Before I get to this week's blog, don't forget to subscribe to my website for my June 7th Summer Giveaway!!! One reader will win BOTH of my books. If you're already a subscriber, then you are already entered!

Though my next few blogs will be interspersed with a few guest-bloggers, I'm going to spend some time discussing something I adore: ROMAN ART. We're going to explore Rome in technicolor--this week, focusing on an especially prolific form of Roman art: wall-paintings. 

Contrary to the Holly-Rome perception one gets from 1950's and 1960's film grandeur, Rome was not all white marble and starched togas. Judging from the many examples of Roman art that I've encountered, the Romans were passionate about vivid hues. Sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, and others in different locations previously encompassed by the Roman Empire have proven that domestic life was colorful and full of lively scenes, themes varying from theatrical to mythological and even sexual in nature. And that being said, I'll add that it wasn't just walls that were colorfully painted or decorated, but also columns and statuary. But more on that in another post!

Classicists have categorized Roman wall-paintings into four separate styles. The first and oldest is the First Style (also known as the Masonry Style). My top right photo, which I shared several weeks ago in discussion of the House of the Griffins, is typical of the First Style, which was prominant from about 200-80BC. It's easy to see how it was given its second name--the Masonry Style--since it was composed of faux marbling and stonework. Not as many examples of First Style have survived, so the House of the Griffins is a true treasure to those who appreciate early Roman art.

Needless to say, the horrific Vesuvian eruption in 79 AD was a tragedy for the Pompeiians and Herculaneans, but an utter GODSEND for Classicists and archaeologists in our time. Literally, a time-capsule was left to us to learn more about Roman culture.

Amid the ruins are some truly excellent examples of more styles of wall-paintings. The one at left is a perfect illustration of the Second Style, which was popular from about 80-20 BC and incorporated the larger expanses of a wall, giving it an "open" feel. Also Second Style paintings are loaded with architectural elements. This particular painting from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, shows fluted columns and what appears to be a louvered door. Ironically,  an actual plaster cast of an original louvered door was preserved in this very villa!

Second Style paintings often attempted to create illusions. If one looks at the figures in the famous Dionysian wall-painting at Villa of the Mysteries, one can visualize them as escaping from their space, yet also remaining a part of the overall "architectural feel". One other interesting thing is the use of First Style design at the top and far bottom of the fresco.(More marbling!)

If you ever visit Pompeii, the Villa of the Mysteries is not to be missed. And the wonderful thing is that it remains in a more secluded portion of the site, away from cruise ship crowds! 

This fresco was recently restored and the colors simply dazzle. During my visits, I've found it difficult to believe that it's over two-thousand years old.  It's truly a masterpiece of Roman art and speculation remains on whether it's meant to portray Dionysian rites or possibly a wedding. I'll add that this would have been the type of art Marcus Antonius would have been used to seeing when at home in Rome, so naturally, I'm a bit partial to the Second Style! :) 

Third Style wall paintings, popular from around 20 BC to 40 AD, appeared as though pictures were "hanging" from the walls, while architectural elements were often still emphasized. The sample at right, from Herculaneum, is heavier in the "picture-hanging" than the architectural.






The photo below is Third Style in all of its glory--again from Herculaneum. Walls in Third Style sometimes have stands with figures poised atop them, as in this sample. I've noticed that of all the colors used in Roman wall-paintings, the rich, dark red color, which was eventually entitled "Pompeian Red" was often favored as a background. 

​

Picture an impressionable teenager reading Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott for a book report assignment. Thoughts of Hollywood blockbusters such as Prince Valiant and Knights of the Round Table resurface, romanticizing a violent era where heroic knights save the day amid insurmountable odds.
 
Visit the library, choosing biographies of historical figures whose feats of daring have transcended time. El Cid, the Spanish knight, combatting the Moors. King Richard I, the Lionheart, joining the Third Crusade. Edward, the Black Prince, victorious at Poitiers. William Wallace, fighting to free Scotland of the English tyrant, King Edward I.
 
There are the legends, Arturius and Lancelot, and Robin Hood, larger than life icons, in all probability, a composite of actual warriors whose daring feats were memorialized.
 
We must not forget the fictional portrayal of knightly virtue. Prince Valiant, characterized on the big screen, was also a featured comic strip that was distributed weekly to American newspapers.
 
That was then, and this is now.
 
Recently, the TV series, Knightfall, sheds light on the deeds of the Knights Templar, the most recognizable military Order established during the Crusades. On the big screen, Ironclad, Arn: The Knight Templar, and the Kingdom of Heaven re-established interest in the Crusades. In the carnage arises courageous heroes, enticing a new generation of followers, incurable romantics, which isn’t such a bad thing.

                         The Knights Templar

​​The First Crusade resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Crusader States. With the city in Christian control, European Pilgrims flocked to the Holy Land. The lengthy journey was dangerous, which necessitated the formation of a protective force, ensuring the safety of Christians.
 
In the early twelfth century, a small group of knights established the Poor-fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, better known as the Knights Templar, headquartered on the Temple Mount. A holy site where the First Temple once stood.
 
The original knights promised to protect the pilgrims, creating the vows of the Templar, based upon Benedictine rule, living an austere life. The knights swore oaths of obedience, celibacy, and poverty, giving their wealth to the Order. Prayer was a significant part of daily life with devotion to the Virgin Mary.
 
As the Order grew in size and stature, they developed a financial enterprise, leaving a quarter of the warrior monks to fight. They developed the first banking system, which made the Order very powerful and wealthy.  The Templars were a feared fighting force for almost two hundred years before King Philip IV of France, who was in debt to the Order, had the knights arrested on Friday, the 13th. Suffice it to say these brave warriors suffered torture and death, being condemned on trumped-up charges to fill Philip’s coffers with Templar wealth and, of course, eliminating his debt.

The Hospitallers of Saint John
 
In the early eleventh century, the Hospital of Saint John was established in Jerusalem. The mission was to care for the sick, poor, and injured Pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. After Jerusalem fell to the Christians in 1099, the community’s work increased, more hospitals were founded. Eventually, the Order became known as the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. The Hospitallers, also known as the Knights of Malta or the Order of Saint John, became a Military Order.
 

