Author Interview : Brook Allen / Son of Rome
Welcome to Author Interview Tuesday! We are delighted to have with us the author Brook Allen. Brook is going to talk about history, writing, and of course, her books!
JMR-Welcome Brook to the Books
Delight. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun and what does the
perfect day look like?
BA- Hi, Jeanie! It’s a joy to
be here. Thanks for having me. I live in Virginia, in the heart of the
beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains with my husband and two Labrador Retrievers. I’m
such an author geek, that I honestly love writing books for FUN! But when I
need a break or I’m waiting on the answer for a plot problem to strike me, I
love hiking, cycling, and reading in my hammock on my back porch. Our house is
right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, so I can rest in my hammock at night and hear
whippoorwills, coyotes, owls, you name it! So for me, the perfect day is in the
woods with my dogs.
📚
JMR-I think I might know the
answer to this, but what is your favorite historical era and why?
BA- Surprise! I like a LOT of
historical eras! American History is my focus right now. And I’ve always had a
fascination for Dark Age Europe and ancient Egypt, but, yeah—ancient Rome has
become near and dear to my heart, for sure. I think the 1st century
BC was incredible because of all of the huge names alive at the exact same
time… Pompeius Magnus, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Cicero, Marcus Brutus, Marcus
Antonius (my personal fav!), Octavian Augustus. Literally, ALL of these people
rubbed shoulders at one time or another, so there’s just such a wealth of history
in that period as Rome transitioned from Republic to Empire.
📚
JMR-Who is your favorite
historical female and why? If you could ask her one question, what would it be?
BA- Wow. That’s a tough one.
In my most recent release, one of the main female characters was Octavia,
the sister of Octavian. She is intriguing, because she was given to Antonius as
a wife, and their marriage ends in a tragic divorce. Because I have such
affection for both her and Antonius, I think I’d ask her what their marriage
was like. How difficult was it, juggling her feelings for her brother versus
those for Antonius, her husband?
📚
JMR-What inspired(s) you to
write?
BA- Writing in general has
been a favorite activity since I was in high school. As a teen, I wrote simple
poetry, short stories, and started a novel which I never finished. But I always
knew I wanted to write on 1st century BC Rome. When I was a
sophomore, my English Lit class read Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and I
was hooked. Yet, it wasn’t until thirty-five years later that I felt “ready” to
write the Antonius Trilogy.
📚
JMR-Brook, tell us about your
Trilogy and Marc Antony.
BA- I’ll begin by stating that
the research alone behind this trilogy was a dream come true. I traveled to
Egypt and Turkey once, Greece twice, and Italy six times to learn more about
Antonius and his era. On some visits, I was able to enter archaeological sites
which are closed to the public—the House of the Griffins on Rome’s Palatine
Hill, for example. Once, a guide in Greece “smuggled” me in to a site that was
closed so I could see it. That was an adventure! And I got to interact with
real archaeologists on sites to learn more about particular things they were digging
and explore the site undisturbed. So many authors have written the stories of
Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Cicero, and Augustus. Antony—Antonius was his Roman
name—is still such a controversial figure, that I think people have avoided
him. Why? Probably because of his weaknesses, and boy did he HAVE weaknesses!
Drinking, womanizing, and he was so impulsive. And mostly because his
history is so sketchy. Nobody really knows the real Antonius since his
story was written by his enemies.
Allan Massie wrote a very nice
histfic book on him from the death of Caesar until Antonius’s death. But I
wanted to begin BEFORE that. My first book, Antonius: Son of Rome begins
when he’s an eleven-year-old boy whose father has just died in infamy. So
Antonius had to scramble up the ladder of success in Rome—no easy feat,
especially when you’re prone to binge-drinking and whoring, and nobody believes
in you. Antonius: Second in Command is about Antonius’s rise to power at
Caesar’s side and how he took control of Rome after Caesar’s assassination.
Personally, I don’t think he ever got the credit he deserved for the delicate
balance of power he exhibited immediately after that tumultuous Ides of March.
Lastly, Antonius: Soldier of Fate deals with his relationship with the
East and Cleopatra, his military foray into Parthia, and the culminating Battle
of Actium.
📚
JMR-You have traveled to Italy,
Greece, Turkey and Egypt, where did you feel closest to Marc Antony? What is
your favorite Roman site?
BA- Definitely in Rome. There
have been a couple of instances when I’ve been at sites where I’ve found myself
in tears. Both in the ancient Tabularium, which was built in his lifetime and
atop the Palatine Hill where his family once lived, I’ve had some fairly
emotional moments. Call it what you will, but sometimes authors do commune with
characters, and there were definitely times when that happened.
📚
JMR-You spent 15 years
researching and writing this book. What surprised you the most about Marc
Antony? What do most people get wrong about him?
BA-I’m so glad you asked this
one. Antonius’s career alongside Julius Caesar allowed him a front-row seat to
some of Rome’s most tantalizing history: the Catiline Conspiracy, the Battle of
Alesia, Pharsalus, the Ides of March, Philippi. . . see, I could go on and on.
He literally became the catalyst transforming the Republic into an
Empire. He knew all of the people I mentioned above in your question about why
the late Republic was my favorite period in history. He brushed shoulders with
them all. What surprised me the most about him was his travels. From age 25
onward, he was rarely in Rome. Instead, he was in Syria, Egypt, Palestine,
Gaul, Greece, Parthia—you name it. If it was a Roman-occupied place, he
probably went there. He must have loved to travel—to see new places and
experience new cultures. Sadly, many people just consider him as Cleo’s
“boy-toy” or one of history’s biggest “losers”. As eye-witness to some of the
most engaging moments in Rome’s history, his story is unique, colorful, and
adventuresome. And, yes—tragic, too.
📚
JMR- What project are you
currently working on? Do you have more books up your sleeve?
BA-Yes! Currently, I’m working
on a book much closer to home, here in Virginia. I’m telling the story of our
county seat: Fincastle. It will include one very famous guy—William Clark of
the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery. I’m going to tell the tale of Clark’s
first wife: Julia (Judy) Hancock. It’s been so refreshing, having all of this
history at my fingertips instead of traveling half-way around the world to get
to it! And, I do have more books “up my sleeve”, as you say. I want to tell my
grandmother’s story. She homesteaded to Montana at the turn of the 20th
century and helped my grandfather prove-up his land there. They withstood a lot
of hardships, including temps falling to sixty below zero! And I already have
another Roman book in mind, too. But I’ll keep that one quiet for now.
📚📚
JMR- Tell our readers how to find
you on social media and the web.
Brook's Website Twitter Facebook Goodreads
JMR- What question were you
hoping I’d ask but didn’t?
BA- Hmmm… maybe what’s
something not many people know about me? When I was in high school, I did
pre-training for the Olympics… equestrian. I used to show horses, do dressage,
cross-country, and stadium jumping. I had a rather serious accident while
helping someone train a horse in college. I pretty much ploughed a field with
my face, so that sobered me up about getting too crazy in the saddle!
Thanks so much for this
opportunity to share, Jeanie! I really enjoyed being with you!
JMR- Thank You Brook! We enjoyed this interview and I know our readers did too. If you are interested in see more about Brook's books I've included a link, just click on the Amazon button.
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