Blog | Alison Morton's Thrillers

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’.

What 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 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.

Updated book info!:
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS and SUCCESSIO. The fourth book, AURELIA, and the Roma Nova box set are now out.

Find out Roma Nova news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways by signing up for her free monthly email newsletter.

Day 3 at the London Book Fair

Today was a ‘lighter’ day. After the ALLi celebratory party yesterday we were all a little quieter, but still kept up a busy routine. My first ‘appointment’ of the day was to talk through the fine detail of book production with SilverWood Books’ publishing director, Helen Hart. The third book in my Roma Nova thriller series, SUCCESSIO, is out at the beginning of June. I also confirmed the date and venue of the launch. Although that’s entirely my responsibility, it means SilverWood can announce it on their website in coordination with my own marketing.

Katie Fforde

Around midday, I went to Author HQ to hear science fiction/fantasy (SFF) book publisher Jo Fletcher, historic fiction writer M C (Manda) Scott and romance/women’s fiction writer (and RNA president) Katie Fforde speak about writing in their respective genres.

M C Scott

All emphasised how important it was to read in the genre you are writing, to be relevant in the genre and to do your research. I noticed RNA stalwarts Christina Courtenay, Sue Moorcroft, Evelyn Ryle, and Jenny Haddon in the audience.

Katie kindly bought Manda and me a healthy crush (which was both delicious and reviving); we chatted together afterwards in the quiet of the Random House stand.

Next was a quick visit to the Choclit stand to see Christina Courtenay and Sue Moorcroft (authors and the RNA Chair and Vice-Chair respectively).

I talked to fellow authors throughout the day, and later to writers who were interested in using SilverWood Books’ services. There are many routes to publication and an ethical author services company such as SilverWood Books provides is but one.

My impressions from the three days?
– Authors talking to each other across genres, publishing routes, and channels
– the enthusiasm and excellent organisation behind ALLi events
– the better level of the author events
– the continued and increasing interest in ways of self-publishing.

And finally, goodbye to Earls Court. This was the last London Book Fair here. In 2105, LBF will be moving to Olympia.

Read about Day 1 and Day 2

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

London Book Fair - Day 2

With Rhiann Watts and Eliza Green

As I walked down Earls Court Gardens to start Day 2 at the London Book Fair, I still felt the buzz of Day 1. Or maybe it was the warmth of the sunshine on my face…

The Roma Nova badges seem to be catching on…

I met up with Romantic Novelists’ Association members despite the crowds. Here are Liz Harris and Freda Lightfoot. I also drank coffee with Jenny Haddon and Evelyn Ryle.

Lovely to have bumped into long-standing Twitter friend Sam Missingham from Harper Collins. I asked her also to pass on my thanks to her colleague Liz Dawson who gave a terrific workshop on Tuesday about publicising books.

SilverWood authors – Debbie Young, David Ebsworth, Paul Murphy, Sandy Osborne, Harvey Black , Isabel Burt and me – and Helen Hart lunched together. We raised a glass to both our own achievements and to the high level of interest SilverWood Books was attracting at the fair.

More talks! I found two full of practical hints, mainly about marketing and visibility: Successful Author-Publishing with top tips from each of an expert panel…

…and The Hallmarks of Self-Publishing Success with Rachel Abbott and Polly Courtney. (Apologies for the picture quality – the lighting was dreadful!)