​The Knights of Saint Lazarus
 
Based in Jerusalem, the Knights of Saint Lazarus was founded by leper knights. Most of its members suffered from the contagion. Anyone who had contracted the disease within the Hospitallers Order joined the Knights of Saint Lazarus. The Lazarists wore a green cross upon their mantle.
 
King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was a leper, who fought alongside the Knights Templar against Saladin in the late twelfth century.

Etienne
 
I decided against romanticizing Etienne’s character in the story. Yes, he is a brave knight, skilled in warfare, and loyal to his overlord. But he is also human with flaws. He has good and bad traits and, like all of us, struggled with his conscience when tempted. Etienne was real, a role model if you will, with all the frailties of the human condition. You might agree or disagree with his choices, but at the end of the day, he took responsibility for his actions. 

Publication date: 12/04/2020
Publisher: Whispering Legends Press
 
Twitter Handle: @BritonandDane @maryanneyarde
 
Hashtags: #HistoricalFiction #Crusaders

 
Crusader's Path 
By Mary Ann Bernal

From the sweeping hills of Argences to the port city of Cologne overlooking the River Rhine, Etienne and Avielle find themselves drawn by the need for redemption against the backdrop of the First Crusade.

Heeding the call of His Holiness, Urban II, to free the Holy Land from the infidel, Etienne follows Duke Robert of Normandy across the treacherous miles, braving sweltering heat and snow-covered mountain passes while en route to the Byzantine Empire.

Moved by Peter of Amiens’ charismatic rhetoric in the streets of the Holy Roman Empire, Avielle joins the humble army of pilgrims. Upon arrival in Mentz, the peasant Crusaders do the unthinkable, destroying the Jewish Community. Consumed with guilt, Avielle is determined to die fighting for Christ, assuring her place in Heaven.

Etienne and Avielle cross paths in Constantinople, where they commiserate over past misdeeds. A spark becomes a flame, but when Avielle contracts leprosy, Etienne makes a promise to God, offering to take the priest cowl in exchange for ridding Avielle of her affliction.

Will Etienne be true to his word if Avielle is cleansed of the contagion, or will he risk eternal damnation to be with the woman he loves?

Amazon.com:www.amazon.com/Crusaders-Path-Mary-Ann-Bernal-ebook/dp/B084F3PGRQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=crusader%27s+path&qid=1590367826&sr=8-1
AmazonUK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crusaders-Path-Mary-Ann-Bernal/dp/B086Y5JKJY/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=crusader%27s+path&qid=1590367895&sr=8-1
 
Mary Ann Bernal
 
Mary Ann Bernal attended Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY, where she received a degree in Business Administration. Her literary aspirations were ultimately realized when the first book of The Briton and the Dane novels was published in 2009. In addition to writing historical fiction, Mary Ann has also authored a collection of contemporary short stories in the Scribbler Tales series and a science fiction/fantasy novel entitled Planetary Wars Rise of an Empire. Her latest endeavor is Crusader’s Path, a story of redemption set against the backdrop of the First Crusade.
 
 
Connect with Mary Ann: Website • Blog • Whispering Legends Press •  Twitter • Facebook.
 
Website: http://www.maryannbernal.com/
 
Blog: http://maryannbernal.blogspot.com/
 
Whispering Legends Press: https://www.whisperinglegendspress.com/
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBritonandtheDane/
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritonandDane
 

Before I launch into this week's blog-post, be sure to subscribe to my website so you're automatically entered in my SUMMER GIVEAWAY!!! I'll be giving away both of my books to one lucky reader. If you're already subscribed, then you're already entered. And if you've read both books and win, consider giving them as a gift or donating them to your local library.

This week, we're off to the ancient site of Philippi. It was first called Credides by the Greeks in the 4th century BC. Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, conquered it and renamed it after himself--Philippi. It was a growing city through Hellenistic times and into the Roman and Byzantine periods. Then, during Ottoman rule in the 14th century, it was finally abandoned. It's worth knowing that Philip of Macedon made an attempt to drain the marshy wetlands described in my book, Antonius: Second in Command, but eventually abandoned that effort. They were certainly still there during Antonius and Octavian's visit!

Philippi was the site of the famous Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, described in my story. This took place after Caesar's assassination, when Octavian and Antonius joined forces to defeat Brutus and Cassius. 

The Via Egnatia was the all-important east/west highway threading through Greece. Both Brutus and Cassius, as well as Antonius and Octavian knew of the importance of holding this route, since it was the overland road for supplies. However, Brutus and Cassius held the eastern Via Egnatia all the way to a city on the coast, which at the time, was known as Neapolis (Kavala, today). Since it was a seaport, and the conspirators had a very reliable navy in the Adriatic, their supply route was ensured.

Antonius & Octavian were less fortunate. Because of the conspirators' fleets in the Adriatic, they were struggling to keep dependable supply routes open, despite holding most of the Via Egnatia as their own. Brutus and Cassius's ships simply sailed the long way around the Peloponnese to replenish their stores, and were a formidable blockade, preventing provisions from arriving to bolster Antonius & Octavian. Portions of the Via Egnatia can be seen all over Greece. This narrow but important road in the picture at left ran straight through Philippi proper, and has been identified as the Via Egnatia.

All of Greece is so lovely. If you've never visited, I encourage you to do so. And though this is a general statement, I've been so moved by the overall warmth of the Greek people. Humble, welcoming, and so, so helpful to visitors.

The photo at right is what would have been the battleground during Phase I of the war. I've probably mentioned this before, but  I still have trouble wrapping my head around how huge theaters of war in ancient times could be. And yet, these battles were fought and won without any modern communication devices or munitions. Antonius's camp would have been located somewhere in the central part of this photo(to the right)--just outside of town. Octavian would have been to Antonius's left. To the rear of this photo, behind where I stood to take it, were some lofty outcroppings, north of the theater. Some evidence of Republican era fortifications have been discovered there, suggesting the camps of Brutus and Cassius.

​My guide was from the area and indicated a good-sized mound in the middle of the flat plains. He explained that some archaeologists are anxious to excavate it, as it quite possibly could be a funerary mound from the battle. Philippi was one of Rome's bloodiest civil wars. Evidently, this site--visible in the photo at left--is privately owned, so has not been evaluated by archaeologists. However, farmers working the land have discovered numerous period artifacts, including arrowheads, shot, and pieces of chain mail, worn by legionaries.

