Release on Smashwords

My historical novel, Vengeance of a Slave, has now been released on Smashwords and the other platforms it deals with, such as Kobo, Barnes and Noble etc.


You can access it via Amazon by following this link.
http://mybook.to/vengeanceofaslave
Here is a bit about it.
Adelbhert and Avelina, his sister, are forced to watch as the Roman soldiers crucify their father and other men from their village. They are only small children, but the Romans take them from their family and sell them as slaves.
They are bought by a rich merchant who takes them to the distant island of Brittania where they are treated as pets.
Adelbehrt has developed a hatred of the Romans because of his experiences and lives to gain his revenge, and to fulfill the promise he made to his little sister that they would escape one day.
Will Adelbehrt be able to escape? How can one man take on the might of the Roman Empire?
Can Adelbhert rid himself of the hatred that is eating away at his soul?
If you read it, would you mind giving a review. Reviews are very important to both authors and readers as it is the main way that people get to know about books, and lets readers know if they would like the book they are looking at. It does not need to be a long, comprehensive review. Just a few lines saying if you liked the book, and what you did or did not like about it.
Thank you for your time.
Please leave a comment in the comments box.

The Story of Cartimandua

In Vengeance of a Slave, although she does not appear, there is mention of the Queen of the Brigantes, Cartimandua. Here is her story.

You are certain to have heard of Queen Boudicca. She was the queen of the Iceni who raised a revolt against the Romans. She almost won, too. I don't suppose so many of you have heard of Queen Cartimandua, though. She is the queen of the  Brigantes, the biggest tribe in Brittania Her story is very different from that of Boudicca.

She inherited her throne at around the same time as the Romans came to Brittania. She was married to a man called Venutius, and when the Romans came north, they made a treaty with them in order to retain their power. Of course, this was only nominal. The Romans really held the power. Still, she kept something, which was more than Boudicca did, in  the end.

Then the people in the west, the Catuvellauni, rose up under the leadership of a man called Caratacus. They led a hit and run kind of resistance against the Romans and were  quite successful for a time. Of course, the inevitable happened and they were defeated. By a man called Osotorius Scapula, I believe. Caratacus managed to escape and came to Cartimandua for refuge.

Of course, our queen was none too pleased. This might affect her relationship with Rome, and thus her position on the throne. What did she do to this man asking for her help? She put him in chains and took him to the Romans in Eberacum. The Romans were delighted and heaped great wealth on her, but her husband was not so pleased, nor were the people.

What will happen to Cartimandua? Will her people revolt and will the Romans protect her?

If you enjoyed this and other tales of Ancient Britain, please leave a comment, and sign up for notification of further book releases and blog posts.

If you like to read about this period, here is a link to my novel, Vengeance of a Slave. http://mybook.to/vengeanceofaslave/

Here is a little more about Cartimandua, Qyeen of the Brigantes.

Cartimandua and her husband fell out over this, of course. But it was not the only bone of contention. For a while, it seems, Cartimandua had been having an affair with Venutius's armour bearer. After the betrayal of Caratacus, she decided to divorce Venutius and marry her lover, whose name is Vellocatus.

It wasn't long before Venutius led a rebellion. Only to be expected. He was much more popular than Cartimandua, especially after the betrayal of Caratacus and his divorce. He started to make alliances with other of our tribes, and was all ready to invade Brigantia.

Cartimandua went to the Romans then, andthey sent troops to defend her. A battle was fought, and both sides seemed to be evenly matched until the arrival of the IX legion Hispanica from Eberacum.

This was a lucky break for Cartimandua. She very narrowly escaped being captured by the rebels, but the rebels were defeated and Venutius once more had to leave Brigantia.

It seems he hadn't given up his rebellious ideas, though. He bided his time until Emperor Nero died in Rome. At his death, the Roman Empire fell into chaos. There were several emperors in quick succession, and many of the Roman troops had to go back to defend Rome and the empire. Other groups of people took advantage of this, and so did Venutius.

