Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain’s wrath . . . and these are their stories: A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii’s flourishing streets. An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire. An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished. A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue. A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls. A priestess and a whore seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried. Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each other’s’ path during Pompeii’s fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?

Praise for, Day of Fire

“Overall, I can’t praise this book highly enough. It’s a rattling good tale of disaster, death, resolution and rebirth.” ~Dodging Arrows

“This truly is the finest book i have read this year, an emotional roller-coaster that educates while it entertains. Its impact will stay with me for quite some time.” ~Parmenion Books

“Highly recommended for historical fiction fans, especially those who love disaster flicks, ancient settings, and/or armchair escapes that leave you gasping for air. ” ~Unabridged Chick

“I don’t usually read collections of short stories….But the premise of A DAY OF FIRE drew me in — the last days and hours of Pompeii, seen through the eyes of citizens throughout the social strata. And gods, am I happy I read this book! I couldn’t put it down.” ~LeAnna.me “If you’re looking for six fantastic, well-written story by six talented authors, I cannot recommend A Day of Fire enough.” ~Bibliophilia, Please

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

STEPHANIE DRAY is a multi-published, award-winning author of historical women’s fiction and fantasy set in the ancient world. Her critically acclaimed historical Nile series about Cleopatra’s daughter has been translated into more than six different languages, was nominated for a RITA Award and won the Golden Leaf. Her focus on Ptolemaic Egypt and Augustan Age Rome has given her a unique perspective on the consequences of Egypt’s ancient clash with Rome, both in terms of the still-extant tensions between East and West as well as the worldwide decline of female-oriented religion. Before she wrote novels, Stephanie was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Learn more at: Stephanie’s Website

BEN KANE worked as a veterinarian for sixteen years, but his love of ancient history and historical fiction drew him to write fast-paced novels about Roman soldiers, generals and gladiators. Irish by nationality but UK-based, he is the author of seven books, the last five of which have been Sunday Times top ten bestsellers.Ben’s books have been translated into ten languages. In 2013, Ben walked the length of Hadrian’s Wall with two other authors, for charity; he did so in full Roman military kit, including hobnailed boots. He repeated the madness in 2014, over 130 miles in Italy. Over $50,000 has been raised with these two efforts. Learn more at Ben’s Website

E. KNIGHT is an award-winning, indie national best-selling author historical fiction. Under the name, Eliza Knight she writes historical romance and time-travel. Her debut historical fiction novel, MY LADY VIPER, has received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Historical Novel Society 2015 Annual Indie Award. She regularly presents on writing panels and was named Romance Writer’s of America’s 2013 PRO Mentor of the Year. Eliza lives in Maryland atop a small mountain with a knight, three princesses and a very naughty puppy. For more information, visit Eliza at Eliza’s Website.

SOPHIE PERINOT is the author of the acclaimed debut, The Sister Queens, which weaves the story of medieval sisters Marguerite and Eleanor of Provence who became queens of France and England respectively. Perinot has both a BA in History and a law degree. A long-time member of the Historical Novel Society, she has attended all of the group’s North American Conferences, serving as a panelist at the most recent. When she is not visiting corners of the past, Sophie lives in Great Falls, VA. Learn more at: Sophie’s Website

KATE QUINN is the national bestselling author of the Empress of Rome novels, which have been variously translated into thirteen different languages. She first got hooked on Roman history while watching “I, Claudius” at the age of seven, and wrote her first book during her freshman year in college, retreating from a Boston winter into ancient Rome. She and her husband now live in Maryland with an imperious black dog named Caesar. Learn more at Kate’s Website

VICKY ALVEAR SHECTER is the award-winning author of the young adult novel, Cleopatra’s Moon (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2011), based on the life of Cleopatra’s only daughter. She is also the author of two biographies for kids on Alexander the Great and Cleopatra. The LA Times called Cleopatra’s Moon–set in Rome and Egypt–“magical” and “impressive.” Publisher’s Weekly said it was “fascinating” and “highly memorable.” Her young adult novel of Pompeii, Curses and Smoke (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic), released in June 2014. She has two other upcoming books for younger readers, Anubis Speaks! and Hades Speaks! Vicky is a docent at the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Antiquities at Emory University in Atlanta. Learn more at Vicky’s Website

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Publication Date: September 9, 2014 Neverland Publishing Formats: eBook, Paperback

Genre: Mystery Series: A Thomas O’Shea Mystery (Book Two)

READ AN EXCERPT.

