Thursday, February 28, 2013

When in Rome


Happy Thursday, all! Thank you for your lovely comments on Monday's post. You'll be happy to hear I'm feeling much better, blood pressure aside, and I'm off for a lovely stroll through Hyde Park in a bit!

Today, I am pleased to welcome fellow RNA member Alison Morton to the blog to talk about her new novel, Inceptio.

Over to Alison!

Thank you very much for welcoming me to your blog, Talli.

Tomorrow is the official publication date of my debut novel, INCEPTIO. Hooray! Three years of slog – researching, writing, and polishing – have led to this exciting moment. It’s a thriller, so it’s doubly exciting. Now, I’d like to tell you about it! But too much telling’s frowned on by Those Who Know, so let me show you…

An eleven year old fascinated by the mosaics in Ampurias (huge Roman site in Spain), I asked my father, “What would it be like if Roman women were in charge, instead of the men?” Maybe it was the fierce sun boiling my brain that day, maybe it was just a precocious kid asking a smartarse question. But clever man and senior ‘Roman nut’, my father replied, “What do you think it would be like?” Real life intervened (school, uni, career, military, marriage, motherhood, business ownership), but the idea bubbled away in my mind and INCEPTIO slowly took shape.

Of course, I made the classic mistake of submitting too soon, but had some encouraging replies. Several rewrites later and I’d made some full submissions, even to a US agent! I had replies like ‘If it was a straight thriller, I’d take it on’ and ‘Your writing is excellent, but it wouldn’t fit our list.’  I was (am!) passionate about my stories so I decided to self publish with bought-in publishing services. Using high quality professional backing (editing, advice, registrations, typesetting, design, book jacket, proofing, etc.), I think it’s a fantastic way for new writers to enter the market.

You describe your novel as an “alternate history thriller” – how is that different from a normal thriller? 
Alternate history is based on the idea of “what if”? What if King Harold had won the Battle of Hastings in 1066? Or if Julius Caesar had taken notice of the warning that assassins wanted to murder him on the Ides of March? Sometimes, it could be little things such as in the film Sliding Doors, when the train door shuts and Gwyneth Paltrow’s character splits into two; one rides away on the train, the other is left standing on the platform.

The rest of the story or history of a country, from that point on develops differently from the one we know. In my book, Roma Nova battled its way from a small colony in the late fourth century somewhere north of Italy into a high tech, financial mini-state which kept and developed Roman Republican values, but with a twist. It’s really fun working this out! The thriller story then takes place against this background. The nearest comparison would be J D Robb’s Eve Dallas Death series.

Stories with Romans are usually about famous emperors, epic battles, depravity, intrigue, wicked empresses and a lot of sandals, tunics and swords. But imagine the Roman theme projected sixteen hundred years further forward into the 21st century. How different would that world be?

So what’s INCEPTIO about?
New York – present day, alternate reality. Karen Brown, angry and frightened after surviving a kidnap attempt, has a harsh choice – being eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to the mysterious Roma Nova, her dead mother’s homeland in Europe. Founded sixteen centuries ago by Roman exiles and ruled by women, Roma Nova gives Karen safety, a ready-made family and a new career. But a shocking discovery about her new lover, the fascinating but arrogant special forces officer Conrad Tellus who rescued her in America, isolates her.

Renschman reaches into her new home and nearly kills her. Recovering, she is desperate to find out why he is hunting her so viciously. Unable to rely on anybody else, she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it...

And next? I’m working on PERFIDITAS, the second book in the Roma Nova series.

You can find INCEPTIO on Amazon UK  and Amazon US.  

You can read more about Alison, Romans, alternate history and writing on her blog: www.alison-morton.com, on Facebook www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor and follow her on Twitter @alison_morton.

 Thanks, Alison. Have a great weekend, everyone!

24 comments:

  1. This novel and it's concept sound fabulous, Alison, and I love the cover. Congratulations on publication. I can't wait to read Inceptio!

    Janice xx

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    1. Thanks, Janice. The cover has certainly attracted a lot of interest. It even won a competition yesterday! http://alison-morton.com/blog/2013/02/27/inceptio-won-the-weve-got-it-covered-competition/

      I've loved writing about the strange world my heroine has to make her way in. And of course, it never runs smoothly, especially on the romantic side of things...

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  2. Thanks, Alison, always great to read an historical novel as I write the same but for children, and good to hear from another author.

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    1. Hope you enjoy it, Carole. As it's alternate history, it's been a challenge, but oh, such an interesting one, to write history developing in a different direction. But huge fun!

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  3. Alternate realities, a Rome ruled by women...very intriguing concept. Definitely need to add to my TBR list!!!

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  4. I always like to do something different! Hope you enjoy it, Angela. I've loved writing it.

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  5. Before I go any further I want to thank you,Talli, for hosting me today, especially as you've had your hands full these past two months! Brava!

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  6. Sounds interesting! I like your comparison to stories like the film Sliding Doors; it definitely made think of what would happen if I missed a train or made it (I'm a Chicago commuter, so I ride trains almost daily). And I like the idea of being able to travel to an alternate history, because then you could also have the opportunity to rewrite history and "right some wrongs", so to speak.

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  7. I always love to hear authors start with "What if?" That usually leads to some very interesting stories. Love the idea of women in charge of Rome . . .in any century. :-)

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    1. 'What if' is a terrific opportunity to take an imaginative leap and explore ideas and themes other writers haven't. I love writing both my heroine and her new world. There are two further adventures in the pipeline plus I'm drafting the fourth. ;-)

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  8. I was eleven years old when the idea about women running a Roman-type society fell into my head. ;-) But I think you really have to know your history before you can alternate it, otherwise you can start sounding implausible and so lose the reader.

    Alternate history is, in a way, a great privilege as you can explore stories that couldn't happen here. But the key is to keep your people normal; they fall in love, they argue, they do brave things as well as stupid things. My heroine has a hot temper - pretty normal heroine behaviour!

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    1. This reply was intended for Neurotic Workaholic - sorry about it appearing in the wrong place.

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  9. Sounds amazing, congratulations Alison :o)

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    1. Thank you, Karen. I've loved writing the world of INCEPTIO. Now it's over to the readers whose enjoyment will, I hope, match mine as they follow the heroine's journey.

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    1. Thank you, Pat - very kind. I've always been fascinated by the Roman world. It's been fun writing it in the 21st century and with a heroine who discovers a great deal about herself...

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  11. This excellent website certainly has all the information and facts I needed about this subject and didn't know who to ask.

    Review my blog post ... mouse click the up coming web site

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  12. WOW that sounds really cool!! It's definitely the type of book I'd pick up!! And *high five* for self publishing. That's the way I went, too :) Have a wonderful Friday!!

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    1. Thanks for your enthusiasm, Jess! It's available from Amazon now. I hope you enjoy it. :-)

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  13. It sounds fascinating...and I love your cover!

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  14. Thank you, Norma! INCEPTIO has had a lot of positive comments about the cover and recently won a cover competition.
    http://alison-morton.com/blog/2013/02/27/inceptio-won-the-weve-got-it-covered-competition/

    I hope you enjoy what's inside as well ;-)

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  15. Glad you're feeling better Talli.

    Inceptio sounds fascinating. Good luck with the launch!

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    1. Thanks so much, KC. We had a mini-launch here in France:
      http://alison-morton.com/blog/2013/03/02/french-launch-of-inceptio/
      The UK one will be on 12 March. Lots to prepare!

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  16. The book sounds good, Alison. And as an academic... I actually love to play the what if game when it comes to history. Sounds like you're taking the concept down the proverbial rabbit hole!

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Coffee and wine for all!