Don't forget, it's GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

On Sunday, June 7th, I'll be drawing a name of one of my readers to win both books (autographed!) in the Antonius Trilogy. To enter, all you need to do is subscribe to my website. If you've already done that, you're automatically included!

This week, we're taking a virtual tour to Ephesus, located in Kusadasi, Turkey. Perhaps the most famous building in this historic site is pictured at the right. This is the Library of Celsus, built in the early 2nd century AD by Titus Julius Aquila to honor his father. I'd consider this a mighty slick Fathers' Day gift! This is only the facade, and ruins of portions of the walls can be seen behind it.

As in previous sites, many things that I saw in Ephesus, such as the Celsus Library, wouldn't have been built at the time of Marcus Antonius's story. However, Ephesian ruins were more generous than those in Alexandria, when it came to showing remains from the 1st century BC. And the city of Ephesus will be featured boldly in my next book, Antonius: Legend. 

Our first stop will be the magnificent Terrace Houses, dating from the 1st century BC--during the Late Republican period into the Imperial Age. There is some evidence to suggest that a few of these dwellings were still in use by the 7th century AD. 

Apparently, there had already been some lofty terraces built on this hillside during the Hellenistic Age, and when the Romans came along, they began building private homes, using the massive terrace stonework as a base. These were obviously homes of the rich and famous, as they had both hot and cold running water, and huge, open views. However, that large open view was the only window in each house, so it was grandiose, since it provided the only source of natural light for each one. To the left is an overview of one of the Terrace Houses. Upon visiting, one follows a stair-path, highlighting mosaics, wall-paintings, and other architectural features. Without a doubt, this portion of Ephesus was my favorite, and became inspiration for Marcus's visits to the city in my story.

​My husband took this photo on the right and I'm so glad he did, as it is a perfect example of how the Romans plumbed a home (domus). Behind the lovely frescoed decor are pipes that brought in fresh water for the families living here. Remains of hypercaust baths have also been discovered, so these wealthy inhabitants had a pretty sweet life in the Terrace Houses.

Above are two pieces of the abundant art that has been discovered in the Terrace Houses. On the left is a fabulous Medusa mosaic. In this rendering, the artist actually succeeded in making the snake faces rather cute! On the above right is a second-style theatrical fresco from the late Republic/early Imperial period. Even in the House of Augustus on Rome's Palatine Hill, one can find similar wall-paintings with theatrical masks as the subject. Theater was such a popular entertainment in the Classical Age, and as you scroll down, you'll see that Ephesus had its own phenomenal venue for shows.

 Most ancient cities had a main thoroughfare, similar to streets like Broadway in NYC. In Rome, it was the Via Sacra, Alexandria had its Canopic Way. In Ephesus, it was the Arcadian Way, and it's pretty certain that Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra used this entry into the city shortly before their showdown with Octavian. The lovely columns decorating the sides of the road were added later, but Marcus and Cleo saw all of the busy shops, some of whose walls can still be seen in this photo. 

The Canopic Way led straight to the enormous theater complex, and Paul the Apostle found that handy, as he spoke there, during the earliest days of Christianity. Rich and poor alike used this road, and I found it intriguing when taking photos that someone carved a circular game-board, similar to ones I've seen in the Forum Romanum, right in the middle of the thoroughfare! (See below, bottom right.)

,




​When people visit the city these days, the Arcadian Way and Theater complex are now toward the end of the tour, where one exits the archaeological site. However, one has to use imagination to think how fantastic the ancient city would have looked to a visitor approaching on the Arcadian Way, seeing the theater for the first time. And look at the paving of this road...gorgeous marble slabs would have been shimmering!

From this angle, you can see how the Arcadian Way would have approached the theater. WOW! What a view! By the Roman Imperial Age, this complex seated 25,000 spectators.

That being said, it was built in phases. Lysimachus of Thrace was likely the designer during the early 3rd century BC, beginning the theater concept by building atop an earlier structure. During the 1st century BC, a second phase included lower seats in the cavea and a two-level stage/scaenae frons--a very typical Roman theater design. It was this second phase that would have been seen by Marcus, Cleopatra, and Paul.

Later, in the Flavian period, the upper level seats were added, along with yet another in the scaenae frons, allowing for even more elaborate staging. All-in-all, Ephesus's theater was one of the ancient world's grandest.

Next week, I'll be finishing up the series Through My Lens, by sharing my trek through ancient Philippi! Hope to see everyone there. Until then, don't forget to subscribe to my website for the giveaway and... READ ON!

This week's blog features an exciting and dramatic preview of a brand new book: THE ROAD TO LIBERATION. I'd like to give a warm welcome to author, Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger one of several writers who collaborated on this tremendous work. To introduce the book's content is a lovely blurb:

Riveting stories dedicated to celebrating the end of WWII.

From USA Today, international bestselling and award-winning authors comes a collection filled with courage, betrayal, hardships and, ultimately, victory over some of the most oppressive rulers the world has ever encountered.

By 1944, the Axis powers are fiercely holding on to their quickly shrinking territories.
The stakes are high—on both sides: Liberators and oppressors face off in the final battles between good and evil. Only personal bravery and self-sacrifice will tip the scales when the world needs it most.

Read about a small child finding unexpected friends amidst the cruelty of the concentration camps, an Auschwitz survivor working to capture a senior member of the SS, the revolt of a domestic servant hunted by the enemy, a young Jewish girl in a desperate plan to escape the Gestapo, the chaos that confused underground resistance fighters in the Soviet Union, and the difficult lives of a British family made up of displaced children..

2020 marks 75 years since the world celebrated the end of WWII. These books will transport you across countries and continents during the final days, revealing the high price of freedom—and why it is still so necessary to “never forget”.


Writing Magda’s Mark: A Holocaust Story from the POV of a Gentile Heroine
By Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
 
I was facing a dilemma. I set out to write a story about a woman, a gentile, who performs a bris on a Nazi SS officer’s newborn son in the Sudetenland. How can something like this logistically, religiously, psychologically — any number of -lys — take place, you ask? But it did. This anecdote is the one true event that happens in Magda’s Mark.

itoměřice—across the river from Theresienstadt—is a real town in the former Sudetenland, with two mining tunnels nearby. These tunnels were fortified in 1944 by some five hundred prisoners brought in from Dachau. The inmates were ordered to prepare the tunnels to house two factories: a tank motor manufactory and an electrical components factory (today Audi and Osram—although Audi did send their tank motors to the Richard I tunnel, Osram never made the relocation to the Bohemian district). More prisoners were brought to the camp to work there.
 
