2026-06-04

Time - or the lack of it

They say work expands to fill the space available for it. Seems to be true in my case. I deliberately decided to step beck a bit from the pace of the last two years. Writing three books while teaching several courses and also pursuing my own research was a bit excessive. In retrospect I should have paced myself a bit more. At one point I was writing notes on the origin of the Huns at 2am until my wife more or less dragged me from the computer.

Thing is I enjoy my job/profession/hobby rather to the point of not doing much else, which means the garden goes unweeded, crucial bits of paperwork get neglected and housework gets done under duress. So partly from necessity I am aiming to do one book this year and one course per academic term. And I'm busier than ever.

Spring came early this year, so I spend one day a week hiking around the local mountains – living in one of the most scenic places on earth rather demands I take the time to appreciate it. Also I have been roped in as lyricist for a the songstress Ainsley Blackwell, and am learning things like Dorian rhythms, mimesis and perfect fourths. Music is actually a highly technical business.

Also because I now have the time, I've done a few book reviews (leading to me making notes on the development of Nicene Christianity at 2 am ... but at least I weeded the garden first.)

2026-05-03

Death and ...

May usually starts with a sigh of relief in the domus Matyszak. However there's also some mixed feeling here. It's because we file our taxes at the end of April and it's a long tedious business that I'm glad to get over with. I and the UK and Canadian governments have a rather complex financial relationship. Basically I get income and royalties for the first quarter of the year. This is then paid to HM Revenue and Revenue Canada (with the United States IRS also taking a bite). Then the Canadian and British governments give me that money back over the rest of the year as installments on my pension.

It might be easier to just let me keep the money in the first place, but that would put a bunch of administrators out of a job. Not to mention the accountant whom I hire to work out (for example) if a book sold in Chine by a British publisher means I have to pay taxes in China, Britain or Canada. Also I work from home and count as self-employed so stuff like heating, house tax etc are also business expenses, as are medical, new computers and so on. My accountant negotiates with the tax authorities how much I pay and to whom, but there's a shedload of paperwork that needs to be assembled first. It's all rather exhausting and time that could be much better spent – for example – on working out how men and women used Roman bath houses. (My current project.)

However, my duty to both nations is now done. I have paid my bit towards the running of the British and Canadian governments and when I see Messers Carney or Starmer waffling before parliament, I have only to consider whether this was money well spent.

2026-04-03

Oh dear ... Spring is here

You will forgive me if I do not join in the general rejoicing that spring has not just arrived, but by the usual standards of these parts, it has arrived half a month early. This means that instead of winter lasting from mid-November to mid-April we have had only four and a half months. By my count that is not a lot, as I do enjoy my winters. There are a number of places hereabouts where one can enjoy splendid walks made even more pleasant by the cabins scattered around in the mountains where one can relax by a wood fire and enjoy a toasted meal before plunging into the cold once more. Then evenings by the fire with a glass of whiskey, while the snow falls gently outside. I love it.

Spring though is not a good time to be in either mountains or forests. A number of creatures – mostly bears – are waking from hibernation and are not particular where their next meals come from. The other creatures eager to start the season with a good meal are little brutes that buzz and bite. Ticks, blood-sucking flies and mosquitoes swarm ravenously about anything warm-blooded at this time of year. Meanwhile the trails I hiked so happily in snowshoes have turned into soggy, boggy morasses that won't dry out till June.

Anyway, I'll be too busy dealing with the outcrop of dandelions in my lawn, planting the season's veggies and other domestic duties to get out even if I could. So I have to wait through a season of interminable rain showers and await the summer. Picnics in the park, kayaking in the lakes and hikes in the forest. It's just a pity we can't go straight from winter to mid-summer.

2026-03-04

Santa Claude

We live in strange days. A few years back if I'd received an email saying that I was entitled to a cash payout because a robot had read my books I would have assumed this was either a joke or a scam. However it appears that Claude, the AI used by Anthropic, has agreed to pay out over a billion bucks to authors whose works were used in the machine's training.

As there were a large number of authors involved and an even larger number of books, I'm not expecting to retire on this amount, but hopefully it will cover the cost of taking my wife out to dinner a few times. I also wonder if this means that at a future date I'll be able to read books by Philip Matyszak that I have not written. Which would be rather nice, as I have so many more books that I'd want to write than I have time to do.

At present I work with AI to produce lyrics for songs that I co-produce with the singer - Ainsley Blackwell - and her brother Aiden. Basically I produce the idea and theme, my AI comes up with directions that we might take the song. Then I write the lyric and the AI checks for scansion, and suggests changes that make the song easier to sing. Post-production, Aiden uses another AI to do things like compression, EQ mapping and all the other stuff that a modern mastered song needs to get it radio-ready.

I wonder if there will be a time when I work in the same way with an AI – possibly even Claude – to produce a co-written book? Already I run a finished text through an AI that reports back on grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. It makes the job of the copy editor much easier. And will the day come when the copy editor and I are replaced altogether?

Strange days

2026-02-04

Slowing down

It is generally acknowledged that I produce a lot of books on the ancient world. This is mainly achieved by not having a social life and being fed and dusted by a patient and long-suffering wife while I hammer away on the keyboard or (more often) stay up until the small hours immersed in some ancient text.

If you enjoy reading the books, rest assured that I enjoyed writing them every bit as much. In fact there is not much that I enjoy doing more, which is why I don't bother doing much else. By now there is something of a production line rolling.

I'm putting the final touches to Sacred Places of the Ancient World, a gloriously illustrated book by Thames & Hudson. I'm also awaiting the first proofs of a book on Caesar in Gaul, which I finished in 2025 and a few days ago I submitted the first draft of a quirky book called '100 Moments in the Roman Empire' for o'Mara. Next week I have a meeting with a commissioning editor to discuss the next project which we have lined up. It has to be said that retirement is not quite as I envisioned.

However, while it is not stopping, I plan to slow the production line. Wednesday last I was hiking well above the snowline and came across a lynx lying across the trail. More experiences like that would be good. I live in a place of astounding natural beauty and am determined to see more of it, both before I get too old and also before developers mow down the trees and replace them with condos.

So I'll be doing a book this year because I'm incapable of stopping. But just the one. And maybe a few courses, some magazine articles, and a lecture or two. Also, Ainsley Blackwell is collecting a growing number of listeners, so I'll keep writing lyrics for her as my side hustle. But that's all. For sure.