Suffering from insomnia, wise-cracking tough guy Thomas O’Shea goes for a late-night stroll through the peaceful streets of Rockbluff, Iowa, and finds himself pausing downtown on the bridge that spans the Whitetail River. When he glances downstream, something catches his eye…something that looks like a body. He scrambles down to the riverbank, pulling the body of a young girl from the water. The girl is naked, with two bullet holes in the back of her head. Ever suspicious of law enforcement, O’Shea chooses not mention the bullet holes when Deputy Stephen Doltch, on routine patrol, discovers him at the river’s edge. When the coroner’s report lists the cause of death as “drowning,” Thomas goes into action.

Confronting the coroner, he is met with hostility. But then the coroner and his wife disappear, along with the body of the dead girl. Once again, Thomas gears up to find answers that will reveal who put the bullets in the girl’s head, why she was killed, and her identity, which may hit a little too close to home.

Teaming up with his friend Lunatic Mooning and Clancy Dominguez, an old buddy from his Navy SEAL days, Thomas and the other two men join together to bring justice to the dead girl, a quest that takes them to the Chalaka Reservation in Minnesota, seedy businesses adjacent to the Chalaka Casino, and straight into the world of organized crime.

A fast-paced story, laugh-out-loud moments and familiar, quirky characters from Carenen’s debut novel, Signs of Struggle, contribute once again to the complex world of Thomas O’Shea. Enter…if you dare.

About the Author

John Carenen, a native of Clinton, Iowa, graduated with an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from the prestigious University of Iowa Writers Workshop and has been writing ever since. His work has appeared in numerous popular and literary magazines, and he has been a featured columnist in newspapers in North and South Carolina. A novel, Son-up, Son-down was published by the National Institute of Mental Health.

His debut Thomas O’Shea mystery novel, Signs of Struggle, was published in October of 2012. A Far Gone Night, the long- anticipated sequel, continues the exploits of the enigmatic protagonist and the quirky characters of Rockbluff, Iowa.

John is currently an English professor at Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina. He and his wife live in their cozy cottage down a quiet lane in northern Greenville, South Carolina. He is a big fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes and Boston Red Sox.

For more information please visit John Carenen’s blog. You can also connect with him on Facebook and Goodreads.

A Far Gone Night Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, November 3 Spotlight & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Friday, November 7 Spotlight at Layered Pages

Monday, November 10 Review at The Discerning Reader

Wednesday, November 12 Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Friday, November 14 Guest Post at Mina’s Bookshelf

Wednesday, November 19 Spotlight at The Bibliophilic Book Blog

Thursday, November 20 Review at Book Nerd

Tuesday, November 25 Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks

Wednesday, November 26 Interview at Boom Baby Reviews

Thursday, November 27 Spotlight at Girl Lost in a Book

Friday, November 28 Review at A Book Geek Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

A little about myself

I’m half English, half American by birth, the American bit being of French Huguenot descent. My childhood was spent back and forth between England and the East Coast of America, though from my early teens I’ve lived permanently in Britain – now on the East Coast of Scotland. It seems I must have some kind of affinity with the east wind, certainly I have with the sea. I went up to Oxford on a classics scholarship, then switched to mathematics, also while at Oxford marrying a fellow student, historian David Swinfen, and taking a postgraduate maths degree. After the birth of our fifth child I took an honours degree and PhD in English Literature – you’ll begin to see a pattern here. What was I going to do when I grew up?

My husband’s income as an academic not being over-generous for rearing five children, I worked at a variety of jobs (often several at the same time): part-time academic, journalist, software designer, manager in the technical author division of an international computer company and so on. All of this very time-consuming and not allowing much space for creative writing, though I continued to be a voracious reader, as I had always been.

When the youngest children were launched at university, I walked away from all my jobs except the part-time academic teaching and said, ‘NOW I AM GOING TO WRITE!’ And that’s where I’ve been ever since. My first three novels were published by Random House, but I’ve now become an independent author-publisher and couldn’t be happier.

Why I write.