These prisoners were placed in a concentration camp not far away. TB and typhus killed thousands between 1944 and 1945. In the chaos, the Litoměřice concentration camp commander released the prisoners by bringing them to the bridge and releasing them. The majority had only one destination available to them: Theresienstadt. Doctors from Prague rushed to the camp to help and faced one of the worst horrors many had witnessed in the war. Widespread disease and epidemics were killing hundreds of people daily. Crime rates in the district escalated, the squalor contributed to the diseases, and there was utter chaos in a multitude of languages for quite some time.
 
Berlin insisted that the Germans hold Litoměřice. It was the last bridge to the west. As the Germans fled from the Red Tide, they hoped to land in American zones, where they knew they would be treated better, especially the officers. Litoměřice presented their last chance, and it is one theory that some merciful soul—perhaps the concentration camp commander—released the inmates on the bridge before fleeing themselves.
 
All of these factors play on the fringes of Magda’s story. Again, because she was not directly in the camp and could not have been, it was exciting to find ways in which information would filter down to her, the final impacts only known to her at the eve of the war. Instead of feeling as if I were cheating the reader of a Holocaust story, I feel I have enriched it by telling Magda’s version of falling in love with a Jewish family that treated her kindly, that treated her as if she were their own daughter, and blurring the lines that the Nazis so rigorously drew between Jew and gentile. In fact, Magda is defiant of the whole Nazi’s ideologies towards the Jews that she commits the act of circumcision, so that the SS commander’s son “can never fight for Hitler.”
 
We follow Magda’s story throughout the war - her one hope being that at the very least, the Tauber children survive - but in the end, she must confront the person she has become and decide - avenge the Taubers or face the realities of the camp - the reality being, she knows all too well that the Taubers could not have possibly survived three years there.
 
Imagine this: you are the wife of a commanding officer, who is head of a the Moravian (Sudetenland) district. Your reputation has been built upon your selfishness, your unhidden contempt for the local “Slavs” and you are known to wield power with a strong hand; of reporting any slip of a misdeed directly to your husband. Imagine you are pregnant. You need a midwife. You give birth one night, and the midwife goes to clean up the baby. You, in the meantime, are given something to help you rest. When you awake, you find the baby has been returned to you. And he has been circumcised…at a time when Jews are being rounded up and deported to concentration camps…
 
That is what happened to my friend’s mother-in-law. My friend’s husband was that baby boy. And as soon as I heard that story, my jaw dropped to the floor. I needed to know who had been pushed so far and under which circumstances to take that great of a risk. Thus, the first seeds of Magda’s Mark were planted alongside those questions.

After getting permission from my friend, I set out to write it. And I had to imagine backwards how this person got there - how Magda got there, because first came the name. A Magd in German means maid, a servant, which immediately brought to mind Jesus’ Magdalena from the Bible. I was getting closer except that in my first attempt to start the story, I pictured a young woman - almost still a girl, really - hiding the “extra” coupons from the SS officer’s wife in the sleeve of her coat and from the outset, I knew the character was already too strong. Instead, I needed someone a little meeker who then grows into the position I needed - into someone so angry, so righteous, that she would take it out on a young child, only to realise what she had allowed herself to become… I needed that to happen.
 
So I did what I always do: I typed the name into Google and began to search for meaning. I trust my instincts when the name comes up justlikethat. A photo popped up in my photo research. A young woman with a huge birthmark on her face. And there it was. I suddenly knew everything about my character. I understood her immediately. That was the easy part.

The hard part was now teaching a gentile how to go about doing a circumcision. Where would she learn such a procedure? And this as a woman in 1941? Where would she have the nerves, the ability, the tools? Dr Johannes Tauber materialised in my mind. Next question: what would drive Magda to take out “revenge” on an innocent child? In that she was in love with Dr Tauber and, when the Nazis commit their atrocities against the doctor, Magda vows to avenge him?
 
That was too melodramatic for my tastes. Why not turn the love into something more pure? Why not have her love the entire family? The doctor, his wife, their children… and then I saw a fire, and a meek Magda acting heroically for the first time in that she rescues the Tauber’s daughter, whom she loves very much.
 
The rest, as the saying goes, “was history.” My next step was to choose a setting. I needed something bigger than my friend’s husband’s little birth town. I was going to be writing a pretty dramatic story (none of us knew what happened to whomever had circumcised her husband). I needed enough “space” to play things out. I found Litoměřice in Google maps and liked the look of it in the photos.

I still, however had a dilemma, because I could justify Magda’s role as sandek - a role traditional for a man, the one who holds the child in his lap during the circumcision - but how was I going to build in the Holocaust story from a gentile’s point-of-view? When I searched concentration camps in the area, I had no idea that, right across the bridge from Litoměřice, was Theresienstadt, but it is called Terezín in Czech. And suddenly things began to fall into place. I travelled there and the research at Theresienstadt was so rich, I almost regretted having to tell it from Magda’s point-of-view. In fact, I had the extra special challenge of getting her to know anything about what went on behind the walls.
 
So, I created the Underground, and Karol Procháska’s character — a young Jewish man from Prague — whose escape from Theresienstadt was a hodgepodge compilation of stories I from my research on escapees.

It is first important to understand this: Theresienstadt was a centuries-old military base that housed a regiment of Czechoslovakian military personnel in 1938. After the Germans annexed Moravia and Bohemia (the German Sudetenland) in the fall of that year, the Czechoslovakian guards were dissolved and the Wehrmacht took over.
 
The Gestapo set up its prison and headquarters in the Small Fort. Political prisoners and criminals were held there. The Wehrmacht was housed in the various barracks in the town outside of the Small Fort.
 
In the fall of 1941, that Wehrmacht was replaced by male prisoners from German camps, who were then given the task to fortify the barracks and to reconstruct the spaces and the town to accommodate what would later become the Theresienstadt Jewish ghetto. In the spring of 1942, women and children were included in the deportations and sent to Theresienstadt. The crackdown and the initial subjugation of the Jews in the ghetto was harsh and unmerciful. However, when word got out about the treatment of the Jews there, Christians and Jews alike protested across the Third Reich. By the end of summer 1942, the Nazis allowed letters and parcels and eased up on the inmates. They quickly learned to use that to their advantage as a propaganda tool.

