Hello world travelers! I have very exciting news for you all—I published my first book! The title is “Vitae Romanorum (The Lives of the Romans).” I am incredibly stoked because it is about Ancient Rome (my obsession of three years). I published it through CreateSpace, a self-publishing Amazon company. It is available on the CreateSpace store and Amazon. The photo on the cover of the book is actually one that I snapped in Segovia, Spain of the fabled Aqueducts of Segovia. It is the perfect image for the stories and cultures in my book. Buy it here!
1. Segovia—I posted this story on my website a few months back, but I decided to include it in my first book. Two friends find themselves in Segovia, a legendary city in Central Spain. They are fascinated by the ancient aqueducts, but a few things go astray in the end…
2. The Plebian Feet of Timgad—This story is my personal favorite because it is told from the point of view of a 17 year old girl (like myself). She resents being married off to a pre-selected husband, but in Ancient Rome, what else could a young, desirable woman do?
3. The Fall of Tivoli—This story includes snippets of architecture from one of my favorite buildings in Rome—Hadrian’s palace at Tivoli. The story features a cameo of Hadrian himself as he interacts with his slave (a former captive).
4. Dacia is the Marble Cutter’s Lie—As the name implies, this story centers around Trajan’s conquests in Dacia (modern-day Romania). I also heavily featured Trajan’s monumental Column; in fact, I was inspired to write this story when I saw a gruesome relief of Trajan’s soldiers beheading Dacian barbarians.
5. The Black Banquet—To be honest, the most interesting Roman emperor to me is Domitian, the unloved brother of Titus and the son of Vespasian. I read about an event centered around Domitian in a Roman history book, and I have been hooked ever since.
6. The Capricious Chains of Paganism—This story represents the decay and fall of the Roman Empire. It is set in the time of Julian the Apostate, the last Pagan Emperor of Rome. I wanted to capture the changing nature of Rome after Constantine stormed the stage and set the Western World on a completely different course.
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| Map featured in my book! |
Book Playlist
I stole this fabulous idea from Stephanie Perkins, author of “Anna and the French Kiss,” “Lola and the Boy Next Door,” and “Isla and the Happily Ever After.” They are my guilty pleasure teen romance novels (I am still loyal to Tolkien and non-fiction though!!) She created a playlist that fit perfectly with the events and emotions in her first novel. I will select one song per short story—enjoy!Find my playlist on 8Tracks here.
1. Pompeii by Bastille—I chose this song to represent “Segovia,” the first short story, because it mentions Roman culture AND “walls” that come “tumbling down…” It correlates perfectly to the story and the slight mishap that happens in the end….
2. Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Ray—I first heard this song in “The Great Gatsby,” and I love the sultry/forlorn tone. It echoes perfectly the feeling of Flavia, the 17 year old girl who is forced to marry for money and status (from “The Plebian Feet of Timgad").
3. Pieces of What by MGMT—This song is for “The Fall of Tivoli,” and it manages to capture the desperate and crashing world of Scaevola, a man who watched his family die by the hands of the Romans and then was shipped to Rome to serve the Emperor. His impossible relationship with Livia, a noble woman of the upper class, is in pieces because she is torn between love and what is socially acceptable. My second song choice was “I love you” by Woodkid—“whatever I feel for you, you only seem to care about you.”
4. Renegade by Styx—Once Iulius (from "Dacia is the Marble Cutter’s Lie") is aware of the atrocities that Trajan committed in Dacia, he is immediately a marked man for speaking out against the regime. The Roman soldiers would love to execute him, the skilled firebrand… “Hangman is coming down from the gallows.”
5. Jungle by Jamie N Commons & X Ambassadors—This song was free on iTunes a while back, but it is perfect for the mentality of the crazed Domitian (from "The Black Banquet"). “Won’t you follow me into the jungle—there ain’t no god on these streets.” The “jungle” is supposed to be the cavernous lair of Domitian and his wild, maniacal shindigs.
6. Heroes by David Bowie—I read the lyrics for this song, and I intuitively knew that it was the perfect fit for this last short story ("The Capricious Chains of Paganism"). Vitus, a Roman official, comes to rescue the Priestess of Minerva, although they are unaware that Julian has been killed. This means their Pagan ways are stone dead and that there is a death sentence over their head. Lyrics such as “Though nothing will drive them away, We can beat them, just for one day,” and “We can be Heroes, just for one day. We can be us, just for one day” encapsulate the poignant and fleeting emotions.
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