All posts tagged: Ancient Rome

ROMAN MASK. 2016 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal winner for Fiction – Action

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My book ‘Roman Mask’ has won an award!  Hooray! My novel has won Readers’ Favorite 2016 Gold medal award for Fiction – Action! Reader’s Favorite has become the fastest growing book review and award contest site on the Internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the “Best Websites for Authors” and “Honoring Excellence” awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies. It was a complete surprise, as I never even considered myself being an award winning novelist.  So how did this come about?  Well, when I released Roman Mask just over a year ago, I decided I needed to get an impartial review from a world recognised body, who are known for complete impartiality and honest reviews.  So despite a lot of nervous trepidation, I submitted Roman Mask to Readers’ Favorite, and was delighted to receive 5 stars! As my …

ROMAN MASK SALE!

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A very merry Christmas to you all! I hope readers of this blog all have exciting plans for the Christmas season.  I’ll be spending Christmas day with my family, and then straight after, I plan to travel north, to my cottage in Northumberland.  The reason for this trip is to work on the sequel to my novel Roman Mask.  I’m really excited, and have lots of plans and ideas to develop.  It’s really important for my writing process to get off to a good start. Several days with just me and the (new) dog in the Northumbrian hills is just what is needed to start the long journey. In celebration of Christmas, I have decided to reduce the price of my novel Roman Mask until the December 31st.  After this date, the price will revert back to its normal pricing structure, so get it cheaply now whilst you still can!  Unfortunately this offer only extends to the kindle version as changing the price on the paperback is impossible (without me losing money!) as the margins are so …

Graham Clews – Eboracum!

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It is always nice to meet someone who shares my passion for the ancient world and it is why I am always delighted to showcase other authors work on my site.  Today I am delighted to introduce Graham Clews who made contact with me and told me about his trilogy on Eboracum, set in ancient Roman Britain.  I have attached the description to the first novel of the trilogy, ‘The Village’ and underneath Graham has written a few words about the series, and why he felt impelled to write it. Thomas M D Brooke From the time Cethen Lamh Fadha and his sharp witted wife Elena see a Roman ship slam into their village dock, to the clash of arms that takes place almost two years later as a result, their life is an uprooted trail of turmoil. Led by a Brigante king who, at times, seems to be an affliction that rivals that of the Romans, the couple find their paths reluctantly crossing that of Gaius Sabinuis Trebonius, senior tribune of the Ninth Hispana …

Sunday update! Sequel, great review, and a give-away.

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Sunday update! I’ve started work on a sequel! It’s been a while since I’ve had some news on my own writing, so I am delighted to tell you that I have now started writing the sequel to Roman Mask.  It will obviously be a long project, so don’t expect anything soon, but at least it is on its way now.  You may be wondering why it has taken me so long before even starting this book, but before I could begin, I needed to do mountains of research for this particular story.  I will keep the story-line to myself for now, but rest assured that Cassius will be back and I hope that this novel is as exciting and as well received as Roman Mask.  I still plan to be just as committed to this blog as you have come to expect, so you can still look forward to weekly posts on historical and fantasy novels.  Speaking of Roman Mask, I received an excellent review for my novel on the website Tometender last week.  The …

Sunday update! Roman Mask now available in all formats!

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“I loved this book. There’s no other way to say it.” 5 Stars – Readersfavorite.com Up until now, my novel Roman mask has only been available to buy in a paperback version, or for the Kindle device via Amazon.  Although, the kindle device is obviously very popular (I have one myself) there are plenty of other reading devices out there.  So I am delighted to say Roman Mask is now available in all formats, including for the Nook, the Kobo, and the iPad.  The cost remains the same, which ever device is your preference $2.99 USA, £1.99 UK. Buy Roman Mask here! Nook via Barnes and Noble Kobo via Kobo store iPad, iPhone via Apple iBooks Kindle via Amazon In other news, I will continue to write my posts on either historical or fantasy literature, but if anyone else wants to contribute posts just let me know.  I enjoy showcasing other people’s point of views so don’t be afraid to offer your own posts.  You can get in touch through the ‘Contact Me’ section of the website, and I also …

The siblings of Cleopatra, a family like no other….

