(Maybe) Vesuvius Day

In researching Ancient Rome for one of my works-in-progress, I came across an interesting tidbit that will probably be familiar to historians...

We typically mark August 24th as the day that Vesuvius erupted catastrophically, way back in 79 AD, and ravaging the nearby countryside and towns. That date comes to us from the writings of Pliny the Younger (not to be confused with his uncle, Pliny the Elder), who wrote of the ordeal several years after the fact.

However, there is plenty of historical evidence that the destruction of Pompeii, situated southeast of the volcano, actually occurred two or three months later. For instance (from Wikipedia)...

"People buried in the ash appear to be wearing heavier clothing than the light summer clothes that would be expected in August. The fresh fruit and vegetables in the shops are typical of October, and conversely the summer fruit that would have been typical of August was already being sold in dried, or conserved form. Wine fermenting jars had been sealed over, and this would have happened around the end of October. Coins found in the purse of a woman buried in the ash include one which features a fifteenth imperatorial acclamation among the emperor's titles. These cannot have been minted before the second week of September. So far there is no definitive theory as to why there should be such an apparent discrepancy."

I'll leave it to folks much smarter than me to argue over the discrepancy though it remains one of history's fascinating open questions.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum in high school (back when I actually knew Latin) and as an archaeological site, it's totally cool. (Side note: For whatever reason, the tourist site was known for its stray dogs, which I can attest to!)

All this research has been a fun little diversion as I work through this latest novel, set during the time of Vesuvius's eruption. The aftermath features in the story, but isn't the central part of the narrative. It's just a stop along the way for the characters...

Anyway, just wanted to say Happy Maybe Vesuvius Day. (Though "Happy" probably isn't the right word...)

Let the insanity begin...or continue at an increased rate

I've made The Unearthed free. Its my best-selling book, but far from being a best-seller ;-)

You can download it here:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

This is all part of a little experiment. I'm going to leave it up for free for a little while (don't know how long) to see if this stirs up interest in the series.

Still not sure about The Unearthed series?

Well, I'm also extending my Free Book offer. Sign up for my Mailing List and you can read any one of my books of your choosing for free.

I'm not very good at math, but that means with a few clicks you can read TWO OF MY BOOKS FOR FREE, ONE OF THEM YOUR CHOOSING.

Sounds too good to be true, right? It's not, I swear.

But get in now, because like I said I don't know how long I'm going to run this special offer.

Enter to win a FREE AUTOGRAPHED COPY of Language of the Bear!!!!!!

Nate and I are running a giveaways contest over on Goodreads right now. We will be sending out FIVE FREE AUTOGRAPHED COPIES of Language of the Bear, the first in our historical series set in Pennsylvania in the days of the French and Indian War.

This is all leading up to the release of the second book in the series, Through the Narrows. That one is with our editors now and will be out very soon (as in, this month). I haven't talked too much about Through the Narrows yet, so here's a teaser:

In the second book of the Tomahawk & Saber series, Wolf Tongue and Pyke find themselves defending a less-than-deserving small town on the Pennsylvania frontier against a vastly superior force of Mingos who are out for blood.

If you're a fan of history, adventure, and good old-fashioned character-driven action stories, then you should check these books out. They're fast, fun, violent, and at times brutal.

3 Early Reviews of LOTB

Nate and I have gotten three real good reviews so far on Language of the Bear. Each one does a nice job of giving a good feel for the characters and plot without giving anything away. Two reviewers (without prodding from us, I swear!) were gracious enough to compare the book to its spiritual predecessor, Last of the Mohicans. That's quite a compliment so I want to send a big thank you to our early reviewers so far.

***

I've made a habit in the past on my solo projects of offering free copies in exchange for honest reviews, a practice that has served both readers and myself well. People are more willing to try out a new author when the book is free, and the subsequent reviews help prospective readers make informed buying decisions.

So now I'd like to extend that offer on Language of the Bear.

If you'd like a free copy in exchange for writing an honest review of the book on Amazon, shoot me an email at ronaniswriting@gmail.com.

This is a limited time offer, however. First ten to email get a free copy. You really have nothing to lose: if historical fiction and old-school adventure are your thing, then this book is right up your alley. It will cost you nothing but a couple minutes of your time once you're finished the book to write up a review.

Language of the Bear Available Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's here, folks.

This book is the start of the series Nate and I have planned out set around the time of the French & Indian War. It features not one, but TWO main characters who are brought together by circumstance to undertake a secret, dangerous mission on the frontier of Colonial Pennsylvania.

Fair warning, this book is not for the faint of heart. Murder, betrayal, scalping, hanging, and a blood-soaked finale caps it all off. This is James Fenimore Cooper on steroids.

Check out the free sample over on Amazon, and if you like the book, please leave us a review.

Can I get a "Hell, Yeah!"?

Language of the Bear will be available on Friday, May 8th! And here's the cover art which looks effing great.

All my books are labors of love, and this one is no exception. It's filled with action, danger, suspense, thrills, romance, and some "oh crap" reversals of fortune.