He attacked Brigantia once again, and this time, the Romans could only send auxilliary troops to defend Cartimandua.

She was forced to flee to Deva and abandoned the Brigantes to Ventuvius. No-one heard any more of her after this.

In spite of his success, once the Romans had settled their problems they attacked him and ousted him form the kingship, thus Brigantia became completely under Roman rule.

That is the end of the tale of Cartimandua and the Brigantes.

This story is not integral to Vengeance of a Slave, but is briefly mentioned, just as Boudicca's rebellion is mentioned.

If you are interested in reading historical novels, and like this period of history, you can get a copy of Vengeance of a Slave from Amazon, as an ebook. It will be available as a paperback shortly.

Follow this link: http://mybook.to.vengeanceofaslave/

A Roman Legion A Poem

Some time ago I posted a poem based on a challenge. Take the seventh book on your bookshelf, find the seventh page, count down to the seventh line and write a seven line poem. In writing that poem, I forgot that it was suuposed to be seven lines. I wrote several verses. Then, realising my mistake, I wrote another that is acthally seven lines long. I posted the longer one some time ago, but I think I should give the 'correct' one an airing.

Let me know what you think. The line was the first line of this poem.

A Roman Legion also had other skills:
Engineers, builders, tailors too.
They built the roads so straight and true.
They built a wall across the hills,
Built bridges over foaming rills.
They made their clothes and built a fort
And fought the foe without a thought.

It wasn't an easy challenge. Perhaps you'd like to have a go. I'd be interested to see your results.

Book Offer

 

 

Today and tomorrow you can get The Stones of Earth and Air, Book 1 in Elemental Worlds, for only 0.99 (£or$)

Hurry and get your compy before it's too late. Follow this link.

http://mybook.to/EarthAndAir

 

Blurb

 

After the Crown Prince of Ponderia starts behaving strangely, his best friend Pettic discovers that the prince has been replaced by a doppelganger, and the real prince kidnapped.

Unable to accept the loss of his friend, Prince Torren, nor the cruel impostor to become the new king, Pettic sets on a quest to rescue his friend. After he sees the fake prince meet a mysterious man, Pettic discovers that the prince has been imprisoned in another plane of existence.

With the help of Blundo, the court magician, Pettic finds out that the only way to enter this another world are four keys, each of them associated with a different element. As Pettic sets on his seemingly impossible quest, he discovers that the four lands that hold the keys are all vastly different... and more dangerous than he could have ever imagined.

Horselords 8

One day, as the couple was travelling through wooded country and it was getting dusk, they found themselves in a clearing and decided to rest for the night. It was the last night of Majordar, and bitterly cold. An easterly wind was blowing from the Mountains of Doom, bringing the promise of a freezing night.

There was a spring in the clearing, turning into a small stream which gurgled its way through the trees on its way to join the Avrimar, the river that passed close to Eribor, and hence to the Inner Sea by way of the Mistmere. They lit a fire to try to keep some of the cold at bay and to cook the last of their provisions bought from a friendly farmer the previous day, then they settled down close to the fire to rest.

Suddenly, Kimi became aware of a growing light in the clearing. She opened her eyes, thinking that it could not possible be dawn yet as they had only just got to sleep. The clearing seemed to be filled with a soft golden light, and a feeling of peace and calm stole over her. She felt Davrael stir at her side, and then sit up and look around. The voice came then, soft and gentle.

It was a deep male voice, and it said, ‘Kimi, Davrael, my children. Do not be afraid, but approach the spring.’

They looked at each other and stood. The voice, although kind and gentle seemed to command their obedience as they walked hand in hand to the spring, which now seemed to look more like a beautiful fountain to their eyes. They did not see the figure at first, but then he spoke again.

‘You are blessed, my children. Love such as yours is a wonderful and rare thing. You have both given up much to be together, and you will be rewarded. I believe you wish to be committed to each other for the rest of your lives?’

