Almost Done … Maybe

I might yet have Empire’s Shield on sale by December as I am plodding through the last three chapters now. One distracting, intrusive thought I ruminate about too much is what started me writing twenty years ago, and my annual commemoration of one event.

The Ides of June

I was just reminded that I planned to publish Book II of The Roman Sky series this month. What was I thinking when I posted that ambitious goal in March? 

Without tempting the Fates, I believe Book II might be out before the leaves fall (here) if nothing else unexpected happens to divert my attention, time, and energy.

If I lived on Cillian’s Earth, it would be AA (Anno Augusti) 2007 right now as its years are dated from the death of Augustus Caesar. So, I would still be behind schedule and in the midst of a pandemic as it’s the same year but with a different count.

Book II is set in AA 517, ten months after the battle of Dara in Book I. Sarapion’s Cohort flew north as it was supposed to do, but not as far north as originally ordered. Cillian has rebuilt his tent group from the steady flow of new sagittarii that feed the Airborne legions. But since it is spring, it is time for celebrations, change, and new campaigns. A peaceful year is about to end.

Fourth Time Lucky

While it’s far from a NYT Best Seller so far, my fourth novel has been read by hundreds of people on three continents in its first four months of publication. It took my next most-read novel three years to be read by a third as many people. So, this is pleasing stuff for a self-published author, especially as I have done little to promote my books. Empire’s Gate is an Alternative History and start of a new genre, Gaspunk, which involves 6th Century Roman soldiers and airships. This first book of the The Roman Sky series has earned a dozen ratings and four great reviews on Amazon.com and four ratings on Goodreads. The Ottawa Public Library’s copy is still in demand with three readers in the line for it today. Inspired by this reaction, I am now working on the second novel of this series and plan to publish it in June.

https://www.amazon.com/Empires-Gate-Roman-Sky-Book-ebook/dp/B08MBLN85D

Inspiring Times

I was inspired to write an alternative history of the War of 1812, Beyond 1812, after reading about the Hartford Convention of 1814-15. The northern states met here to discuss what they could do since they had not wanted this war and felt that the south dominated the union too much. President Madison sent two battalions of US Infantry to Hartford to put out any secessionist sparks this meeting might fan. I wondered what it would have taken to push the north to secede and then began to write how that might have been done.

I began my alternative history of the late Roman Empire, The Roman Sky, after reading about a Roman traveller sent to China who came back and told the Emperor of how General Kongming used paper lanterns to signal his army during a battle. I recalled how China’s use of gunpowder to make fireworks was taken by Europeans to make muskets and cannons and thought what would have happened if paper lanterns triggered a similar reaction.

In both series, it was actual history that inspired the alternative one. Because of that connection, I decided that parallel timelines would tend to be the same as our own, that major changes in them do not necessarily alter everything else. It allows the same people, events, and developments to exist in drastically different worlds, even if they are arrived at in different ways. 

In any case, building these alternative worlds and researching our own history has helped me cope with 2020.  

Empire's Gate is my fourth novel, the first Gaspunk novel, and the start of a new series, The Roman Sky. The series is about Cillian, a Roman soldier from a Gael-Goth family who seeks his destiny on the airships of an Airborne Legion. Gaspunk novels are set in a 6th century Roman Empire that has airships and other advances. In Empire's Gate, Cillian arrives at his new legion as it deploys to join Belisarius's army at the Persian border. Cillian soon learns that enemy airships and armies are not the only threats he faces.

I began writing Empire's Gate as the Covid pandemic began. Writing let me escape to the 6th century for a few hours for most days. I had hoped to finish this story by early August and publish it in early in October, but the demands of life and home intervened. I discovered that I was able to replace the kitchen taps and sprayer. As a result of life, I finished writing later in September and am publishing Empire's Gate this week, the week of the US election. I will promote the book later.

Now that Empire's Gate is done, I have begun working on Spring of 1813, the second novel in the Beyond 1812 series. So, I will now instead escape to the 19th century for a few hours on most days.

Recovery Mode

Last August, my soulmate was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Major surgery eliminated it in September, with no chemo or radiation needed. Sepsis came out of nowhere and almost took her in October. November, December and January were devoted to supporting her recovery from both sepsis and surgery. But, the smell of infection and spectre of death dragged forward dormant memories of the war in Sierra Leone twenty years ago in sharp, vivid details. It has taken me months to calm down and avoid the dark, deep spiral that was pulling me down and stopped me from writing. I had not written since August, until last night: the first 1200 words for my next novel. It is a break from the Beyond 1812 story I had been working on up until August. This will be the first story of a Gas Punk series about airships and ambitions. It is set in a united Roman Empire that the Emperor Justinian wants to make greater. So, once more my ongoing therapy will be to write. Let’s see if I can get this one done and published by October.

The Ebola War

Ebola struck Sierra Leone for the first time in 2014, thirteen years after the war and my time there ended. I had started writing short stories about my tour in that war in 2012, from the view of two child rebels, Angel and Mercy. By 2014, their stories were already forming the chapters of what would become my first novel, The Ceasefire War. When the Ebola struck Sierra Leone, I wondered how those girls, who were now young women, would fare. I wanted to continue their stories and also tell the story of how Sierra Leoneans dealt with this viral threat, as most of what was written about it focused on the international response and support given to Sierra Leone. So, as the Ebola Crisis ended and The Ceasefire War was published in 2016, I began working on the sequel, The Ebola War. Since this story was not based on my experience, I asked the Sierra Leonean writer, Bakar Mansaray, to ensure my characters, Krio dialogue, and cultural details were authentic. We began writing the story together in May 2017. Since Bakar was working out west, we wrote in parallel, using Track Changes in the texts we sent each other, and discussed the development of the drafts in weekly Skypes. The finished story was sent to the editor last month, April, and The Ebola War should be published later this month, a year after we began writing it. And that is the story of this story, and why I have not posted anything here until now.