Snippets and Some Insight into book #4 with Regillus and Tzmisces.
Hi all! Today’s update focuses on the center of the action here in book #4, Steel Praetorian.
If you don’t want to read spoilers, don’t read ahead! Just enjoy looking at this lovely little map so you know where the action will be taking place!
Learn all about the Communication Styles in my world of Romanpunk!
Good Morning!
I thought that I’d put together this handy quick-reference guide to communication in the world of the Steam Empire Chronicles. So click read on to learn more about how Romans (and others) talk with each other! (Besides Latin, Yes, I know they already speak that language.
Continue reading “Communication in the Steam Empire Chronicles”
Happy Friday everyone!
I’m happy to announce that we’ve crossed the 44k words border and are headed east! (or north, upwards, anyways.)
SPOILER NOTICE: If you haven’t read book 3, don’t read on. Go back and read book 3. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Today’s writing takes us to the far off lands of the Mongolian Empire, Stretching from the Sea of Japan and the Korean Peninsula to the fragile Mesopotamian border with the Roman Empire. Today’s writing finds Alexandros alive in the city of Ctesiphon, once grand capital of the Sassanid/Parthian Persian Empire, now provincial metropolis and western capital of the Mongol Empire.
Musings on creating a non-fiction style history book to go with the Steam Empire Chronicles
I had a thought. Maybe people would be interested if I wrote a non-fiction style history as an accompaniment to the rest of the novels. Something like “A Roman’s Guide to Modern History: The Roman Empire in the 18th Century.”
Thoughts? Would you buy it?
How to use video games as ‘research’ for your alternate history or historical fiction novel (or just for fun!). Check it out!
By Daniel Ottalini
Every great writer takes influence and ideas from their surroundings. Nature, society, repression, upheaval, relationships, food – they all play a role in building or creating art and literature. Need Proof? (See War and Peace). For writers of Alternate History, Steampunk, or alternative worlds, where is our guidance, our focus, our tree of knowledge?Certainly, the great author Jules Verne, the enthusiastic enlightenment (and darker side) of the English Victorian era, the rugged styling of the American Wild West, all play a part. But within those come predictable, static ideas in some ways, a lack of new frontiers. I have heard complaints before, even written about them, about Steampunk being so West centric that it excludes such an incredible variety of other cultures. How can you, as an author, delve deeper into the ‘what ifs?’ and create a storyline of you own?
Simple. Lead that culture (technologically and metaphorically speaking, of course), through one of these thought provoking and challenging video games. Some of which you’ve heard, and others you may not have.
In Personal Favorite Order
Total War: Rome 2
Sid Meier’s Civilization V
Europa Universalis IV
Crusader Kings II
So what to learn from all of these? Sometimes, the best stories or ideas come by accident. Video Games, with their advanced computer programming, provide a companion to your own imagination and creativity. Even in my own novella, Roma Aeronautica, I used some ideas or concepts from video games such as Assassins Creed and even board games! So keep your eyes open, and your author’s senses tingling.
Ciao!
Visualizing your World using Sketches and Drawings to help create your Self-Published Story!
Hi everyone,
It’s almost the beginning of summer break, and I am totally ready to go! Buckling down and working on the novel & novellas this summer is going to be one tricky component. Now that I have two books out, I feel even more inspiration to keep writing.
One thing I wasn’t expecting was other people to think me an expert on writing! I got an email (to my school account, no less!) from one of my former students. This child is 10 years old, and already writing his own book about the Vikings. He sent me a good twenty pages or so of typed story. Now, as you might expect, it was full of your standard typos and inconsistencies. So what did I tell him to do?
I told him to sketch out his story.
I’m not an amazing illustrator, but I am a very visual person. I can write something much better if I doodle or sketch it out beforehand. Think about all the benefits that creating a visual plan or representation of your story can bring!
First, it can bring perspective. Writing is all about being able to accurately describe what is happening to your readers. Many of our favorite writers are able to write about and build their worlds with beautiful prose and writing. However, it helps to have a blueprint, so-to-speak.
Second, you can create additional parts of the story – for example, as you’ll notice from these sketch I’ve created for Antioch Burns, that there is a battle in the story. In the past, I’ve written primarily from the point of someone in the thick of battle. But drawing this picture helped me to rearrange my plan and adjust what I was going to do.
Finally, doodling or sketching can help you sequence and organize events in the story. I know some writer buddies of mine who draw an illustration for every chapter. It’s easy to rearrange if you discover the story has a week point or doesn’t make sense in the current order.
Hope that helps you all! I know doodling helps me (It’s also good to pass time when you are bored in staff meetings!) P.S. Don’t forget to check out Brass Legionnaire and Copper Centurion. Just got some great new reviews! (5 and 4 star!) There’s even one from France (on amazon.co.uk)
Enjoy! Ciao!
A sneak peek at Antioch Burns, my second novella coming out late 2013.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Its a tad bit too cold to go to the pool or even sunbathe where I am currently, but hopefully that will change by next weekend.
Unfortunately, for the people of Antioch in my next novel, this is not a good time to be in town. You see, the Mongolians have invaded….
Enjoy the tantalizing sneak peek at Antioch Burns, my 2nd novella that is still in the pipeline. I hope you like the tidbit.
Don’t forget that you can get both Brass Legionnaire AND Copper Centurion now! Both are available on Nook, Kindle, and all other devices
. Copper Centurion should be out on iTunes this weekend as well. If you like the novels, please rate and review them so that others can join the world of Romanpunk.
*and remember to wear sunscreen!*
Ciao!
