Roman
History Blog - Featured Author
Andrew Boyce - Roman Fictional Author
Bath House and Antonine Wall Sparks Interest in the Romans!
Reading great Roman Historical Fiction Authors such as Harry Sidebottom, Simon Scarrow and Ben Kane, I had a book idea in the back of my mind. Could I write it and could I write more than one?
Yes I could and I want to share how I did it, in case there are other people in the same position as I am, as well as sharing my Roman interest and promoting my books!
First, this is how I did it! On my smartphone, I had a package called "WPS". Most days at a quiet time, usually in the evening, I would write a little and save it. I always took it slowly, waiting for the next part of the story to develop in my mind before writing it down. Sometimes when writing, a new thought would come to me and I would be excited to write that down, the story then taking a different direction than planned.
Before long, I then had a complete story. But what should I do now? I knew the chances of obtaining a book deal were much the same as me winning a nice amount on the lottery and so I googled about self publishing.
By chance, I discovered "Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Amazon" that allowed you to upload your Word file and then use their cover creator. I mainly used free pictures from the website "Pixabay" to create the cover and a few inside pictures. And then, Bingo! I had my first ebook/paperback - The Antonine Romans and The Golden Torque.
Andrew Boyce and his Three Books!
I then began the process of trying to promote and this is not easy and I am only at the start of learning this aspect, not having a book company to do this for me!
So far, it has been a mixture of joining Facebook history sites, Facebook book sites, my own Facebook site and my own Twitter site @andrewboyceaut1
It is a case of sticking by the rules of each Facebook site - posting only on the days allowed, only once in a day etc. Sometimes your post gets rejected and you feel very offended!
As well as being a source of great information, the Facebook users get to know the books you have to offer and soon, you are happily typing away posts on your smartphone, adding in pictures of your book covers and using your clipboard smartphone feature to write posts at the touch of a button, rather than typing out each one, again and again!
One of the Facebook/Twitter sites that I joined is the excellent Roman History site (Links below). This provides wonderful posts, with great pictures, articles and information and I feel honoured to have my writing and pictures on here!
And so onto my next section, what is my Roman interest all about? Well, from an early age I remember as a child in my father's car around Glasgow seeing strange ditches, long straight roads, and street names such as "Roman Road". We would see remains of the Roman bathhouse at Bearsden, a dip in the road where the Antonine Wall crossed over, or a house halfway along a hill in Milngavie that originally was the site of a Roman fortlet!
My imagination fired up, I was amazed to learn about the Roman Antonine Wall that ran across central Scotland, Hadrian's Wall that ran across the border of Scotland and England and Roman Britain in general, such as Bath, Chester, York and London.
Amphitheatre - Chester - A Special Place for Andrew Boyce!
It also helped having teachers at school that were interested in the Romans. I can remember aged 8, the class making cardboard Roman helmets, that the teacher finished each off with a bright red plume of wool. Also visits to the Burrell Collection and the Hunterian Museum as a class or with my family, where I would wonder at the various coins, pottery and objects found in Roman Scotland.
I recall that at my primary school several years before I attended, a pupil had found various Roman coins that the Headmaster then passed to a Museum.
The interest in the Romans continued into adulthood with the reading of the various greats of Roman Historical Fiction such as that mentioned at the start of this article, as well as excited trips to Roman places, such as York and Chester.
To stand in the middle of the Roman amphitheatre remains in Chester and to look out, was a special moment. As was walking their town's walls and along the nearby path to suddenly see Minerva's Shrine, dating from the early 2nd century, emerge from a wall in front of me!
Minerva's Shrine - Chester
Putting this all together, an idea in my mind was developing to write a book and the story seemed to emerge, waiting to be written down. With the help of technology of WPS and KDP Amazon as previously described, the Antonine Romans novellas were the result, leading to the final section of this article of promoting my ebooks/paperbacks!
The first novella is "The Antonine and The Golden Torque" and the essence of the whole series is there. It is the native Scots facing the Roman invaders and follows characters such as the new Centurion - Andronicus and a young well regarded tribal Scot - Jamis.
Book 1 - The Antonine Romans and The Golden Torque
The second novella "The Antonine Romans and The New King" follows on from the first, focusing on Centurion Andronicus and the Scot Jamis, leading to a dramatic ending of this second novella, that sets up the trilogy.
Book 2 - The Antonine Romans and The New King
As a result, the initial trilogy is completed with the third novella "The Antonine Romans and The Redemption", which plays out various conflicts and revelations between Andronicus and Jamis, with an ending that is unexpected.
Book 3 - The Antonine Romans and The Redemption
AD144 The Antonine Wall, Caledonia, modern day Scotland.
Battles rage amongst individuals and armies.
Book 4: The
Antonine Romans and The Tribune's Mission
Tribune Lacitus must use all his skill if he is to save
himself, his brother Centurion Antallius of Balmuildy Roman Fort and
his father Senior Tribune Rexis of Trimontium Roman Fort.
Book 5: The
Antonine Romans and The Gladiators
A
Gladiator Fight at the Trimontium Amphitheatre, Scottish Borders,
holds the fate of Tribune Lacitus and his family. His brother -
Centurion Antallius has his own battles to overcome with the attack
on Balmuildy Fort. The exciting fifth Novella in The Antonine Romans
Series
Book 6: The
Antonine Romans and Burnswark Hill
A
direct order from The Emperor - Antoninus Pius for the complete
destruction of Burnswark Hill. Can Jamis be rescued before the brutal
assault? The destruction of Burnswark Hill and the survival of Jamis
with his Negotiation Skills, are seen as vital for success in The
Northern Frontier.
Book 7: The
Antonine Romans and Deva: Roman Chester Awaits!
Tribune
Lacitus has received new orders to travel to Deva (Roman Chester). His
mission is to save Deva from falling, with an attack from the local
tribe imminent. Can Tribune Lacitus and his brother Centurion Antallius,
survive and succeed?
With my style of writing, the novellas are best read as a series starting from the beginning and so I decided to include a Compilation Book "The Antonine Series (Books 1 to 3)" of all three stories together, if the reader would prefer to have one ebook/paperback, rather than the three. I priced this Compilation Book to be a little cheaper than buying all three individually as I would like people to complete the trilogy, this being another opportunity to do so.
And so what is next, I hopefully hear you say? Well, I hope that the whole world buys the three novellas or the Compilation Book, in either the ebook or paperback versions and I am either picked up in a book deal, a film or both!
As I watch what may be a pig flying past my window or may not, if I have a bit of luck and was actually a plane, the ideas have started for the fourth Antonine Romans novella. What is the title of this fourth novella? Watch this space!
The Antonine Series (Books 1 to 3)
Andrew Boyce Showing Books 1 to 3
Best wishes
Andrew Boyce, Roman Fiction Author
