I was wonderfully surprised this morning when I got a direct tweet from Steven Freak'n Pressfield regarding my tweet about his bestselling novel Gates of Fire. I've read it twice (which I rarely do) for inspiration in my historical fantasy writing. If possible, I'm even more impressed after the second read. He is genius at filling in the gaps of historical knowledge with details that are fascinating, emotionally charged and believable. When you read it you can't help but feel completely at home in a setting that hasn't existed for 2,500 years.

As a result I spent some time on http://www.stevenpressfield.com, where I read this:

Mr. Pressfield believes in previous lives. He believes in the Muse. He believes that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled into material being by their own imperative to be born, via the offices of those willing servants of discipline, imagination and inspiration whom we call artists. Mr. Pressfield's conception of the artist's role is a combination of reverence for the unknowable nature of "where it all comes from" and a no-nonsense, blue-collar demystification of the process by which this mystery is approached. In other words, a paradox.

There's a recurring character in Mr. Pressfield's books named Telamon, a mercenary of ancient days. Telamon doesn't say much. He rarely gets hurt or wounded. And he never seems to age. His view of the profession of arms is a lot like Mr. Pressfield's conception of art and the artist:

'It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life.'

Wow. I think Pressfield just became my new idol.