Writers' roll call?

71writer · Post by **71writer** » Fri May 22nd, 2009, 11:41 am

I am currently working on a novel that has 2 time periods. It begins in modern day Washington, D.C. area and shifts to 1st century Ephesus. It is about the temple of Diana and Paul and the silversmiths.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Thu July 2nd, 2009, 5:46 pm

Xiaotien, I thought you and some of our other members would get a kick out of this. Powell's is running a promotion to encourage more people to write reviews of books on their website, and the latest reviewer to win reviewed Silver Phoenix. "Exquisite," she said.

unclearthur · Post by **unclearthur** » Thu July 2nd, 2009, 7:04 pm

I feel a bit of a fraud posting in such exalted company.

My novel 'Walls of Jericho' was POD published, mainly because I thought it was a decent read - I still want to edit it every time I pick it up, though - and it seemed a shame to just file it in a drawer after three years' hard work. When my mother picked the first pristine copy out of the box, she had a little weep and said, "Your father would have loved this." That alone made all the effort worthwhile.
The book is set between 1805 and 1808 and is about....well, belief, really. It's the story of two accidental friends; plotted largely in a cavalry regiment at the beginning of the Peninsular War.
I'm working on a sequel which takes the two main characters deep into Spain before the (in)famous retreat to Corunna. This one's about (I think) the strain on friendships in the face of socially unacceptable behaviour. Except that sounds a bit pretentious! It's hard going at the moment with the recession providing financial grief, but when I can't write I've managed to do basic outlines for another three stories. Chin up, eh?

Whew - sorry about the length of this post but a keyboard does take one away from reality for a while.

Best wishes,
Jonathan

http://www.cavalrytales.co.uk

juleswatson · Post by **juleswatson** » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 11:25 am

Thanks Cindy for starting this thread and for unclearthur to bump it back up, because I joined after Oct and hadn't seen it. You pick up in other threads what all the writers are doing but it's so great to have it all in one place. Whew! What a collection of interesting stories and amazing people. I am in the horror last few months before deadline of my new novel and am not getting much time on the forum to browse old threads - it's "Alice down the rabbit hole" here, I could stay on full-time, there is so much going on! So I'll put in my few cents: I have had four novels published (writing no. five) set among the ancient Celts (100 BC - 100 AD) in Britain. My Dalriada trilogy was set in Scotland during the Roman invasions of Agricola from 79 - 83. My inspiration was The Mists of Avalon, so they are a mix of adventure / battles, romance and some Celtic spirituality thrown in. The two new ones are out with Bantam / RH in US and are loose retellings of two famous ancient Irish myths - one on Deirdre of the Sorrows (The Swan Maiden, came out Feb 2009) and the next one is on the Irish warrior queen Maeve (The Raven Queen, fall 2010) And then...I'm having a rest! Not sure what is next, lots of ideas. But when I have a rest AT LAST I can catch up on reading all the great books written by fellow forum members! yay!

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Sat July 4th, 2009, 2:40 pm

Great thread, and like Jules, I hadn't seen it until now when unclear Arthur opened it up again. I hope that Silver Phoenix is selling really well for you. I too now have a load of new books on my TBR pile! Jules, I'm halfway through The Swan Maiden, and loving it.

For the record, I only started writing about 7 years ago, when I was 32. It was after working in the area of Hadrian's Wall in NE England, and my childhood love of the Romans was rekindled. Unhappy with being a veterinarian, I decided to write military fiction about Roman soldiers. My first plotline is still on my laptop, but the second has been published, and concerns twins, a brother and sister, at the time of the fall of the Republic, and more particularly, Crassus' ill-fated campaign into Parthia.

After the usual of slogging along with no encouragement from anyone in the real world, I managed to spark a bidding war between publishers which culminated with a 3 book deal in Sept. 2007 with Preface, a new imprint of Random House. My first book, The Forgotten Legion, was published in May 2008 in the UK, Mar 2009 in the USA, and June 2009 in Spain. Dates in Italy, Russia and Greece to follow. The second book, The Silver Eagle, came out on 4th June in the UK, and the last part of the trilogy, The Road to Rome, comes out next year.