In 1942 and in 1944, two films were produced in Theresienstadt for the purposes of propaganda. In 1942 the Nazi administration held a contest for best screenplay. In 1944 the famous film director and Jew, Kurt Gerron, was ordered to produce a film. The Nazis built a swimming pool, renovated the facades, provided food and clothing, a park, and entertainment to make it all look so very…appealing. As one friend said, “It sounds worse than a Stephen King story.” It was.
 
At first the ghetto was used as a transit depot for sending Jews and prisoners from the west on to other camps established in the newly won territories of the Reich, mostly Poland. At the end of the war, as the Nazis became trapped between the Soviet and American fronts, the inmates from camps in both the east and west were transferred to Theresienstadt in a final effort to “save” labor resources. However, many of the railroads were sabotaged by resistance fighters, and many of those prisoners were forced on long death marches before—and if—reaching Theresienstadt.

Litoměřice—across the river from Theresienstadt--is a real town in the former Sudetenland, with two mining tunnels nearby. These tunnels were fortified in 1944 by some five hundred prisoners brought in from Dachau. The inmates were ordered to prepare the tunnels to house two factories: a tank motor manufactory and an electrical components factory (today Audi and Osram—although Audi did send their tank motors to the Richard I tunnel, Osram never made the relocation to the Bohemian district). More prisoners were brought to the camp to work there.
 
These prisoners were placed in a concentration camp not far away. TB and typhus killed thousands between 1944 and 1945. In the chaos, the Litoměřice concentration camp commander released the prisoners by bringing them to the bridge and releasing them. The majority had only one destination available to them: Theresienstadt. Doctors from Prague rushed to the camp to help and faced one of the worst horrors many had witnessed in the war. Widespread disease and epidemics were killing hundreds of people daily. Crime rates in the district escalated, the squalor contributed to the diseases, and there was utter chaos in a multitude of languages for quite some time.
 
Berlin insisted that the Germans hold Litoměřice. It was the last bridge to the west. As the Germans fled from the Red Tide, they hoped to land in American zones, where they knew they would be treated better, especially the officers. Litoměřice presented their last chance, and it is one theory that some merciful soul—perhaps the concentration camp commander—released the inmates on the bridge before fleeing themselves.
 
All of these factors play on the fringes of Magda’s story. Again, because she was not directly in the camp and could not have been, it was exciting to find ways in which information would filter down to her, the final impacts only known to her at the eve of the war. Instead of feeling as if I were cheating the reader of a Holocaust story, I feel I have enriched it by telling Magda’s version of falling in love with a Jewish family that treated her kindly, that treated her as if she were their own daughter, and blurring the lines that the Nazis so rigorously drew between Jew and gentile. In fact, Magda is defiant of the whole Nazi’s ideologies towards the Jews that she commits the act of circumcision, so that the SS commander’s son “can never fight for Hitler.”
 
We follow Magda’s story throughout the war - her one hope being that at the very least, the Tauber children survive - but in the end, she must confront the person she has become and decide - avenge the Taubers or face the realities of the camp - the reality being, she knows all too well that the Taubers could not have possibly survived three years there.

Buy Links:
 
Amazon US
 
Amazon UK
 
Amazon CA

​
 
Author Bios:
 
Marion Kummerow:
 
Marion Kummerow was born and raised in Germany, before she set out to "discover the world" and lived in various countries. In 1999 she returned to Germany and settled down in Munich where she's now living with her family.
 
After dipping her toes with non-fiction books, she finally tackled the project dear to her heart. UNRELENTING is the story about her grandparents, who belonged to the German resistance and fought against the Nazi regime. It's a book about resilience, love and the courage to stand up and do the right thing.
 
Marina Osipova:
 
Marina Osipova was born in East Germany into a military family and grew up in Russia where she graduated from the Moscow State Institute of History and Archives. She also has a diploma as a German language translator from the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages. In Russia, she worked first in a scientific-technical institute as a translator then in a Government Ministry in the office of international relations, later for some Austrian firms. For seventeen years, she lived in the United States where she worked in a law firm. Eventually, she found her home in Austria. She is an award-winning author and a member of the Historical Novel Society.
 
Rachel Wesson:
 
Rachel Wesson is Irish born and bred. Drawn to reading from an early age, she started writing for publication a few years back. When she is not writing, Rachel likes to spend her time reading and playing with her three kids. Living in Dublin there are plenty of things to do, although the cowboys and Indians of her books rarely make an appearance. To chat with Rachel connect with her on Facebook - authorrachelwesson. To check out her newest releases sign up to her mailing list.
 
JJ Toner:
 
My background is in Mathematics and computing, but I have been writing full time since 2005. I write short stories and novels. My novels include the bestselling WW2 spy story 'The Black Orchestra', and its three sequels, 'The Wings of the Eagle', 'A Postcard from Hamburg', and 'The Gingerbread Spy'.
Many of my short stories have been published in mainstream magazines. Check out 'EGGS and Other Stories' - a collection of satirical SF stories. I was born in a cabbage patch in Ireland, and I still live here with my first wife, although a significant part of our extended family lives in Australia.
 
Ellie Midwood:
 
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, "The Girl from Berlin." Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
 
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.
 
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger:
 
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger was born in Minnesota in 1969 and grew up in the culture-rich neighborhood of "Nordeast" Minneapolis. She started her writing career with short stories, travel narratives, worked as a journalist and then as a managing editor for a magazine publisher before jumping the editor's desk and pursuing her dreams of writing and traveling. In 2000, she moved to western Austria and established her own communications training company. In 2005, she self-published a historical narrative based on her relatives' personal histories and experiences in Ukraine during WWII. She has won several awards for her short stories and now primarily writes historical fiction. During a trip into northern Italy over the Reschen Pass, she stood on the edge of Reschen Lake and desperately wanted to understand how a 15th-century church tower ends up sticking out of the water. What stories were lying beneath? Some eight years later, she launched the "Reschen Valley" series with five books and a novella releasing between 2018 and 2021.
 
For more on Chrystyna, dive in at inktreks(dot)com.
 

Before diving into this week's blog, it's GIVEAWAY TIME! On Wednesday, June 10th, I'll be giving away autographed copies of BOTH of my books to one lucky reader. To be entered, one only has to subscribe to my website. If you are already subscribed, you are good to go! And if you've already purchased my books or read them, consider giving them as a gift to someone, if you win. A;so, if you know of friends who enjoy reading and might be interested, please let them know!

