INCEPTIO

Hi lovelies. I know it has been FOREVER but I have been and I still am very busy with the final year of my PhD. I do miss all of you though and all the filofax addicts will  be pleased to know my lovely Malden is still by my side. I am coming out of my blog hiatus for a very special guest post. I am really pleased to have Alison Morton on the blog today and she has written about her new novel Inceptio. It is a fantastic read (I would love it to be made into a movie) but without further ado..... here is Alison!

Thank you very much for welcoming me to your blog today, Kyla.

My debut novel, INCEPTIO, was published this month, the end of three years of slog – researching, writing, and polishing. It’s a thriller, so it’s doubly exciting.

It started off when I was eleven. I was fascinated by the mosaics in Ampurias (huge Roman site in Spain). Who had designed and made them, whose house were they in, who had walked on them?

I asked my father, “What would it be like if Roman women were in charge, instead of the men?” Maybe it was the fierce sun boiling my brain, maybe it was just a precocious kid asking a smartass question. But clever man and senior ‘Roman nut’, my father replied, “What do you think it would be like?” Real life intervened (school, uni, career, military, marriage, motherhood, business ownership), but the idea bubbled away in my mind and INCEPTIO slowly took shape as an alternate history thriller.

How is an ‘alternate history thriller’ different from a normal thriller? 

Alternate history is based on the idea of “what if”? What if King Harold had won the Battle of Hastings in 1066? Or if Julius Caesar had taken notice of the warning that assassins wanted to murder him on the Ides of March? Sometimes, it could be little things such as in the film Sliding Doors, when the train door shuts and Gwyneth Paltrow’s character splits into two; one rides away on the train, the other is left standing on the platform.

The rest of the story from that point on develops differently from the one we know. In my book, Roma Nova battled its way from a small colony somewhere north of Italy in the late fourth century into a high tech, financial mini-state which retained and developed Roman Republican values, but with a twist. It’s really fun working this out! The thriller story then takes place against this background.

Stories with Romans are usually about famous emperors, epic battles, depravity, intrigue, wicked empresses and a lot of sandals, tunics and swords. But imagine the Roman theme projected sixteen hundred years further forward into the 21^st century. How different would that world be?

So what’s INCEPTIO about?

New York – present day, alternate reality. Karen Brown, angry and frightened after surviving a kidnap attempt, has a harsh choice – being eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to the mysterious Roma Nova, her dead mother’s homeland in Europe. Founded sixteen centuries ago by Roman exiles and ruled by women, Roma Nova gives Karen safety, a ready-made family and a new career. But a shocking discovery about her new lover, the fascinating but arrogant special forces officer Conrad Tellus who rescued her in America, isolates her.

Renschman reaches into her new home and nearly kills her. Recovering, she is desperate to find out why he is hunting her so viciously. Unable to rely on anybody else, she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it...

And next? I’m working on PERFIDITAS (Betrayal), the second book in the Roma Nova series.

You can find INCEPTIO on Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inceptio-Roma-Nova-Alison-Morton/dp/1781320624 and Amazon US  http://www.amazon.com/Inceptio-Roma-Nova-Alison-Morton/dp/1781320624

You can read more about Alison, Romans, alternate history and writing here:

Blog: www.alison-morton.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

Twitter: @alison_morton

Have a wonderful day all of you and I hope you go out and buy this book! 

This is not goodbye but........

Image

Hi lovely people. I am just touching base to say that I arrived safely back in the UK on Sunday after spending a lovely vacation (sans DH) with my family back home in the Caribbean. I really had a wonderful time catching up with my friends and family. And I was true to my word and did absolutely no work whatsoever! So I am well refreshed.

I just wanted to let you know that while I am not closing down the blog I have to admit that I will not be blogging very often as I will soon be entering my final PhD year. I have a lot of work to do still and I feel that I just cannot commit to blogging on a regular basis anymore as by the weekend I am quite mentally spent! Anyways I will always be responding to emails and will pop up on twitter now and then so don't forget me.

Also DH and I are celebrating 5 years of wedded bliss this Saturday. I just don't know where all of that time went! Time really does fly when you are having fun. Another wonderful couple, Steve and Alison Morton will be celebrating their wedding anniversary today and I just wanted to wish them the best as they have made many more years together than we have! hehe. I cannot thank them enough for the wonderful time we had in France last year. 

Anyways I am on call so need to rush off now. I hope all of you had a wonderful summer!

Leaving on a jet plane.......

Image

I am so looking forward to flying back to Trinidad for 3 weeks of relaxation. It has been a rather busy and stressful year for me so I will hoping to just kick back and relax.


I will therefore be on a blogging break until around mid September. In the meantime check out my posts on Trinidad and Tobago or just continue to browse around and enjoy my older posts.


Take care and enjoy the rest of August!


I hope that so and so rooster doesn't keep me awake!!! hahaha!

Inspirational quotes: Success

Image

Although I am not a sportswoman, I have been inspired and humbled by so many of the Olympic athletes. But what makes a successful person? At some point I will share my thoughts on this but here are a few of my favourite success quotes.


"They can because they think they can." Virgil


"Nothing can stop the woman with the right mental attitude from achieving her goal; nothing on earth can help the wo(man) with the wrong mental attitude. " Thomas Jefferson

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." Vince Lombardi.


Have a wonderful weekend my lovelies!

Ten tips for selling on evil.... sorry eBay! Part 2

Hi lovelies. Are you ready to make money today? Here are the last 5 tips for selling on eBay! Part 1, with the first 5 tips can be found here. 

5. Choose the type of postage. For designer items I would use special delivery so that I had enough insurance and because it is the safest form of postage. For international items I used Royal Mail's Airsure. For the minimum use Royal Mail 1st class recorded. Always make sure the item will be signed for and that you can provide a tracking number! I cannot highlight how important it is to ensure things are tracked. There are many unscrupulous people out there. Get proof of DELIVERY!

4. Get your timing right. I prefer to have auctions end on Sunday evening between 8 and 10 pm so I would list the previous Sunday using a 7 day listing. With my more recent sales I didn't necessarily stick to this. However it makes no sense for your auction to end on Wed morning at 3 am!!

3. Make use of eBay's free insertion fees weekends. I think eBay is a bit greedy. They have cornered the market and they have just raised the amount of fees that they can take to 10% of £750 as the sale price, up from a maximum of 10% of £400. Of course they take PayPal fees as well (3% of sale price). However they do offer a lot of security and at the moment I can't think of a better website to use. 

2. Package securely for postage. Use a box or a proper courier bag so that your items don't get damaged in transit. Do not scrimp on this as you may end up with an unhappy buyer returning a damaged item that means more stress for you.

1. Don't complete transactions outside of eBay and PayPal. Again there are some very dodgy, unscrupulous people on this planet. If someone wants to collect your item in person DO NOT ACCEPT PAYPAL, make sure you take cash!! This is because they can do a chargeback on paypal and without proof of delivery you cannot prove you actually gave them the item. People may also contact you trying to knock down prices, or deliver to a country/address which is different from their ebay or paypal account. Beware of the eBay scammers. I prefer to get hit by ebay's fees than to get scammed! Using ebay and paypal gives the buyer and the seller protection. 

OK so do you have any more tips for selling on eBay? Please feel free to share in the comments. have a wonderful day!