Meet Aurelia Mitela – warrior, diplomat, spy

The three ages of Aurelia

Aurelia Mitela, archetype Roma Novan, came to life when I was writing the first Roma Nova book, INCEPTIO. Then, she was the clever, experienced grandmother of Carina, the book’s heroine. But she had secrets behind her contained exterior. By the time I was halfway drafting SUCCESSIO, I was […]

So, alternate history?

Dawn with pine trees and ruins in silhouette - the dawn of time?

Time or alternate time?

What if the Nazis had won the Second World War (Fatherland – Robert Harris, The Man in the High Castle – Philip K Dick) or England had remained Catholic (Pavane – Keith Roberts, The Alteration – Kingsley Amis) or if Alaska rather than Israel had become the Jewish homeland […]

Changing a book cover and admitting your mistake – CARINA: a case study

CARINA seems to be a fidgety type, just like her namesake main character and has just gone through a transformation similar to the one our heroine goes through in her first story, INCEPTIO.

In 2019, I decided that the Roma Nova series needed a make-over as the prominent eagle motif had been around since […]