Welcome to Jay Penner's Popular Blog!

Read original posts on history, mysteries, amusing topics, and more.


1. The Hunt for The Death Valley Germans - Companion Reading   
12m
This companion reading of the harrowing mystery tells the story with maps
2. Roman Emperors and Their Rule   
5m
How many Roman emperors were there? Interesting tidbits and graphs in this informative post
3. Historical Accuracy of the movie scene of Cleopatra’s entry into Rome   
4m
Examining the realism behind the scene of Queen Cleopatra’s spectacular entry to Rome in the 1963 film
4. Cleopatra - Queen of Egypt, and her unfortunate portrayal   
6m
A view of Cleopatra VII Philopater's unfair portrayal by using time as a key indicator
5. Chronology and timeline of Ancient Egypt   
8m
Chronology and Timeline of Ancient Egypt | Famous Pharaohs and their Rules
6. My brief review of HBO's Rome and its depiction of Cleopatra   
4m
How I felt about HBO's Rome and some of its depictions, including that of Cleopatra
7. Casual Brutality in the Ancient World: the Human Cost of Conquests   
4m
The staggering human cost behind conquests of men like Caesar and Alexander, challenging perceptions of glory
8. A document with Cleopatra's signature   
3m
Is there a document with the famous Cleopatra's signature? We'll discuss it
9. ChatGPT made up a book I never wrote 😂  
4m
ChatGPT says I wrote the Gabriel Proxy. I never did and there is no such book
10. The Search for Cleopatra's Tomb   
9m
Where is Cleopatra's tomb? Look at historical sources on Cleopatra’s last resting place along with maps
11. The Story of the Lost Army of Cambyses   
6m
What happened to the army sent to Siwa in 524 B.C. by Cambyses? Herodotus says it was lost in a sandstorm, but where?
12. Chandragupta Maurya (or Sandrocottus) in Greek Sources   
9m
What did ancient Greek and Roman biographers say about emperor Chandragupta Maurya? I look at actual sources
13. Why are you not doing your homework, princess? 😂  
4m
A delightful letter from an Assyrian princess to her sister-in-law, inquiring about her homework.
14. How long did it take? Fascinating facts from history   
4m
How long did the Trojan war take? Facts from history on major events!
15. The Cringe that was my First Novel 😂  
2m
Come read about my first novel writing attempt
16. Was Queen Cleopatra Black? A look at historical sources.   
4m
The Netflix controversy: Cleopatra VII Philopator's ethnic origins through the lens of ancient sources
17. Where's my gold? Complaints from the ancient past 😂  
3m
An amusing litany of royal complaints from the Kassite king Burnaburias to Pharaoh of Egypt Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV).
18. Did Aliens Build the Pyramids?   
4m
Did extraterrestrial powers help Pyramid builders and are our forefathers dumb
19. Experience a thriller set in Mauryan India   
4m
Few novels are set in Mauryan India; come on an adventure like never before.
20. The Spartacus Rebellion - A note on the trilogy   
2m
What was it like for Spartacus? A realistic view of the Spartacus Rebellion--The third Servile War
21. The POV Cheatsheet - understand POVs in writing   
4m
Understand the different POVs (Points-of-View) in writing
22. The story of Hiranyakashipu from Indian mythology   
3m
The story of how demon king was vanquished by a clever god; from Indian mythology
23. What's in a name? Alexander and Caesar: How their names were adopted   
2m
How the two conqueror's names entered the lexicon
24. Evolution of a Book Cover - an amusing story of hubris and learning 😂  
5m
Read the story of the Atlantis Papyrus' cover.
25. The M87 Black Hole Image - Beginner's One Pager   
2m
26. Writing Novels and Non-Fiction with Visual Studio Code   
12m
The process of writing novels using a coding tool like VS code. Benefits and challenges
27. Creating Google Maps for Novels   
3m
My readers love being able to virtually visit locations of the novels and get a sense of the world
28. An opinion on writing - Discipline eats inspiration for breakfast   
3m
In this opinion, I state my view that discipline wins over inspiration when it comes to writing
29. Suggested order for reading my books   
2m
Which books should you read and in which order? I provide some guidelines
30. how to self-publish faster on Amazon using Markdown and a script   
5m
Read about my workflow to write novels and publish using Publishquickly script to convert to Word for publishing