My sister was quite a bit older than I and loved playing school. Guess who was the teacher and who the pupil! In fact, she taught me to read when I was three, and I’ve been grateful to her ever since. Living in a world of stories, I felt it perfectly natural to make them up myself and in fact I still have a story I wrote, typed (!) and illustrated when I was five. There’s not much of a story arc, but the impulse was there.

At ten I was quite ill, had a long time in hospital and confined to bed, and missed a year of school. In the end this was no hardship, for I read and read, and made up more stories. When I went back to school I wasn’t kept back, but had a wonderful teacher who encouraged my writing. By this point I had become fascinated by history and by early writers like Chaucer and Langland, read the Renaissance dramatists and poets, dreamt of becoming a writer. When I was fourteen I remember that I wrote two stories which satisfied me. One was set in Britain at the time of the Roman invasions, the other during an exceptionally hard winter in fourteenth-century East Anglia.

Then in my later teens I became hyper-critical of all my prose writing and tore it up, though I did write poetry. At that age, I think one’s critical faculties leap ahead and one’s lack of self-confidence tends to undermine the creative faculty. Then came the demanding student years and early marriage. As a young mother with a large family and several jobs I was mentally and physically exhausted. Looking back, I’m glad now that I didn’t publish any novels in my twenties and thirties, because I’m sure I’d be embarrassed by them now!

So the impulse, the desire, was always there from an early age, just waiting for me to emerge from the manic years and have enough energy to sustain the long-term commitment to writing novels.

My interest in history is an intrinsic part of my life, for I feel that both individuals and society are fundamentally shaped by what has gone before us. We may think that we are smart, modern, technically savvy, twenty-first century people, but the millennia of human history saturate our being. Although my first three novels (The Anniversary, The Travellers, and A Running Tide) are superficially “contemporary”, in fact all three contain layers of history. The lives of my characters are profoundly affected by their own history and the history of their societies.

Since going independent, I have published five uncompromisingly historical novels. The Testament of Mariam is set in the first century and is narrated by a fictional sister of Jesus. It’s not a religious book, but an attempt to recreate the physical reality of that peasant family in Roman-occupied Galilee. Flood takes place in seventeenth century East Anglia, when the fenlanders had to fight against unscrupulous developers to save their lands and way of life. I am also writing a series set in the late sixteenth century featuring a young physician, Christoval Alvarez, who is coerced into becoming a code-breaker and agent in the Elizabethan secret service run by Sir Francis Walsingham. Published so far: The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez, The Enterprise of England and The Portuguese Affair. At the moment I’m at work on the fourth book in the series.

So from those first attempts at historical fiction in my early teens I have moved on to full-length novels in which I try to explore not merely the lives of people in the past, but to view them as part of a long human continuum, of which we ourselves are also a part.

How writing impacted my life.

I suppose you could say that my life has always been moving towards this writing profession. My rather odd educational background isn’t quite so odd when viewed in the context of my writing. Study of the classics certainly contributed to the writing of Mariam. Christoval’s skill in code-breaking is not unrelated to my mathematical studies. And by writing historical fiction I am able to pursue my passion for history.

When I first had enough time and energy to devote to writing full-length novels, it was like the release of a head of steam which had been building up for a long time. Interestingly, my publisher at Random House said, after reading The Anniversary, that she could not believe it was a first novel. In a way, it wasn’t, since I’d been writing in my head all those years.

It was enormously exciting to be accepted as a novelist and published by a leading international publisher (though I had already published a non-fiction academic book). However, over the next couple of years I became somewhat disillusioned by the commercial publishing world – the delays, the lack of control, the offhand and sometimes downright rude behaviour meted out to authors. After a particularly infuriating case of this in the latter months of 2013, I decided to go independent. I set up an imprint name, bought my own ISBNs, and set out as an independent publisher. My agent had decided she wasn’t interested in historical fiction anymore, so I first published Flood, the book she had not only turned down – she hadn’t even bothered to read it. And it has proved very successful, with many readers demanding a sequel. Her somewhat high-handed assessment that “nobody reads historical fiction” has been sounded refuted. Once Flood was safely launched in paperback and Kindle, I turned my attention to reissuing my backlist (the rights had reverted to me) and publishing my other historical novels.

