 Left to right: Catriona Troth, me, Jessica Bell, JJ Marsh, Gillian Hamer. Seated in front J D Smith I was delighted when Triskele Books invited me and Jessica Bell to join them for a joint launch. Four of the five were launching books – JJ Marsh (Bad Apples), Gillian Hamer (Sacred Lake), J D Smith (The Rebel Queen) and Liza Perrat (The Silent Kookaburra). Jessica was launching her tough memoir Dear Reflection.
Triskele Books has some fearsome talent in its ranks and commands a great deal of respect in the indie publishing world and beyond. JJ Marsh’s Cold Press was an Editor’s Choice in the same edition of The Bookseller as SUCCESSIO.
The English Restaurant in Spitalfields hosted us and provided a sense of atmosphere. Catriona Troth masterminded the author interviews, asking questions and then inviting each of us to do a short five minutes’ reading. I chose the scene from RETALIO when Aurelia is being grilled by the Roma Nova exiles about exactly how close her relationship was with the charming but ruthless Caius Tellus…
Well, we drank fizz, we met old friends and made new ones and we sold a few books. But we had fun and that’s what should happen at a book launch.
 With Anita Chapman |
 In full flow |
 The books |
 With critique partner Denise Barnes |
 The 2016 HNS Conference reunion! With Antoine Vanner, Anita Chapman and Lorna Fergusson |
 The Romantic Novelists! Denise Barnes, Carol Cooper, me Talli Roland, Anita Chapman |
 Milling. Debbie Young, Rohan Quine, Jane Davis |
 General view |
 Catriona Troth and Jessica Bell |
 Hooray for RETALIO! |
 Interviewed by Catriona Troth |
Thank you so much Triskele Books and Jessica Bell for making it such a memorable day.
(Many of the photos are by Erika Bach, Anita Chapman, Jill Marsh, Jane Davis)
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO. The sixth, RETALIO, came out in April 2017. Audiobooks now available for the first four of the series
Get INCEPTIO, the series starter, for FREE when you sign up to Alison’s free monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be first to know about Roma Nova news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
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Writers are strange people. They live in the Middle Ages, Ancient Rome, sometimes in Victorian India, on the high seas, during the Age of Enlightenment or just down the road at number 24. I count myself lucky to know some remarkable ones who’ve been kind enough to provide endorsements for RETALIO.
 Matthew Harffy is the author of The Bernicia Chronicles, a series of action-packed historical fiction books set against the backdrop of the clash between peoples and religions in Dark Ages Britain.
The Historical Novel Society says, “Matthew Harffy’s tale of England in the Dark Ages is nothing less than superb.” And that was only the first book in the series!
Matthew has gone on to greater glory and the fourth book, Killer of Kings, is out on 1 June 2017. So he seemed a natural choice to read RETALIO…
Matthew says:
“Alison Morton’s RETALIO is an international thriller, full of intrigue and espionage, set against an imaginative retelling of a history that feels authentic and real. The fight-back for Roma Nova has begun, and what an entertaining ride it is!”
Thank you, Matthew!
 JJ Marsh is about to launch her sixth Beatrice Stubbs European crime mystery, Bad Apples, at the beginning of June. That’ll be a treat for anybody who likes an intelligent crime story.
JJ, who’s part of Triskele Books, and I met in a distanced way on Facebook – we both belong to the Alliance of Independent Authors – but when she and I were selected alongside each other as indie Editor’s Choices in prestigious UK publishing trade magazine ‘The Bookseller’, I decided I needed to investigate further.
We’ve now met several times and I was invited to take part in last year’s Triskele Lit Fest on the historical fiction panel. She has a good eye for a devious plot and loves a heroine who drives the action in a story.
JJ says:
“Tense, thrilling and incredibly timely, this is what happens when women fight back. When a progressive society is taken over by an egomaniacal despot, women can succumb or retaliate. Morton shows alarming prescience. RETALIO is a terrific concept engendering passion, love and loyalty. I actually cheered aloud.”