But what makes this book really special to me is I got to write it with one of my best friends, fellow author Nate Green. Collaborating on a story was such an enlightening process--with Nate's feedback I was able to see a few of my many artistic blind spots--and the end product is a perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. I could not have written this good a book without Nate.

Look for it May 8th on Amazon. We're hard at work on the sequel, Through the Narrows, and will have that out soon as well.

Favorite Historical Novels

With our historical novel coming out real soon (hopefully this week!), this genre has been on my mind of late. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

• Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles (My favorite trilogy of all time, this series is about King Arthur)
• Fatherland by Robert Harris (little bit of a cheat here, since this is alternative history)
• The Three Musketeers by Dumas (That's right, folks, it's a historical novel. Dumas wrote in the 19th century and Porthos, Athos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan had their adventures in the 17th century.)
• Shogun by James Clavell (This is a book you live, not so much as read.)
• I, Claudius by Robert Graves
• Imperium by Robert Harris
• Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Tales (These take place in the 9th/10th centuries during a pivotal time in English history.)
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (Okay, only half this book is a historical, but what an awesome book!)

2015 Production Schedule

They say it's good to have goals. So here are mine. I hope to release these books in 2015:

Solo Projects:

• OtherWorld
• MG Fantasy (have an idea but no title)
• The Skim (noir)
• The Dream Machine (Unearthed #6)
• The Missing (Unearthed #7)
• The 8th Man (new sci-fi, mystery series)

Tomahawk & Saber series with Nate Green:

• Language of the Bear
• Through the Narrows
• #3

Looking this over, I realize this production schedule is totally unrealistic. But I'd rather try to do too much instead of not enough. Better to always be pushing.

It's going to be an interesting 2015...

Two New Releases in One Month?!

I write a lot. Much of what I write is not fit for public consumption, but over time the "crap percentage" has slowly decreased.

I enjoy writing a lot. Many so-called "writers" spend their time justifying why they couldn't get any words down in a day, in a week, in a month. Life got in the way. Family got in the way. Work got in the way.

Truth is, everything will get in the way. If you let it.

So I try not to let it. I produce a lot of words and sometimes they're crap and sometimes they're good. But I put the time in. Nothing is more important than A-I-C.

Ass in chair.

So that's why I get to say this: in April, I will release not one, but TWO new titles.

Now in all fairness, the second book out this month was a collaboration with my fellow author, Nate Green. So I only did half the work on that. But still, I'm counting this as two books in one month.

***

Language of the Bear, our historical novel, is the best story I've ever been part of. I think it's the strongest in terms of character, dizzying with its reversal of fortune every few minutes plot, and broad in scope. It's an adventure story, it's a BIG story, where both main characters (that's right, there are TWO heroes) leave the comfort of their usual surroundings and journey out into the often harsh world and grow. There's plenty of action and turns and witty hero banter and it all culminates with one kick-ass finale. I can't wait to hit PUBLISH on this one.

The New Book Is On Goodreads

Language of the Bear

I am super-freaking-excited. The latest book, the best book I've been a part of (so far), is up on Goodreads and out next month.

We're still working with our kick-ass designer on the cover, and we'll have a reveal of that soon. But for now, if you're interested in the book please add it to your TBR on Goodreads. It'll help us build interest leading up to the e-release next month on Amazon.

***

Nate Green is a good friend and a gifted writer. We've both been chasing this crazy dream of writing fiction for a living for awhile. A few years back, we were in his truck, talking about stories and writing and how exciting and difficult and frustrating and interesting the process was and somewhere in that conversation we got the crazy idea to write a book together.

That book eventually became Language of the Bear.

A collaboration really appealed to me. I looked forward to doing something that for years had been a solitary, banging-your-head-against-the-wall pursuit. Working with Nate on a story he was totally invested in also gave me a great sounding board for ideas, character arcs, and story-telling. I hope I've been as helpful to him as he's been to me.

We settled on a historical novel, a good old-fashioned adventure that reminded us of the books we'd read growing up, with one notable qualification. We agreed early on we weren't going to whitewash history and we weren't going to give the characters modern sensibilities. The world would be as it was: increasingly short, often nasty, and sometimes brutish.

We shopped Language of the Bear to agents and editors and got this close several times, which was both encouraging and frustrating. But nobody bit. We passed it around to friends and family and they told us it was great, but of course you have to take the opinions of loved ones with a healthy dose of skepticism. The book, as much as we liked it, seemed doomed to live out its life on our computers.

***

Meanwhile I'd made the decision to indie publish my solo projects, and in particular my paranormal thrillers. Readers slowly but surely found The Unearthed series and once I started to see (very modest) success with it, Nate and I discussed the possibility of indie pubbing Language of the Bear as well. Eventually we decided it was a good idea. As I've said with my own books, the best judge of the work is the reader and this way readers will let us know if it's any good. ;-)

***

Nate and I had such a great time writing the book together, we decided to make it into a series and start another series as well. More to come on those books, but we're hard at work on them.