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Most of us have a vague understanding of the story of Cleopatra, the exotic Egyptian Queen who first seduced the mighty Julius Caesar, before falling for Mark Antony, and the tragic end to her story.  However, most know little of her remarkable family’s story, the descendants of the line of Ptolemy who had ruled Egypt since the time of Alexander the Great.  Their stories are no less remarkable, and more often than not, just as tragic. For the sake of simplicity, where possible, I have listed the characters by their epithet or ‘nickname.’ This was a convention the Greeks first used to distinguish them apart as they all tended to have the same name (A lot of Ptolemys) which is very confusing! leimpresedellamusica.com The Father – Auletes. When Ptolemy XI of Egypt died without a male heir, the next in line was Auletes, who was the illegitimate son of a previous ruler name Soter (by an unknown concubine).  He was then quickly married to his own sister Tryphaena to strengthen the line and his claim.  …

10 Types of ancient warriors.

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Picture from 1zoom.net The Hoplite. Normally a farmer by trade, when the call came he took up his large Hoplite shield, dons his breastplate, greaves, and helmet and marches to war.  Such warriors were the backbone of each Greek city state’s strength.  In more peaceful times they could compete in different forms of physical prowess in the Olympic games. Picture from mindenkilapja.hu The Spartan.  Spartan society was based on one thing: war! At twelve years old each young boy was taken under the wing of an elder veteran and incorporated into the great Spartan Phalanx.  The sight of which was feared throughout Greece and Persia.  The three hundred Spartans who held the pass at Thermopylae have passed into legend. Picture from monolith.dnsalias.org The Immortal.  The Persian Emperors finest men, the bodyguard and elite of his army were skilled with spear, blade, and bow.  This small army consisted of 10,000 warriors, never more, never less.  As soon as one died or was gravely wounded he was replaced by another of equal skill immediately so that their numbers always remained constant and thus gave …

Readers Favorite! Roman Mask, 5 Stars! #books

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You may notice a silver medal on the top right hand side of my blog, showing five stars.  This is from readers favorite, who have awarded me this after reviewing my book, Roman Mask.  Readers favorite are The fastest growing book review and award contest site on the Internet.  They are the recipient of “Best Websites for Authors” awards by the Association of Independent Authors. They are also used by the large publishing houses Penguin, Harper Collins, Random House, and Simon & Shuster among others. The reason I went to these guys to review my novel, was because I felt it was important to get a completely impartial view on my novel, from a source that is world recognised and renowned for their fair and honest reviews.  Needless to say, I was delighted to receive 5 stars!  They also have an annual book award contest in April, so who knows, I might just take part in that too! Anyway, here is the review I received: Reviewed By Cheryl E. Rodriguez for Readers’ Favorite Thomas MD …

Calling all authors and book reviewers…FREE marketing! #bookmarketing #authors

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picture from youtube.com My own novel ‘Roman Mask’ is about to appear on a blog tour of historical fiction websites, through the end of August and throughout September.  It has made me appreciate how important it is for authors to gain the exposure necessary to get a new book up and running.  As I have a website of my own, it only seems fair to make the same offer to other authors in need of marketing their own novels.  So you will see there is an extra tab on my site called ‘Submissions’.  This shows how you can submit a post to my website promoting your own work, providing it is a fantasy or historical novel.  It is completely free of charge; I just need a post that tells the readers something about your novel – it could be the inspiration behind writing the book, or why you were interested in a period of history, or anything really that tells us something about the novel.  I will then post this with a description of the …

Allan Massie, Augustus. A Emperor like no other… #books #greatreads

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If you really like your Roman Imperial history, or would like to learn more, this is a great place to start.  Alan Massie’s novel on Augustus is both detailed and engaging, an excellent commentary on the man who probably did more to shape the Roman Empire than any other – high praise when you consider Julius Caesar is on that list. Augustus is largely accepted as Rome’s first Emperor (Julius Caesar was dictator for life) and although Augustus preferred to go by the term ‘princeps’ or first citizen, he completely reformed Rome’s old Republic into an imperial super-power capable of controlling the vast lands and provinces that stretched through Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. Alan Massie’s novel is a fictional memoir from Augustus, as he recounts his life.  It is divided into two parts.  The first is recounted by a middle aged Emperor in a triumphant tone as he retells the period of the civil wars which followed the assassination of his uncle, Julius Caesar.  He tells of his ascension to power as, with the …