High praise from a crime writer!
 When I read the first of LJ Trafford’s Four Emperors series, I laughed and cried at the same time. She writes about the dark side of Rome in a semi-flippant gossipy way, featuring the unelevated members of Nero’s court who are merely trying to survive. Sometimes they don’t make it.
She conveys the grimness and sheer fear of living under Nero and his successors with a deft touch. A thorough Roman. Her next book Otho’s Regret is out in July and I’ll be in the queue for that.
L J says:
“RETALIO is an engrossing read from the very first page with a cast of characters who grapple with their situation and loyalties. Aurelia is a tough but principled heroine you’ll root for over the course of every twist and setback she faces as she heads towards the finale and a meeting with her arch nemesis. An exciting, gripping and page turning read.”
What a terrific review!
Having your peers think you can scribble a few decent words in a reasonable order is very supportive. When writers of the calibre of these three do, then that’s treasure indeed.
And here’s my thanks to Douglas Jackson.
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO. The sixth, RETALIO, came out in April 2017. Audiobooks now available for the first four of the series
Get INCEPTIO, the series starter, for FREE when you sign up to Alison’s free monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be first to know about Roma Nova news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
If you enjoyed this post, do share it with your friends!Like this:Like Loading...
 No ruin in Roman Europe has been safe from me from the age of eleven. I’ve dragged members of my family along ancient cobbled roads, up towers and aqueducts and into theatres and arenas. But sharing this thirst/lust/obsession with similarly-minded is a joy.
I love being a Roman writer and being seen as one. I’ve talked concrete, ball-bearings, legionary foot problems, gladius design, Republican virtue, tactics at Cannae, fictitious handshakes, Apicius’s cookbooks, imperial women, dodgy medical practices, informers, sea trading and the cursus honorem with the best of them.
Writing is another obsession, an isolated act done in a secluded room with a lot of tea to hand. However, you need a team of colleagues and informed supporters to give feedback (brutal and kind), advice and encouragement. Little inspires you more than receiving praise from those in the same field. So I was delighted when Roman fiction and thriller writer Douglas Jackson agreed to read RETALIO. We’d met up from time to time at conferences and events. He is such a genuine guy and we had illuminating conversations about thrillers, Romans, heroines, book progress and the joy of writing.
In his Gaius Valerius Verrens series, Douglas places us firmly in the Roman battlefields of the first century AD from the final part of Nero’s reign and that terrible year of the Four Emperors before the Flavians became the ruling dynasty. “Action-packed and rigorously researched” fits his series perfectly which he built on from his earlier books Caligula and Claudius. His writing is so vivid – you are there, terrified, elated and rooting for Verrens at every step. I loved Hero of Rome and am currently devouring the second in series Defender of Rome.
Douglas says:
“RETALIO is a classic tale of resistance and resilience as an exiled Aurelia Mitela leads an army of the dispossessed to free Roma Nova from the clutches of the despicable Caius. As always Alison Morton’s alternative world where a fragment of the Roman Empire has survived to the present day feels utterly authentic and Caius’s Roma Nova, where women have been turned into virtual slaves is chillingly reminiscent of the Nazi occupied territories of the Second World War. RETALIO reaches an explosive climax in the tunnels of the capital as Caius’s empire crumbles, and the only regret when the action stops is that this is the final book of a remarkable trilogy.”
What a terrific review!
I want to thank Douglas publicly for taking such an interest in Aurelia’s personal and public battle against the tyranny of her nemesis and in providing me with a terrific endorsement to sit on the front cover of RETALIO – praise from him is gold indeed.
Douglas – gratias maximas tibi ago!
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO. The sixth, RETALIO, came out in April 2017. Audiobooks now available for the first four of the series
Get INCEPTIO, the series starter, for FREE when you sign up to Alison’s free monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be first to know about Roma Nova news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
If you enjoyed this post, do share it with your friends!Like this:Like Loading...
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