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Imagine a caravan of merchants and camels slogging hundreds of miles across the desert and steppe. They’ve taken great risk hauling expensive goods like silk, honey, and spices. Their feet are blistered. Their eyes sting from the blowing sand. And their camels have begun to grouse. As shadows grow long and the sun begins to

Samarkand. Pearl of the East. City of Famous Shadows. Like Timbuktu and Kathmandu, the name Samarkand evokes a sense of grandeur and danger, of gold-laden caravans traversing waves of rippled sand dunes. Of an emerald oasis city, whose hanging vines and towering trees shaded storehouses of goods. Cinnamon bark from India. Honey and furs from Russia.

“To follow the Silk Road is to follow a ghost. It flows through the heart of Asia but it has officially vanished, leaving behind it the pattern of its restlessness: counterfeit borders, unmapped peoples. The road forks and wanders wherever you are. It is not a single way, but many: a web of choices.” Shadow of

After nine years, countless drafts, and much weeping and gnashing of teeth, I’ve finished writing the first book in the Silk Road series. It’s been a monumental task. So what comes next? I suppose it’s time to dip my toes into the publishing side of the book writing pool. For now, I’ve set my sights

Welcome to the blog of Anna C. Snyder. My dog just threw up on my carpet so I’ll make this quick. Whenever I sit down to write, I have to wage a serious war against constant interruption. I’ve tried to abate this by writing in the morning, before chaos has time to strike, but it