Amazon is not the only way

Readers buy books from many places; paperbacks from ‘bricks and mortar’ bookshops, airports, souvenir shops at visitor sites, at events, launches, the charity shop, from the author direct as well as online. As for ebooks, there seems no end to the number and variety of e-tailers, the dominant one being Amazon.

Sometimes we forget that […]

Saturnalia surprise - a winter party tale

Whatever your take on midwinter, there’s always a celebration and authors love to party! Historical fiction author Helen Hollick has arranged a terrific bash.

When you’ve read my contribution below, hop over and take a virtual glass with some of the others – list and links below. You could be in medieval England, Revolutionary […]

Roman counts

Carina, the heroine of the first three Roma Nova books, has an honorary title of ‘Countess Carina’ as her grandmother’s heir. As the head of the family/tribe, Aurelia is called ‘Countess Mitela’. Now why do the descendants of Romans have these titles? And how does the relationship work between the imperatrix, the ruler of Roma […]

Trust, betrayal and the Roman way

Tarpeian Rock, site of execution of traitors in Ancient Rome

Betrayal, treachery, treason, deceit, perfidy – all names for the calculated violation of trust.

Trust is something we build up gradually, firstly, in our parents and carers, then teachers, friends, mentors, colleagues, in lovers and partners, in a organisation, an ideal, a country. […]

Are the Roma Nova books feminist?

Yes, but ‘feminist-lite’. Let me explain…

First, where do I stand? I believe that women and men should be treated equally. We are different from each other biologically and studies have shown that we have broadly different aptitudes, strengths and approaches dating back well beyond the Stone Age to when we were evolving from […]