The countryside flew by at a prodigious rate, the horses of the auxilia scouting unit eating up the leagues of rolling hills and farmland. The double score of men rode two abreast, sunlight shinning off their glittering scale armor. The detachment of horsemen sent up a thin cloud of dust from the dirt road as they crested a low rise, their leader reining in his steed. Decanus Orestus Flavian reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a map. He traced their route with his gloved finger.
“According to the merchant’s report, he saw the burning homes down this way. He also said there was a lot of easterner cavalry. Pah!” He laughed. “Probably one of those damnable tribal disputes lighting up again. Stupid civilian probably hasn’t ever seen a real eastern horseman in his life.” He quipped to his auxilia. Several of his men laughed. They had been together for some time. Flavian liked to say that he had been born in the saddle. Out here on the eastern border of the Imperial Roman Empire, the massed cavalry forces of the eastern Mongolian Khannates were the main threat, and the Romans had been forced to develop their forces in kind. Flavian was one of the original founders, boys picked from the riding stables of various major cities, given weapons and armor and sent to fight on horses not designed for the job. The fact that he survived the two years of brutal, no-holds-barred warfare spoke to his skill and tenacity. That he rose in rank to lead an auxilia detachment, the ground based eyes and ears of the Roman Army, spoke to his intelligence.
Using this intelligence now, Flavian guided his men off the dirt roadway, to better mask their dust cloud as they approached the supposed scene of the attack. They rode through the field, trampling the high crops with impunity. Finally, the horsemen crested a short rise, and the officer reined his men in.
“In the name of Jupiter…” Flavian’s jaw dropped, gaping at the sight laid out before him.
I talk about what I’ve learned about including reader character creations into my novels, and an update on new characters in Antioch Burns!
Hi all,As many of you may know, I recently completed a Kickstarter program that helped me to fund a large portion of Copper Centurion’s cost. This go around, I offered a reward level that allowed the backer the option to create a character in my upcoming novel, Steam Empire Chronicles #3 – Iron Tribune.
However, I thought it would be easier – and better – to have the characters (or several of them) introduced through a novella – in this case, Antioch Burns. I’d like to share with you what I’ve discovered from my experiences.
Then I waited.. and waited..
You get the point. So I started out writing the novella, and to my surprise recently got a very large ‘info dump’ of information that will be extremely helpful in writing this particular character. But I did have to go back and rearrange some parts of the story – which was fine, I was just three pages in.
2. Accept the fact that people may not commit – Yes, even if people say they want to help, they may not. Oh well, nothing I can do.
3. Remember that every character you get is a blessing! Look at it this way, I don’t have to come up with a very detailed background for this character, nor a name (easier in some genres, harder with Roman background) – Also, I don’t have to come up with characteristics or habits, as someone has already done that for me. Indeed, I was able to start spinning the story in a direction I think I like.
4. In the end, it’s all about how well you spin the story – Just remember. In the end, you’re the boss!
By the way, if you haven’t already, be sure to check out my novels Brass Legionnaire and Copper Centurion. I’m exceptionally proud of both of these novels, and they’ve reached #2 and #6 on the Steampunk Amazon Chart in the last week or so. In addition, Both novels have been consistently ranked top ten in multiple ebook categories (Greek and Roman, Myths, and Alternate history being a few).
Ciao!
Turning my novel into a community experience.
Hi all,
As many people may know from my recent kickstarter, I offered the opportunity for readers and contributors to create a character for inclusion into Iron Tribune, the third novel in the Steam Empire Chronicles. I know that this can be considered a strange idea. After all, as a self-published author, didn’t I go this route precisely because I wanted more control?
Yes. And No.
As an author, I want to engage people. My goal is to get people to buy my books, enjoy reading them, and tell other people to buy my books because they enjoy them. What better way to encourage people to share the news about my net novel than to let them have a hand in building it? Or at least a part of it?
As a result of the kickstarter, I’ll be introducing four new characters into my story. While I have some inkling of how to introduce them, I still don’t know much about the specifics yet! I have to see what their creators would like to include. That being said, I’m still the author, so I still get to make tweaks as necessary. The characters must fit the story, not the other way around.
I think of this as a professional challenge and opportunity. It’s pushing me to expand my story and not get ‘too comfortable’ so to speak. It is also making me plan my story to a much greater degree, as I’ll have to incorporate new characters and new situations.
What do you think fellow authors? Would you include reader generated characters into your stories? And readers, would you be more likely to read a story you had input into, either character or event wise?
Respond in the comments below! 🙂
A new novella is in the works!
Hi all,
Just wanted to share some exciting information with you! In case you had missed it, I mentioned on my Facebook page that I was busy writing up a new idea for a novella set in the Steam Empire Chronicles world.
In fact, I’ve already started writing it.
“But didn’t you just finish a novel? Aren’t you going to take a break?”
Well yes, but I was honestly bored right now before the holidays, having just managed to finish up my last graduate work. Now that I am officially MORE educated than before, and making a nice, paltry sum of money more from the day job, I no longer need to worry about writing multiple papers on a weekly basis. Thus more free time.
Anywho, to get to the point. The new story will be called…
Indeed, tremble in excitement oh vast ranks of readers! It shall be exciting, and will feature one of my personal favorite characters (along with many a reader, which makes me laugh), Captain Rufus Tiverii Alexandros, master and commander of the great ship H.M.A.S. Scioparto. But Roma Aeronautica will take place far before his forays into air legions and the events of the Brittenburg Rebellion and Nortland Expedition.
And I’ve already spilled too much! Be on the look out for more information, coming soon. Theoretically, I could get this novella (really more a glorified short story, I’m aiming for 15k words or less) done by February.
Time to get to work I suppose!
Ciao!
Modern Papyrus 