It has certainly had an impact! Since the beginning of this year I have published or reissued eight novels, finished one started last year and written one wholly new novel. They are all now available in paperback and Kindle. I’ve published five short stories in Kindle, some of which previously appeared in magazines or on the BBC. I designed the covers for these short stories myself, but used a couple of designers for the books until settling down with Jane Dixon-Smith. I am now writing the fourth book in the Christoval Alvarez series, which I hope to be able to publish before Christmas.

The joy of being an independent author-publisher is the fact that you are in control! You make the decisions not only about the content and format of the novel itself, but about cover design, blurb, publication date, pricing, any special offers, and so on. There is the obvious drawback that you have to do the promotion and marketing yourself, which is something I think most writers don’t much enjoy. However, another perk is being able to track your sales day-by-day (so you can see whether a promotion is working, for example). With traditional publishing you wait months and months before you have any clear idea of what is happening. Oh, and as an indie, you are paid every month! In that other publishing world you can wait up to two years. No advance, of course, but they were getting smaller and smaller anyway. Now I keep spreadsheets, plotting income against expenditure, keeping an eye on how the enterprise in developing. This is work, a profession, and has to be treated seriously.

One of the most exciting ways in which all of this has impacted on my life has been making the unabridged audiobook of The Testament of Mariam with Hollywood actress Serena Scott Thomas. It’s been a wonderful experience and Serena has become a good friend, loving the book and saying she didn’t want the recording to end. A year ago, could I have imagined something so extraordinary would happen? I don’t think so!

The advice I would give to beginner writers.

What I always say to beginner writers, including my students, is that the most important quality for a writer after talent and imagination is persistence. I have known so many people who manage to write a first chapter, or perhaps just a first scene, of a novel. They then go back over it and over it, editing, polishing, and despairing that it will never be perfect.

THIS IS FATAL!

It won’t ever be perfect. A first chapter is just a sketch, a first tentative step into your story. You absolutely must persist. Carry on until you reach the end of the story. Only then can you view it as a whole, understand what it is you have actually written. It may be that you will jettison that first chapter. Or you may need to rewrite it because of what occurs later in the story. Once you have the whole body of the novel to work on, the significance of the parts becomes clear.

The analogy I always use is that of a sculptor in marble. You start with your crude lump of stone – your basic idea for the novel. You then hew the first draft out of the stone, which gives you the rough overall appearance of the finished work. Each of your subsequent edits refines and polishes your “statue”, your novel, until it is revealed in all its glory! If you stop after the first few pages and struggle to make it perfect, it would be like a sculptor polishing and refining a big toe of his statue, before he had created the overall figure. Madness and a total waste of time.

Of course, it’s difficult to persuade beginner writers of this, but there you are. I speak from experience!

Website

Self-Publishers Show Case

Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors

Member of The Historical Writers’ Association

Derek was born in Hampshire in England but spent his teenage years in Auckland, New Zealand where he still has strong family ties.

He misspent his youth at the University of Reading, where he studied history but spent most of his time in the Drama Studio. He could be discovered most afternoons in the university library fast asleep but was always willing to wake up and go for a coffee.

For many years he taught history at a secondary school in Berkshire but took early retirement several years ago to concentrate on his writing.

Apart from writing, he spends his time gardening, travelling, walking and taking part in archaeological digs at a local Roman villa.

Derek is interested in a wide range of historical themes but his particular favourite is the late medieval period. His debut historical novel, Feud, is set in the period of the Wars of the Roses and is the first of a series, Rebels & Brothers. The series follows the fortunes of the fictional Elder family as they struggle to survive a very turbulent period of English history. Derek aims to write action-packed fiction which is rooted in accurate history.

The sequel to Feud, A Traitor’s Fate, was published in 2013 and book 3, Kingdom of Rebels, in August 2014. The final book will be published in the summer of 2015.

Why do you write?

What makes a writer write? It’s a very good question and surprisingly difficult to answer. I could say I’ve always wanted to write but it’s not as simple as that. I think what I’ve always wanted to do is to be creative – that sounds a bit crass but I actually think it’s true.

In the 1960s everyone had a guitar and wanted to write songs – and so did I. I wrote songs, poetry, stories, a play…but none saw the light of day. The creative urge burned strongly but I don’t think I had the life experience at that point to find any real direction or focus. If you like, you could say that I just wasn’t ready.