‘Who are you?’ they both said at once. ‘And how do you know who we are?’ Kimi added.

‘That matters not,’ the voice replied. ‘Do you wish to vow to each other eternal love and fidelity?’

The shadowy figure stepped forward and they saw a man dressed as a scribe, carrying a scroll and a pen. He had white hair, but his face did not look old, and he was wearing a purple robe, the colour worn by the clerics of Zol, the god of learning and the consort of Kassilla, the chief deity.

After exchanging a brief look, the young couple replied in the affirmative.

‘Step forward to the spring,’ commanded the cleric.

This they did, and he asked them to speak their promises to each other.

‘Say whatever is in your heart,’ he told them, and I will record it on the scroll. Davrael began. He looked deep into Kimi’s eyes and said, ‘Kimi, my little Mouse, I promise you that I will always love you. I will give my life for you if that is necessary. I will never love another. You are my reason for living, and without you I am incomplete. This I swear before the gods themselves.’

Then Kimi replied, ‘Davrael, my one and only love, I swear before all the gods that I have never loved anyone else the way I love you. I will remain faithful to you for my entire life. Even if you should die before me, I will remain faithful to your memory, and if I should die before you, I will wait for you beyond the veil until we can go on or be reborn together.’

Their promises made, the strange man then said, ‘Enter the fountain together, and be bathed in its waters.’

After they had done so, the scribe smiled at them both, then became more serious. ‘Your promises have been noted and are irrevocable. You can now consider yourselves married. Your lives will not be easy my children.’ he went on. ‘You will face tragedy, but you will also know great happiness, and as you share your great love, you will also come to know great friendship too. You have a task before you. It will not be easy, but you have each other’s love to aid you. Go in peace, my children.’

With that, the figure disappeared. Kimi thought she heard glorious music for a while, but then that too faded. The pair looked around and to their surprise, the winter glade had become transformed by a profusion of spring flowers that were definitely not there before. The newly married couple then returned to their bed by the fire, silently wondering exactly what had just happened.

The next morning, when they awoke, Kimi related a strange and beautiful dream to Davrael. Oddly, he too seemed to have had the same dream. They rose and went to wash in the stream. Half way there, Kimi stopped and silently pointed to their surroundings. There in the glade were hundreds of spring flowers.

‘Could it have been real, Davrael?’ she whispered. ‘Who was that man?’

Her new husband put his arm around her and hugged her to him. ‘I think, my little Mouse, we have been in the presence of one of the gods. I think that Zol himself has married us.’


Has Zol married the lovers? What did his words mean?

If you want to find out more about Kimi and Davrael, read The Wolf Pack, Book 1  in The wolves of Vimar Series.
Follow this link. http://mybook.to/thewolfpack

Remember

Tomorroe, March 6th is the final day you can get The Wolf Pack for only £0.99 or $0.99.

Hurry and follow the link to get your copy of Book 1 of The Wolves of Vimar Series. Wednesday will be too late.

The link will take you straight to the book's Amazon page in your country, wherever you are.

http://mybook.to/TheWolfPack

A Special Offer

On March 5th and 6th The Wolf Pack will be available on Amazon on special offer.

Hurry. don't miss this opportunity to get Book 1 of The Wolves of Vimar Series for only $0.99, £0.99.
Two days only.

You can get it by clicking on this link. It will take you to the book's page on Amazon in your country, or you can click the book image in the sidebar,

http://mybook.to/The WolfPack

About the book.

When Carthinal leaves Bluehaven to go to take the tests that would end his apprenticeship and make him a full mage, little does he realize the changes that are about to take place in his life. Strange prophecies dog his footsteps and he meets new friends. They are sent on a quest to discover a long lost artifact. On their journey they meet with sorrow and pleasure as well as many dangers. Help is found in the most unexpected places, they face their innermost fears and have great surprises. None of them returns unchanged.