This week on my blog, we're visiting Alexandria by land, going ashore a bit to see some sites that are both archaeological and geological. First stop is the Serapeum--or what's left of it! It's actually a grandiose site that was originally located in the Brucheum--the wealthy Greek quarters in the city, located not far rom the Sea. It was an enormous temple complex.

As a deity, Serapis is tricky to nail down. He was not an "invention" of Ptolemy Soter (Ptolemy I), but instead, was probably used by Ptolemy Soter to link Greco-Egyptian religion in a way that was more acceptable to Greeks. Serapis was a blend of Egypt's mythological Osiris and the Apis bull, yet this cult gave him a human form. Pagan Greeks were not accepting of animal-headed deities, so common in Egypt. A reminder here that even though Alexandria was IN Egypt, it was founded by Greeks (the Ptolemies), governed by them, and its culture was built by them. That being said, there is much evidence, in both Alexandrian art and in the architectural elements that have survived, that there was a blending of Egyptian and Greek styles, beliefs, and culture. 

Pictured at the left is Serapis; a very Greek-looking representation, discovered in the Serapeum temple complex in Alexandria. Because of some fascinating temple deposits found during excavations, it was discovered that the actual temple wasn't built until the reign of Ptolemy III, Euergetes (the Benefactor) in the 3rd century BC. It being the largest temple in Alexandria in antiquity, AND the fact that it was located in a highly cultural area of the city, it's a pretty sure assumption that it would have been visited by Cleopatra VII.

​As to exactly what Serapis represented? He was known for a conglameration of things. In an effort to make him "appealing" to the Egyptians, he signified Osiris's eternal/afterlife symbolism, along with the Apis bull. This was combined with the abundance and fertility of both Dionysius and Demeter in Greek mythology. I like to think of him as the Ptolemaic combo-god! But his cult really took off, and when visiting Alexandria, the site of the Serapeum is the largest Classical site  preserved in the city. At least so far!

All over Alexandria, one sees sphinxes. Most of the faces on these statuary depict various Ptolemaic rulers. It's thought that they were used as decorative elements to line roadways or entrances. One example crowns the central part of the Serapeum, along with a large column (see below on right). Called "Pompey's Pillar", the pillar's name incorrectly points to Pompeius Magnus--Caesar's rival in my book, Antonius: Second in Command. Actually, the column dates from the reign of Diocetian, having nothing to do with Pompeius Magnus who was, in fact, murdered on the shores near Alexandria. ​

Before I begin this week's post, I wanted to invite you to explore the rest of my website. My incredible web-designer, Michelle recently updated it and it looks FANTASTIC! Be sure to check out each page!

For the next two weeks, we'll be visiting Alexandria, Egypt. My next book, Antonius: Legend will feature the tempestuous love story between Antonius & Cleopatra. Many of my readers have really been looking forward to this installment, and I'm pleased to report that next week, the cover designing will begin! Portions of my next book will take place in Alexandria, now Egypt's second biggest city. Today, as one enters the city from the south, a very Greek-looking toll-booth greets you. (photo at left)

Alexandria was originally founded by Alexander the Great--hence its name. One of his favored generals, Ptolemy, managed to bring Alexander's body all the way from India to Egypt when he died. There he built a massive tomb for Alexander, called the Soma. As huge as it was, its ruins have yet to be discovered. Alexandria flourished as a center of learning, and developed what was to be the world's first library. Ptolemy also made use of the harbor space along the Nile delta and built the worlds most magnificent lighthouse: the Pharos. And all of this happened over three-hundred years before any of my stories took place. 

From an archaeological standpoint, Alexandria has always been problematic. In the past two-thousand years, a series of earthquakes and finally a tsunami ripped through the city, destroying almost all of the ancient buildings and monuments. This seismic activity was so catastrophic, that it even altered the coastline, and much of what was present back in Antonius & Cleopatra's day is now underwater. Today, many sites that are assumed to be ruins, such as the Soma, are buried beneath high-rises, making it impossible to excavate. Parts of the harbor are military zones, ruling out excavations in places such as Antirhodos Island, where Cleopatra's residence stood. So if you think it was difficult to sort out what Rome looked like in the time of the late Republic, trying to visualize 1st century BC Alexandria was ten-times worse for me! Fortunately, underwater archaeology has become an important tool for historians, AND--I had a fabulous guide--Salwa, who had a passion for the Ptolemies and Cleopatra VII.

Salwa and I were inseparable for five fantastic days. As a native of Alexandria, she took me everywhere. In the photo on the right, we were visiting the ancient odeum--a small theater that was originally used for poetry readings and musical concerts. This site was featured briefly in a scene at the end of Antonius: Son of Rome.

For this week, I'd like to introduce you to the wet side of Alexandria. This city's harbor was a bustling port ever since it was first developed by Ptolemy Soter in the late 4th century BC. The Pharos lighthouse was built at the entrance to the harbor and became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Whatever was used as a reflective device--mirrors, glass--it was effective. Some sources indicate that the Pharos was a beacon seen from several miles out of port. 

Sadly, the lighthouse was one of the many monuments destroyed by earthquakes. Portions still stood until the beginning of the 14th century, when another quake toppled it enough that Qaitbey, Sultan of Egypt, used the ruins to build a fort in its place, which stands to this day. 

Fort Qaitbey (left) is a splendid structure, and surrounding it, underwater archaeologists, led by a French team, discovered more enormous granite blocks once belonging to the Pharos. These excavations, led by Jean Ives-Empereur and Franck Goddio even yielded colossal statuary that probably stood at the mouth of the harbor, welcoming ships. Unbelieveably, many of the mammoth statuary have been recovered, and now decorate portions of what has been found of the ancient city center, near the Serapeum.

I took the photo below (at right) inside of Fort Qaitbey. These are some of the original foundations of the Pharos Lighthouse, and I was delighted to see that at least they are still partially visible for visitors.

Perhaps my biggest thrill was getting out ON the water. Whenever my characters sail from Alexandria, they departed or returned to this very harbor. Naturally, I wanted to get a feel for it. Granted, the coastline has changed and none of the original buildings are visible, but still... authors are saved by their imaginations!