Then I had to get a job, earn some money and ‘life’ took over and decades passed during which I used my creativity in a variety of ways and all sorts of different directions. I stage managed many plays and musicals and my creativity eventually found an unusual outlet in writing school timetables!

So when did the eureka moment occur? I’ve no idea. In fact I think it might have happened when I was asleep. All I know is that in 2005 I started writing the story that became my first historical fiction novel, Feud.

Well, of course, it must have been more complicated than that. Many factors led to it: my lifelong love and study of history, my childhood literary experiences – always swashbuckling adventures – and my special fascination with the whole period of the Wars of the Roses. So, all of that led to the beginning of a four book series.

How has writing impacted your life?

Writing has changed my life a very great deal. When I started Feud I was still in full time employment as an Assistant Headteacher at a large secondary school. I realised quite soon that the extensive and relentless demands of my job left me little time to write – I was certainly not the first to discover that! So a few years later I started working three days a week to find more time for my writing. But still it wasn’t enough so I decided to take the plunge and retire early. It was a big step at the time but I needed to know whether I could actually write a book or not.

From the moment I left teaching, I never gave it another thought. Don’t get me wrong, I was always happy at work but writing was different. This was an opportunity to create a world of characters and weave their stories together into tales of excitement and danger. I could step inside their lives. I could feel their passions, their hopes and their fears. It’s an electric feeling!

What have been the biggest changes? Well, I work from home, that’s the most obvious one. I read many more books for research purposes and I travel more frequently, to visit locations used in my books.

I’ve had to learn many new digital skills and get to grips with using social media. By and large I’ve enjoyed that and through Twitter and Facebook I’ve got to know a great many people. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of them in the flesh too. The majority, though not all, of these people have been writers and I have found the historical fiction community very welcoming and helpful.

Probably the greatest change, however, has been in my mind set. I’ve begun to see myself as a writer rather than a retired person. I’ve had a career change. I’m still new to writing and now I want to become a better writer.

What advice would you give to beginner writers?

Wow! Me? Give advice? I’m really a newbie, still wet behind the ears in writing terms. That’s not to say I haven’t learned some lessons though – some the hard way.

When I started writing I knew next to nothing about publishing or even how to set out a book. I was pretty much a blank page in that respect. If a writer wants to self-publish then he needs to grasp what will be involved in doing so or he needs a cohort of experts to do everything for him: formatting text, cover design and layout, editing, copy editing, marketing, ongoing promotion, etc, etc…

Of all those items, I would pick out two as being the most essential. Firstly, get yourself a good editor – I’ve seen this advice given many times but it’s worth repeating again and again. An editor is a critical friend who will ask you the awkward questions and cut your work to ribbons if necessary. If that sounds terrifying, well it is, but your writing needs to be tight and your story needs to hold together. If you are any good, you’ll learn to write better as you go along, but your hopes will probably rest with that first book. It won’t be perfect but it needs to be good enough, so get an editor.

The second essential is a good cover design. There are so many books out there that the thumbnail image of your cover may be the only glimpse a potential reader ever gets of your book. You need to get their attention, so make it stand out. That’s not easy either, so get some help. You may have a great idea for a cover but find someone with the right skills to produce it.

Overall, the best advice anyone gave me at the start was: be patient, try hard to get some reviews and then build your readership gradually. At the time I did not really understand this. Feud had been out digitally for several months and surprisingly few people – in my eyes – had bought it. This of course was because most of the reading public had never encountered it all! Then I started to get a few reviews, encouragingly positive. Yet sales were still at a trickle… until I published the sequel a year later and then it all started to happen and the series took off.

So, you have to keep believing in yourself and you have to be patient. That’s equally true if you are aiming to publish by the traditional route. It is very easy to become discouraged by rebuffs from agents. We writers are fragile little flowers and our confidence is all too brittle, but if you don’t believe in your work, no-one else should.

Now, having said I’m in no position to give advice, I’ve been giving it out like a leaky tap, so now I’ll leave you in peace with thanks to Stephanie for this opportunity to spend some time here on Layered Pages.

Derek’s Useful links:

 Website

Blog

Twitter account: @Feud_writer

Facebook

Book links:

Feud

A Traitor’s Fate

Kingdom of Rebels