I'm delighted to say that Preface have just signed me up for a new trilogy as well - Soldier of Carthage, Legionary and The Final Battle, which will detail the stories of a young Roman and a young Carthaginian against the backdrop of the Second Punic War.

More to follow in the future, gods willing...

Helen_Davis · Post by **Helen_Davis** » Sat July 4th, 2009, 4:07 pm

I have written a novel on Eva Peron that is currently in production with Booksurge

unclearthur · Post by **unclearthur** » Sat July 4th, 2009, 9:15 pm

[quote=""parthianbow""]Great thread, and like Jules, I hadn't seen it until now when unclear Arthur opened it up again. I hope that Silver Phoenix is selling really well for you. I too now have a load of new books on my TBR pile! Jules, I'm halfway through The Swan Maiden, and loving it.

For the record, I only started writing about 7 years ago, when I was 32. It was after working in the area of Hadrian's Wall in NE England, and my childhood love of the Romans was rekindled. Unhappy with being a veterinarian, I decided to write military fiction about Roman soldiers. My first plotline is still on my laptop, but the second has been published, and concerns twins, a brother and sister, at the time of the fall of the Republic, and more particularly, Crassus' ill-fated campaign into Parthia.

After the usual of slogging along with no encouragement from anyone in the real world, I managed to spark a bidding war between publishers which culminated with a 3 book deal in Sept. 2007 with Preface, a new imprint of Random House. My first book, The Forgotten Legion, was published in May 2008 in the UK, Mar 2009 in the USA, and June 2009 in Spain. Dates in Italy, Russia and Greece to follow. The second book, The Silver Eagle, came out on 4th June in the UK, and the last part of the trilogy, The Road to Rome, comes out next year.

I'm delighted to say that Preface have just signed me up for a new trilogy as well - Soldier of Carthage, Legionary and The Final Battle, which will detail the stories of a young Roman and a young Carthaginian against the backdrop of the Second Punic War.

More to follow in the future, gods willing...[/quote]
Hi Ben
Loved the 'Rant' on your website. What do these people want, a cracking good read or a textbook? What makes me laugh is that if they were half as clever as they suppose they might realise most history is based on texts and art - all interpretive opinion.
Write what you believe. Chill!

Best wishes,
Jonathan

http://www.cavalrytales.co.uk

theredsoldier · Post by **theredsoldier** » Sat July 4th, 2009, 11:35 pm

My first book, Snow and Steel, was published recently, about two months ago. It follows a Russian squad in WWII Stalingrad, and elves not only in the the war, but also thier inter-personal relationships, the group dynamic, comments on commuism, as well as the unglorified and terrible carnage that is war and how it affects the men.

The book will hopefully be the first of a series of red soldier books, a series that will follow the red army/navy/airfoce soldiers thoughout teh soviet unions history. It's an interesting commentary on what was ani-communist propaganda and what the realities actually were, as well as understanding the common Russians view of the world around them. These are not stories that are told in the west, adn as such, much of the western world has been deaf and blind to them.

I'm already working on two other books in the series; one following a T-34 tank crew in teh battle of Kursk, and another following some motorized infantry men in Afghanistan.

Volgadon · Post by **Volgadon** » Sun July 5th, 2009, 11:18 am

Amen to that. I loved talking to veterans. I met one old guy in Volgograd who had been a combat engineer in the battalion that met the Americans at the Elbe. The aunt of an acquaintance was one of those who had to clear the dead from the streets of Stalingrad. The snow was stained a deep crimson.

juleswatson · Post by **juleswatson** » Sun July 5th, 2009, 5:56 pm

[quote=""parthianbow""]Jules, I'm halfway through The Swan Maiden, and loving it.[/quote]

Ben...thanks - and great news on the new deal, by the way. You must write super fast!

Historical Fiction Online

Writers' roll call?

Thanks indeed to Cindy