Meet Carina Mitela, main character...

Antoine Vanner, who writes the Dawlish Chronicles, cracking naval adventure stories in the 19th Century, has invited me to participate in a blog-hop about meeting writers’ main characters. I asked Carina, the heroine of INCEPTIO and PERFIDITAS, if she’d like to take part and she said, ‘Sure’.

Carina Mitela_smWhat is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?
My name is Carina Mitela and to me I’m real enough. I guess that as I live in what you writers called an alternate historical world you might not think that…

When and where is the story set?
My current adventure starts in the present day, in Roma Nova, where I live with my husband, Conradus and three children, Allegra, Tonia (Antonia) and Gil (Gillius). But I do get to travel to the UK in this one, which doesn’t work out too well for my health.

What should we know about her?
Hey, what do you want to know? I’m tall, around 1.75m, and 39 years old. I’m a serving officer in the Praetorian Guard Special Forces and love my life. Oh, and I belong to the Mitela family, one of the founding families of Roma Nova sixteen hundred years ago, so sometimes I have to do ceremonial stuff. But I prefer being with my troops, out there catching the bad guys who threaten the imperatrix, our ruler, and state.

What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?
Just when you think everything is in balance, curveballs come at you from every direction; some woman claims to be your husband’s daughter, a buried childhood problem surfaces with spades to threaten my beloved husband, Conrad, and teenagers think they can defeat a vicious destroyer. And then the personal gets professional; an assault rifle barrel is pressed up against the head of the imperial heir.

What is the personal goal of the character?
To defend me and mine against threats, but to protect the imperatrix and Roma Nova in general. That’s what Praetorians do. The problem is when the two come into conflict….

Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
As it’s about what happens next in my life as well as the next generation, it’s called SUCCESSIO which covers both ideas nicely. Here’s a little more about it, but this information is totally confidential. Nobody wants to be thrown in the central military prison for blabbing state secrets. There will be timed disclosure of other facts, so if you want to be in the loop, subscribe here.

When can we expect the book to be published?
Okay, that’s an easy one  – the beginning of June, probably just after the Kalends.

Well, thank you, Major Carina Mitela, for your time. We’ll let you get back on duty.

And who am I tagging to answer the same questions on their blog on Saturday 19 April?

Elisabeth_StorrsElisabeth Storrs whose debut novel, The Wedding Shroud, was published by Pier 9 Murdoch Books in Australia and New Zealand in 2010. It is the first novel in the Tales of Ancient Rome series. When Murdoch Books was taken over in 2012, Elisabeth chose to retain all rights to The Wedding Shroud and independently published digital and paperback editions. It has since been judged runner-up in the 2012 international Sharp Writ Book Awards for general fiction and was a finalist in the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book of the Year in literary fiction. The second volume in the series,The Golden Dice was named as one of the top memorable reads of 2013 by Sarah Johnson, the reviews editor forHistorical Novels Review. The third volume, Call to Juno, is currently being written. www.elisabethstorrs.com

UPDATE: read Elisabeth’s terrific post here.

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, and PERFIDITAS. Third in series, SUCCESSIO, is out early summer 2014.

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4 comments to Meet Carina Mitela, main character…

  • authordebrabrown

    I never knew women might serve in the Praetorian guard! Very interesting. Great character!

  • Alison

    Aha! This is the 21st century and things are different in Roma Nova from how they were in the old Empire. In the 1600 year struggle to survive, women have had to fight alongside men and their alternative society is much more equal as a consequence.

    How did that happen? http://alison-morton.com/roma-nova/roma-nova-history/

  • Really interesting, but that’s not how I pictured Carina Mitela at all! Funny how two people can have such different perception of the same thing! Fabulous artwork, btw – Gilli Allan is very talented.

    • Alison

      Haha! I did wonder. I think everybody has a different image in their mind of every character they read about. I’d love you to tell me how you thought she would look! 😉

      And Gilli Allan is an excellent artist.