Yeah, yeah. I write dark modern paranormal romance for HQN Nocturne. But my alter-ego writes historical fiction and I’m a fan of all things Roman. I like the idea of a Vestal Virgin with a forbidden love. To that end, it’s my pleasure to welcome my Maryland Romance Writer chapter mate, Kate Poole as a guest today. Kate’s latest book has just released and she’s here to tell us about it:

Sara is the daughter of the emperor’s legate in Caledonia, the Roman name for Scotland. Annachie is a Pictish warrior captured by her father’s soldiers and made a slave. Their friendship grows into a love neither of them can even acknowledge, much less consummate. When her father finds them in what he thinks is a compromising position, he gives Annachie to a notorious slave trader and takes Sara back to Rome. Thinking that she will never see Annachie again, Sara agrees to become a Vestal Virgin. But six years later, her world is turned upside down when the games in the Coliseum feature the renowned gladiator, the “Beast of Caledonia”. Annachie! Only for him would Sara forsake her vow of chastity and risk her life. And when she faces the ultimate price for loving him, only Annachie may be able to save her.

Many thanks to Stephanie for allowing me to post on her blog.

The Beast of Caledonia is my second book, and a bit different from my usual Scottish settings. But not as much as you might think. The book starts in Rome, with flashbacks to when Annachie and Sara first meet–in Scotland, or “Pictland” as it was known at the time.

Most everyone has heard of Hadrian’s Wall, in northern England, but a lot of people don’t know that there was a second wall–the Antonine Wall–that bisects southern Scotland. Built by the emperor Antoninus in 148 A.D., it was meant to keep the “savages” out of Briton. But, as Annachie points out in Beast, it also kept the Romans out of Scotland!

I don’t remember when or why I got the idea for this story. I have been writing on it for 3 years, so it preceded HBO’s Rome series, and definitely Starz’s Spartacus. But I won’t deny that both those excellent shows helped me in my research. As did Colleen McCullough’s truly superb Rome series. I hope that I have given my readers a taste of the religion, customs, and violence of that time period which will peek their interest to explore these other media.

If you decide to give the Beast a try, I hope you enjoy it. If you do (or don’t!), please let me know: katepoole06@comcast.net

Thanks again, Stephanie, for letting steal your blog for a while!

Kate Poole, Anchor and Storm, Beast of Caledonia Coming August 24, 2010 – “Exhibition”

www.jasminejade.com www.katepoole.net

Tags: ancient rome, beast of caledonia, coliseum, HBO's Rome, kate poole, maryland romance writers, rome, spartacus

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 at 12:25 am and is filed under Miscellaneous, Other Writers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.