Salwa helped me hire a boatman to take us for a tour of the harbor. As we approached Fort Qaitbey, the water started getting pretty choppy and by the time we were right at the mouth of the harbor (to the right of the above photo), there were whitecaps and we were rocking and rolling all over the place. Poor Salwa! I glanced behind me to see how she was faring. Practically green, she took that moment to share that she didn't know how to swim! Fortunately, we didn't stay out long. But it was a great experience, seeing first-hand the capacious harbor that once housed Marcus's big warships.

I'll close this week's blog with two final photos. The one on the bottom left shows just how grandiose the harbor is. And that's Fort Qaitbey, way out in the distance there on the left part of the horizon. And speaking of horizons... Some of my favorite sunset shots in Egypt were on Alexandria's Mediterranean coast. Next week, we'll move inland a bit from the beach and visit some of the ancient ruins that did survive, as well as see the new library that the Egyptians have built to replace Cleopatra's beloved original.

Read on, everybody!

The most common thing readers typically ask is for me to tell them about my research. Where did you go? What all did you see? Which sites were the most meaningful for you, personally?

In the next few weeks, I've decided to get a little more personal about specific places in which I've spent time, researching the Antonius Trilogy. I'll share my specific thoughts, as well as some fun-facts I learned in my travels. This week, I simply couldn't resist discussing the Roman Forum. It is truly at the heart of my first book, Antonius: Son of Rome and plays integral parts in both Second in Command and my upcoming Antonius: Legend.

If one visits Rome for the first time, and doesn't know much of its history, it's easy to mistakenly assume that everything you see was "there" throughout the entire ancient period. That is, of course, not the case. In fact, a historical fiction author like myself has to really use a lot of imagination in depicting and describing what the late Republican layout in the Forum would have looked like, because most of what you see today wasn't even built yet. The other problem is that many of the things I wish I could see no longer exist. It's a good thing that imagination is a powerful tool!

I shot the above photo from the western end of the Forum. I was actually standing inside the Tabularium--believed by most scholars to have been Republican Rome's massive archive building, and now a portion of the Capitoline Museum. In the center of this photo, toward the very bottom, you'll see a low, red-brick structure that looks hollowed-out. That is the rebuilt Rostra, the way it would have been facing in the Imperial period. Therefore, it's not the actual structure from which Marcus Antonius gave Caesar's funeral oration. Again... the problem of "seeing" the Forum as it was in the day is impossible! The original layout of the entire Comitium area--Rostra, Senate House (Curia), etc. was angled more off to the left of the picture, north of the Septimius Severus Arch (pictured). Now, look straight down the middle of the photo. There's another low, dark building with a slight point to its roof. It doesn't look like much now, but it's the remains of the Temple of Julius Caesar--built by Octavian after Caesar's assassination. It will be discussed some in my next book. To this day, people leave flowers inside the remains of this Temple in Caesar's memory. It is said to have been built on the exact spot where the plebs dragged his corpse and cremated it.

Now let your eye wander up to the right. There's a lofty hill up there, and that's the Palatine Hill where most of the Senatorial families had homes, including the Antonii. Nobody knows exactly where Marcus's domus was located up there, but for me, it's always amazing to just wander among the trees and gardens, as it's just a magical setting. Again, I find myself using my imagination to ponder what it may have looked like in the Republican Period.

One of my most vivid memories on the Palatine is receiving special permission by the Italian government to visit the House of the Griffins (photo at right). Much of what you visit in Rome is subterranean. House of the Griffins is literally buried under other ancient architecture on the Palatine and though nobody knows (yet!) whose house it was, a stunning rendering of two facing griffins is plastered in relief on one wall, which gave the site its name.

I was officially escorted by Italian security officers down a lofty set of steel stairs that were dauntingly steep. There were lights that they turned on as we progressed, and let me tell you--it was dark down there! This particular site fascinated me, as it's an old Republican home over which some of the Flavian Palaces were built. Because of the wall-paintings it's been dated to at least the 2nd century BC--older than my Trilogy's story! 

Notice the interesting frescoes. They are classified as "First Style" wall-paintings. First Style designs don't have people or animals depicted. Instead look at the lovely geometrical designs toward the bottom, but even more fascinating is the agate or marbling that was painted onto the space, imitating a natural stone surface.

It was fascinating getting to explore the House of the Griffins, though not much of it is accessible. I imagined someone like Marcus Junius Brutus living there, with its strict, old-fashioned decor that probably would have been in his family for generations.

Aside from the Palatine Hill, my favorite spot in Rome is probably the Tabularium. I actually wrote a scene there in Son of Rome because the place had made such an impression on me. (The scene where Fadia is freed!) Anyway, built in the 70's BC, this place has been used continually throughout its history--even as an apartment complex at one point! One of the reasons I think it speaks to me, is that IF it really was a public records building, then all of my main characters--Marcus, Caesar, Cicero--ALL of them probably walked inside it at one time or another. I've mentioned the poignant display of Roman funerary steles before, located inside the Tabularium. It's definitely worth the time whenever you visit Rome, and only accessible through the Capitoline Museum.

The Tabularium's architecture never ceases to awe me whenever I go inside. Lofty archways, austere Republican stone-work, and the view from the top is the Forum picture I shared at the beginning of this blog! It has to be one of the best views of the Forum Romanum in all of Rome! i'm closing with a photo I took of my cousin this past summer (at right). We were inside the Tabularium and the sheer magnitude of the arches and grand space compared to Mike (who's a pretty tall guy!) is so impressive.

For now I close, but I invite everyone back next week, when through my lens, I'll share part of a place that will figure prominently in my upcoming book, Antonius: Legend. Next week... Alexandria, Egypt! See you there!

These past few weeks in quarantine have made so many people more appreciative of what they have. Of course, one of those items has been TOILET PAPER! On Facebook, Twitter---goodness, I've never seen so many amusing jokes and memes about this much-overlooked convenience!

So, it got me thinking. 

How did the Romans "use the facilities" in their world? It might be rather eye-opening for us to find out. And, it will likely make us all relieved that we live in the 21st century!

