine Sutton

This novella is available on Amazon... It is set in the 2010s, in Nashville Tennessee. Sam is a young handsome bar singer, who plays for tips around the city. He loves singing and hopes to become more successful. He attracts a lot of the ladies, who flirt and sleep with him. But he has become embroiled with a young woman who moved in with him and became pregnant. Patti has no ambitions, and seems to drift through life. Sam begins to find her boring but he wants to do right by his baby daughter Calista. So he keeps on living with Patti, and putting up with her ways. She looks after Calista but shows no sign of trying to get a job. Sam is often irritated by her being jealous of his other women, and at times, he is tempted to get involved in a more serious affair with a more active minded girl. Will he and Patti make things work? Or will they split up?

Rough Music by Nadine Sutton

this story is available on Amazon, set in America in the 70s, about a country rock band. Its more about work and life in general than a love story. Its about 2 friends who are the headliners of a country rock band, and their struggle to do good music and make a living. They also suffer conflicts about their marriages which are strained by them being on the road all the time.

Hannah Shaw the Kitten Lady

Hannah is busy with Kitten Season, encouraging other people to foster baby kittens who are in danger of being euthanised. Her husband produces books of cat photographs, and looks after the many animals in their home. She has pigs, goats, kittens, puppies and even took in a rabbit. She is training people who want to foster kittens, and teaches classes on kitten care. She rescued her first kitten, Coco when she was a young girl, finding her up a tree, and scrambling up to bring her down. She found out that so many kittens are euthanised, and began to dedicate herself to rescuing them. Many of them have serious medical conditions or injuries and need a lot of care and veterinary treatment. One of their grown up cats is Chouchou, who was born with a severe cleft palate, but he was operated on and his mouth was repaired so he could eat normally. For months he had to be tube fed. She and Andrew kept him because of his medical needs and Andrew adopted him...Another grown up cat is Ferguson who has kidney disease, but who has been looked after for 4 years and is still doing well.

Kitten season

Its Kitten season in the USA, when lots of feral and outdoor cats have kittens and often end up wiht them dying or themselves not being able to look after them. Foster parents are needed for these little kittens who can feed and look after them until they are big enough to be adopted. They are very vulnerable and are often found dead or seriously ill or injured. Many good people go out and trap the adult cats and neuter them so they dont produce another litter of kittens... and others take in the homeless ones and feed and care for them and find them new homes.

Beds and Blue Jeans By Nadine Sutton

A long story, set in Nashville in the 2000s. Sam is a bar singer, trying to make it big. He has a girlfriend Patty, but they haven't got much in common other than their baby daughter. Patty is bored at home, and restless and she and Sam fight a lot. Sam isn't faithful to her.. he finds that a lot of lady fans find him attractive and he jumps into bed with many of them. Is there any hope for their relationship? Available on Amazon

Rough Music, by Nadine Sutton

This story is available on Amazon. It is set in the late 70s and its about a country rock band, who were touring in America, and starting to have some commercial success. The 2 lead singers are good friends and they want to make money but also to write good music and make use of their talent. But life on the road is hard going, and they have to spend a lot of time away from their wives and children. They find it difficult to remain faithful, and life is stressful at times. They reach a crisis when Jeff, the lead singer, finds his marriage is unravelling.

Beds and Blue Jeans by Nadine Sutton

A story set in present day Nashville, about a young bar singer and his girlfriend. Sam is handsome and charming, but he is still a small time singer. His girlfriend is silly but sweet and their relationship is shaky. Will they work things out? Available on Amazon

Rough Music by Nadine Sutton

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rough-Music-Nadine-Sutton-ebook/dp/B01AEQS0G0/ref=sr_1_10?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hRCnzDT0kavfM7nu_TgxH8ZKfEiGo8tvcPxqwkEHJQC7Hiwf1LwVo2dvjOLcWmMWbINaMZqm35I15AJQqpNqKzipMA_aNYqDXts6l4ouEROveuOo12Xqvkn-IAuxw-7c_SBOBcIy5BeEyfyz0jt4HxRpqJzUGlL_H5HNOGI4OcSxmy9l5tq9CEmVWN6GiXFc7xfxWJazhFroTvPiuU4EHoEIydGy2QDeBkXAvWBIeLY.AvghuMARR3g0_FXO5uNx4zcZz08R6YIeVa2vmBu432w&dib_tag=se&keywords=rough+music&qid=1748693557&s=digital-text&sr=1-10 this story is available on Amazon, set in America in the 70s, about a country rock band

Hannah Shaw Kitten Lady

Hannah lives in California with her husband, Andrew, cat photographer. She does amazing work rescuing all sorts of animals and supporting them. She is vegan and a supporter of animal rights. She focusses on kittens, who are very delicate and vulnerable when they are born and who are often euthanised because shelters cannot give them full time care. They need to eat every 2 hours and are very prone to illness. Hannah takes them in and looks after them till they are old enough and strong enough to be adopted. You can find her on social media.

Gap

Due to illness and moving house I have'nt been able to do any writing lately. But I hope to get back to it soon

Country Rock story

Rough Music is a story set in the 1970s in a country rock band. The 2 lead singers try to make good music and maintain their marriages, in spite of being on tour all the time.

story about Nashville

Available on Amazon, my story about a young singer and his girlfriend, and how he learns to make their relationship better. Its called Beds and Blue Jeans