(As part of my ramp up to publish day in mid-May, I’ve embarked upon a mission to introduce readers to my characters and the world they live in. These are their stories. Dun dunn)
D.O: Good afternoon Julius, welcome to my humble abode.
J.C. Thanks for having me. It’s good to get out of Brittenburg sometime.
D: Glad you could make it. I’ve got some great questions for you today.First and foremost, any history behind your name?
J: I knew you would ask that one. Actually yes, my parents did name me after that Julius Caesar. You know him, savior of the Empire, ancestor of the dynasty, most successful general ever, that sort of thing.
D: But what about the Brutus part?
J: Mom thought it was important to recognize the savior of the great emperor as well. After all, Brutus did take the knife intended for Caesar after warning his legions about the impending assassination attempt. So there’s my name, Julius Brutus Caesar. And believe me, there’s been a rare few moments to thank them for that. You wouldn’t believe the amount of teasing a boy gets for having such a name.
D: I can only imagine. Glad to see you made it through that. Tell me about your family. Did they like you joining the legions?
J: Ha, dad was livid when I told him I was signing up. Mom had to talk him down. I think that my argument about sending my sister, Marciena, to school with my signing bonus might have helped win him over. Of course, Mom arguing about how it was a peacetime army definitely helped too. Don’t think they foresaw the… troubles later.
D: I would ask about that, but then there’d be no point of reading the book!
J: Well, only if people aren’t interested in a tale of awesome adventure, drama, battles, espionage, assassination and revolution, then I guess you could ask, but hopefully people like those things.
D: Tell me about your commanding officer, Tribune Constantine Tiberius Appius. What do you think of him?
J: The tribune? He’s a good guy, once you get to know him. Honestly, at first, we all thought he was some puffed up buffoon from the capital. Nice clothing, trying to act all friendly when it was actually just really awkward, you know.
D: Actually I don’t, but I’ll take your word on it.
J: Yea? Well he may have been an odd ball at first, but he certainly wasn’t as bad as some of those other officers you hear about in the broadsheets or in the mess hall. The ones who get their soldiers killed. The tribune’s a really good man to have in a fight. He doesn’t shirk from danger, regardless of his background. If I had a denarii for every time I had to save his behind from danger…
D:Speaking of danger, what are some of the dangers you face in this book?
J: You trying to give away the whole book? Gah! And you’re the author too! Well, suffice to say that we get tapped to be testers of a ‘new type of war’ experiment that gets tested a lot sooner than it was expected too. Definitely an odd feeling to be lugging your sword and shield onto your average military dirigible, but it’s also an awesome feeling when you finally are able to – wait a second! I’m giving the story away!
D: That’s it? Nothing more!?
J: If you really want to learn more, you’ll have to subscribe to the blog and wait for details about the release date. Or you can download the first chapter here for free. The book is coming out sometime in May for goodness sakes!
D: Well there you have it folks, an interview with one of the heroes of Brass Legionnaire, Julius Brutus Caesar. Check back in soon, as we’ll be interviewing the legionnaire’s commanding officer, Tribune Constantine Tiberius Appius, sometime this week.
Modern Papyrus 