First of all, latrines have been discovered that date back all the way to Mesopotamia. By the time the Roman civilization appeared, they'd been used for millenia. By Marc Antony's day, in the 1st century BC, public latrines that sat ten or more people at once were common. The poor plebs--citizens--obviously didn't have much privacy. Rome was a very crowded, filthy city, and despite the availability of public bath-houses and the Cloaca Maxima--the big sewer--hygiene was not good. Among the common people's living conditions, sanitation was not a high priority, which is somewhat surprising, since the Romans were such geniuses when it came to engineering. Fortunately, Mt. Vesuvius preserved the perfect microcosm of ancient Roman life, so that we're able to see and experience what it was like back in the day.

​It was normal for gutters in the streets to be running with raw sewage--both human and animal. Builders would intentionally design roadways with large stepping-stones over which pedestrians could pass without soiling their sandals. Carts must have had high axels to accommodate the stones, as some I've jumped across were well over a foot high. In addition, there were sidewalks on the sides of some streets, but they were narrow. 

In this photo, I'm navigating a city street in Pompeii, the way Romans once did, using the stepping-stones. Gutters on both sides would have been running with  waste. The smell would have been unbelieveable. Note the sidewalks on either side. These are rather wide ones, since this is one of Pompeii's larger thoroughfares, but oft-times they were much narrower. 

​These public latrines are located at the ancient site of Ostia Antica, just outside of Rome. I have seen many public latrines, but this one is probably the largest I've ever run across. 

Mt. Vesuvius also preserved an impressive villa in Oplontis, which was once an imperial villa, used by Nero's wife, Poppaea. While visiting the site, I located a single, private latrine. It was unclear as to whether it had been plumbed. Most likely it was just a pit-toilet, which would have been occasionally serviced by slaves. Any "night-soil" would have been removed and used for agriculture. This being said, the wealthy also used chamber-pots.

Urine was actually a hot commodity in the Roman world. Vespasian actually began taxing for it in the late 1st century AD. Uric acid was used for a lot of different things, including--UGH!!!--mouthwash for teeth-whitening! (I couldn't make this stuff up!) But perhaps its most important use was in laundering. Fullers would actually have large amphorae outside their establishments and on street corners, so that men could relieve themselves and do a civic duty all at the same time. Wow. And that, folks, was how Caesar got his toga cleaned. For real.

Lastly, we've all been lamenting the plentiful aisles of toilet paper, but at least we HAVE toilet paper. In a public latrine in ancient Rome, you'd have a dubious-looking pail with a sponge on a stick. Behold the xylospongium! Now, it merely takes imagination as to HOW this contraption was used and how often public slaves (city-owned and obviously overjoyed at their lot in life) would come around to change the water in the pails. Okay, okay.... I'll stop here. But you get the idea!

It was thanks to the Roman military that hygiene began to be associated with health and well-being. One of the very first things that legions built were latrines. Permanent military forts were always built near a clean source of water, too. 

Most of the information I've shared comes from the Oxford Classical Dictionary and a few online sources. For more reading on ancient sanitation, there is a fantastic online article in Nature: https://www.nature.com/news/the-secret-history-of-ancient-toilets-1.19960.  Be sure to check it out!

I wish everyone good health during the continuing pandemic crisis... and plenteous rolls of toilet paper, too!

One of the things that makes being an author such a joy is meeting and getting to know other authors and their works. When it comes to all things Wars of the Roses, one expert stands out... Anne Easter Smith. I read her excellent work on Richard III this past year, and found her usage of his burial's excavation account within her text as pure genius. I'd like to welcome Anne to my blog. You're sure to enjoy her words this week.


Thanks so much for having me join your blog today, Brook. You told me I could write about anything I liked, so I have!
 
“Write what you know” was often advised when I plunged into the murky waters of literary endeavor and found myself floundering about in that terrifying first foray. So I did. 

What I “knew” centered on a king who died 528 years ago on a boggy field outside of Leicester, smack in the middle of England. A history nut from adolescence, I came upon a book in my early twenties by English mystery writer Josephine Tey called DAUGHTER OF TIME that repudiated everything I had learned at school about one of our “Bad” kings, Richard III. When I had turned the last page, I became a Ricardian fanatic.
 
What they didn’t tell me about writing was that, along with your knowledge of a subject, a strong dose of passion would lift your book above the ordinary. I learned this when an editor recognized it in my first effort at a novel, “A Rose for the Crown.” She told me my passion for righting the wrong done to Richard shone through every page.
 
For more than 40 years I devoured everything I could find about Shakespeare’s crookback protagonist, the much-maligned King Richard. Boy, oh boy, must Richard have flipped over in his grave as Will penned his play. (Now that we have found Richard’s bones under a car park in Leicester and know he was squashed, without even a shroud, into a shallow, makeshift spot under the nave of the one-time Greyfriars church, the poor man couldn’t have done much more than wiggle a toe much less turn over.) For 40 years, I would rave passionately about how erroneously Shakespeare and the other Tudor propagandists had chronicled Richard’s story.

But pontificating (read, being a bore) at parties didn’t fulfill my manic obsession to tell the world how wrong the history books were. Mercifully, I found I was not alone. There is actually a Richard III Society, begun in the 1920s, to attempt to redress his reputation. Today there are several thousand of us all over the world.
 
To write that first book, I became a self-styled expert on all things Wars of the Roses. My library of reference books on the period has grown to fill a bookcase and three drawers of a filing cabinet! After writing five books at the behest of Simon & Schuster, I became a victim of the current downturn in the industry. “Historical fiction readers want strong female protagonists,” my agent was told by most of the editors to whom we pitched THIS SON OF YORK. “They don’t want to read about men. Also, unfortunately for you, the medieval period is now OUT. Why don’t you write me a book about World War II? And besides the book is far too long for today’s busy readers.” (Hilary Mantel, take note!)
 
So three strikes, and I was out of the running to have my “passion project” traditionally published. Thankfully, I hooked up with a small independent publisher in my home state of Massachusetts, Bellastoria Press, and I believe they have done a wonderful job producing the book, with the help of cover artist Sanford Farrier, so it blends in with my other books on the shelf. I hope you will agree. This is the book I should have written first but was too chicken to get into Richard’s head! After writing around him for the first five, I think I have the measure of him now, and he spoke quite easily through me during the writing of his story.


Again, a huge thanks to Anne for taking time to be my guest blogger for April. Below are links to all of her books, so for those of you with a thirst for reads taking place in the late Middle Ages, have at it! 

​Everyone stay well and be sure to drop me a line if there's something you'd like me to blog about!