Sunday, March 25, 2012

If the Voice Fits


I often think I was born during the wrong era. I mean, why else would I be so fascinated with the past? As a history major, professor and all around geek, I’ve been sucked in by various eras. First, it was Vietnam, then Nazi Germany, followed by Romanov Russia and the American Civil War. Yet, when I first started writing, I didn’t write historical.
That didn’t last very long.

Oh, I had a decent voice for contemporary and paranormal, but when I started writing historical romance something special happened. I lost myself in the writing and the research. It was like watching a wonderful movie every time I sat down and entered that world—a world where I could inject an untold story into what people believed they already knew.

History is written from the point of view of the victors, for the most part. Who are the victors? Different peoples across different centuries, but typically, men. Mainstream history is not written about the little people, which includes most women. It doesn’t tell the stories of love, loss, and betrayal that happen to everyone. Or stories of overcoming odds and obstacles, battles of the heart that drives both men and women to do unbelievable and unexpected things. Those were the stories I wanted to tell.

Writing Surrender to the Roman was like putting together a puzzle. Finding just the right time in history, using the famous figures already present, getting all the details just right. The general and the princess had to appear at the right moment to be believable as bitter enemies, the circumstances had to be accurate, and the relationships framed correctly for the time. Beyond that, the depth of the love story needed to be at the heart of everything, which makes the historical details no less important, but does relegate them to the background. The stage needed to be well set before the characters could tell their story.

I loved the challenge of putting this story together, and hope readers will lose themselves in the pages in the same way.

As the Romans storm the last stronghold of Dacia, Princess Ademeni awaits her fate. Taken as a slave, she is deposited into General Marcus Cordovis’s home as a gift.

Driven to avenge her family, Ademeni plots to kill her captor and escape. Though not the cruel victor she expects, Marcus keeps her too close to make escape easy—so close that Ademeni is soon tormented by an unbidden, traitorous attraction. In a moment of weakness, a passionate kiss almost undoes them both.

But the handsome, widowed general has another surprise for Ademeni: a young daughter. Marcus dares ask Ademeni to help him bridge the gap between him and his little girl. And now, Ademeni is growing too fond of those she is supposed to despise. As Marcus prepares for the triumphal march and the opening of the gladiatorial games—where captives of her homeland will be sacrificed—Ademeni readies for her own battle between revenge and love.

Surrender to the Roman will be available at Carina Press on April 9, and is currently available for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I love to hear reader feedback, so feel free to contact me via:

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Author.MK.Chester
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/M_K_Chester
• Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/mkchester

4 comments:

Jerri said...

I seriously can't wait to read this book..wink!

MK Chester said...

Thanks, Jerri :)

Bailey Stewart said...

Wow, this sounds wonderful! I envy you ... as a history major myself, I had once thought of writing historicals but I just can't leave the research bug alone. Plus, it's not my voice, but it's very much yours. I'm tickled pink!

MK Chester said...

I'm blushing! Thanks for your kind words and encouragement and the years of friendship...