I’m excited to announce a trilogy – in one volume.
I was attempting to publish with another publisher but I’ve been put off by loads of comments that were derogatory to the firm in question and my confidence in them has taken a battering. So I withdrew my work from them. Then I said to myself, “Gotta see Dave about this”. I said to him “will you publish it?”; he said “yes”. And the rest I hope will be history.
This was actually my first attempt at writing anything; I got side tracked because I was too eager to publish. If I had waited a while I would have known about Dave Lyons and Raven Crest Books and he would have put me on the right track from the off.
Being a history buff I am always interested when the media announce new discoveries; I am fascinated when treasure hoards are found and I got to wondering; what happened to the people that left their wealth behind? That was the drive behind this book; it began as a story on its own and then I wrote the prequel. That seemed to leave an untidy gap, so I wrote the sequel too! And that seemed to complete the story and round off the loose ends.
I hope.
Stories have a nasty habit of creeping up on the unsuspecting writer and developing a life of their own. Sentences and even whole paragraphs can read very well and the author is usually well satisfied with the effort. Then he or she will make the stupid mistake of re- reading what they have written. Not a good idea. The phrases and words have a nasty habit of moving around when no-one is looking – at least, that’s what it looks like when the paragraph is read again. I’m sure you authors out there know what I mean…
I’m one of those people that would love to discover something in the backyard; something as simple as an ancient coin would do, I’m not fussy. Then the thought processes would start: who left this, where did they live, what family did they have, what loves or hates did they know, how did they die? All these thoughts would flood out and maybe result in another book!
I have the same trouble sometimes, when walking around town or visiting historical places of interest; who laid that brick or stone in that particular place in the wall? Were they having a bad day or were they happy with there lot in life? I’m even more fascinated to see ancient artefacts like tiles that have hand prints on them; things that didn’t mean a lot at the time but now get my imagination going. I suppose it’s similar to seeing paw prints in set concrete today. We cannot escape the fact that we are surrounded by history; our great nation has over two thousand years of the stuff.
Another thing that I find amazing is family history; I have traced my family back a fair way and each generation back I go, I discover more individuals that are responsible for my genetic make up. It’s interesting to think that there are other people that share a large portion of the same inherent genes.
The weird thing is; I didn’t have the slightest interest in history at school. Some of our teachers were as ancient as the subject they were teaching! I think I can trace my interest to my mother; she lived through the Second World War and used to delight in telling me about Hitler, Churchill, ‘Monty’ and Rommel. She vividly described the aircraft flying ‘all over the place’ on June 6th 1944, the pit heads in Derbyshire being bombed and the ‘good owd Spitfires’ chasing the raiders away.
Local legends can be interesting too; my mother grew up in Loscoe, Derbyshire and told me about ‘dead man’s gulch’. It was a stream really, but that doesn’t detract from the story. A drunken miner, on his way home from the pub fell over into the stream and drowned in four inches of water; he was unconscious and his nose and mouth were submerged… I don’t know if the story is true, maybe it was slightly different and the man survived, I hope so. Such is local legend.
Now back to my book. It was a trilogy but I have decided to put them all in one volume so the story flows better. It was taking too much time and money with the “other publisher”, so I’ve cut my losses, cancelled the contract with them and put it in the same stable as the rest of my books; I’m sure it will flourish better in its new home surrounded by its friends.
It’s the story of a couple who are haunted by the ghost of a long dead Roman soldier; they discover the ruins of his villa on their land and through his guidance and undertaking excavations, they discover a hoard. The story then goes back to Roman times and tells how the hoard came to be buried during the uncertain times of the late Roman Empire. In the third part the story goes back to the present time and more is discovered, all the questions are answered and the ghosts are finally laid to rest. Let me reiterate that it was my first attempt at writing; I will be pleased to see it finally in print.
I never imagined I would be an author and I’m not saying I’m a great one, I simply enjoy it. To my knowledge, I’m the only one in my family to launch out and write. I may never get rich through sales or famous through book signings; it doesn’t really matter. If I’ve given someone, perhaps on the other side of the world, a time of enjoyment through reading my stories, well, what more could I ask for?
