Tuesday Talk: Roma Nova goes short with Alison Morton

Alison Morton

Short stories, eh? Until Helen inveigled me to write one for the 1066 Turned Upside Down anthology of ‘alternative outcomes’ to the most famous event in English history, I’d shied away. How on earth could you get a whole story into a few thousand, let alone a few hundred words?

Well, I did it and this started a thirst to write others – hidden incidents, side stories, and even two dips into Roma Nova’s foundation story in the fourth century. The result was a collection ROMA NOVA EXTRA which spanned 2,000 years and several genres. 

When you write a series, you need to know the whole background, all the characters’ past, their hopes and dreams. In a full-length novel, you can't pack everything in. These shorter pieces were ideal to bring some of these stories into the light

Established fans and readers loved ROMA NOVA EXTRA but recently, I wondered whether every reader wanted a whole book of short stories in one gulp. Some readers might just love the Roma Nova concept and read the lot, but others might like to try the historical, the adventure or the romance stories first, especially if they’ve not come across Roma Nova before.

Thus, I decided four of them should go out to the world as single quick reads on Kindle.

Originally published in the ROMA NOVA EXTRA collection, the individual stories reflect different aspects of Roma Nova.

First up are two thriller stories, both with strong historical twists.

Conrad & Carina’s Roman Holiday features the two most popular characters from the series. What seems like a simple errand for Imperatrix Silva in the old Roman capital in Italy plunges the pair into a threat from an ancient mystery that may just finish them off.

A Roman in 1066  Galla Mitela, eleventh century imperial councillor, is sent by the imperatrix of Roma Nova, under pressure from the Eastern Romans of Constantinople, to stop William of Normandy invading Saxon England. Could she have succeeded?

The other pair of stories are more romantic, although one more so than the other.

In The Girl from the Market, young Roman tribune Apulius get much more than he bargained for when he meets Julia Bacausa, the fiery daughter of the ruling prince in Roman Noricum. But apart from the story of Roma Nova’s founding family, we also see the Roman Empire in AD370 as its nature is changing radically and its power fading.

Allegra – An Unusual Love Story is just that. Carina and Conrad’s eldest daughter is highly intelligent, efficient and dedicated to her career in the military, but her introverted character prevents her from acknowledging her feelings for a man she has known all her life, let alone doing anything about it. Macrinus has grown up in the Mitela household. His mother was a comrade-in-arms of the legendary Aurelia Mitela during the Great Rebellion and tells him Allegra is out of his reach. Will the unhappy non-lovers ever work it out?

Perhaps after dipping into one or more of the stories, readers might like to do on to the whole collection or investigate the series. Whatever you do, enjoy!

FREE DRAW:  Alison is giving away one free Kindle version of each story. Which would you like? All you have to do to enter the draw is comment below, indicating any preference (or none!). The most intriguing comments will win… ;-)

Don't forget to add your contact details e.g author [AT] helenhollick [DOT] net

Alison Morton writes the award-winning Roma Nova thriller series featuring modern Praetorian heroines. She blends her deep love of Roman history with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, adventure and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected an MA History.

All six Roma Nova full-length novels have been awarded the BRAG Medallion, and several, including AURELIA, RETALIO, CARINA and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, have been given the 'A Discovered Diamond' status by DISCOVERING DIAMONDS, in addition to being selected as Runner-Up for BOOK OF THE MONTH. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices.  AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. SUCCESSIO was selected as an Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller. CARINA, is a novella set between INCEPTIO and PERFIDITAS. A second novella, NEXUS, following AURELIA, is due out September 2019.  

A ‘Roman nut’ since age 11, Alison misspent decades clambering over Roman sites throughout Europe. Fascinated by the mosaics at Ampurias (Spain), at their creation by the complex, power and value-driven Roman civilisation, she started wondering what a modern Roman society would be like if run by strong women...

Now she continues to write thrillers, cultivates a Roman herb garden and drinks wine in France with her husband.

Connect with Alison on her
Roma Nova site

Facebook author page

Twitter @alison_morton

Instagram

Goodreads  
Alison’s Amazon page

Fact file:

Origin: Tunbridge Wells (somebody has to be)

Education: BA French, German & Economics, MA History

Past professional life: Civil servant, soldier, small business owner, voluntary sector manager, professional translator

Languages: French, German, some Latin, Italian and Spanish

Character traits: Perhaps not…

Memberships: International Thriller Writers, Historical Novel Society, Alliance of Independent Authors, Society of Authors, Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People

4 or 5-star Reviews on Amazon always welcomed by all authors