Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Land of Shadow by Miriam Newman. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as a guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!
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Author: Miriam Newman
Publisher: DCL Publications
Publication Date: September 14th 2020
Print Length: 107 pages
Genre: Historical Romance
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Born to a mysterious Celtic woman and a Roman father in Britannia, Domi seems destined for a life of ignominy until he is adopted by a Roman tribune. When he is forced to choose between his native land and his adopted one, and between the living and the dead, which will he choose?
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EXCERPT:
They did clear the land and began to move siege equipment into place, ceaselessly guarded by cavalry. Domi had heavy duty and the heat was increasing daily. Fortunately they had water and battlefield rations, such as they were. It was anticipated that Jerusalem might have water, but they were going to run out of food. Cannily, the Romans had let pilgrims into the city for the Jews’ celebration of Passover, but they had never let them out again. They would eat the city’s stores that much faster. It was the same in every siege, Marcus told him. Starvation ended many of them. In this case, he thought the people would prefer to die. If so, Rome would oblige them.
The pounding of the rams began to the accompaniment of arrows and whatever else the defenders could launch at them. Titus had chosen to attack the western flank of the third and outer wall and posted still more cavalry at the earthen ramps he began to construct there. There were attacks from postern doors that wore on nerves.
Domi knew many of the infantry actually envied the cavalry their duty. The infantry was stuck with the brute work, but most had been through it before and did it without complaint, often in a spirit of contest. The results of their labor were evident on the fifteenth day when three fireproofed siege towers were rolled into place. Now guardianship of their resources began in earnest. The Jews would undoubtedly attack those towers.
They did. Assaulted by bolt and stone throwers the defenders had obtained from somewhere, the infantry nevertheless effected a narrow breach in the wall and troops poured in. The resistance they met inside was ferocious. Forced to retreat again through the narrow opening, they were picked off like pigs at slaughter and all the cavalry could do was hold outside the breach, defending the Roman troops trying to get back out.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Fantasy poetry driven by myths and legends has been my passion for as long as I can remember. I was published in poetry before catching the romance writing bug. I bring that background to my writing along with a lifelong addiction to horses, an 18-year career in various areas of psychiatric social services and many trips to Ireland, where I nurture my muse. My published works range from contemporary fantasy romance to fantasy historical, futuristic, science fiction and historical romance. Currently I live in rural Pennsylvania with a "motley crew" of rescue animals.
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GUEST POST:
Even with its numerous perils, I think I would have loved living in ancient Rome.
Two of my books, Land of Shadow and Chronicles of Alcinia, have been partially set in ancient Rome or fantasy worlds that closely resemble it. Book I of my science fiction trilogy, Scion, drew heavily on depictions of the city to create my world, whose governance and political intrigue were closely aligned with the politics of ancient Rome. Naturally, I would love to go back and see if they were what I envisioned.
The eternal city represented eternal problems that persist to this day. It was in some ways a perfect metaphor for our time. No one with any knowledge of ancient Rome can deny its resemblance to us. By living and studying it, would we be better able to avoid a similar fall? Or is history simply a pattern repeating over and over in a tragic pattern where empires are destined to destroy themselves from within? I show that happening in two of my books.
I wonder how similar to our own emotions were those of the citizens of ancient Rome? What lessons could we learn from them?
I would both fear and love to know.
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GIVEAWAY:
Miriam Newman will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter after the tour. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this morning.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Miriam, my question for you today is, would you ever consider co-authoring a book and if so, who would you most like to work with?
ReplyDeleteIf so, I would love to partner with one of the many fine Celtic-theme authors. You can see many of them on my blog, The Celtic Rose Blog. I'd be honored to work with any of them.
ReplyDeleteI like the cover. It has very nice artwork.
ReplyDeleteabfantom at yahoo dot com
Love the title. Really creates a mood of adventure
ReplyDeleteI like the excerpt and cover..
ReplyDeleteOh, a difficult choice about your own identity...love the premise of this book!
ReplyDeleteFamily dynamics definitely played into this book. My characters--like my family--found a way to love both.
DeleteThis book sounds like one my husband & I would both enjoy. I am excited to get started on it!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great book. I especially love historical romance stories.
ReplyDeleteHistorical romance is my favorite, as well. I will be having two more published in 2021, both set at the time of the Norman Conquest of England.
DeleteSounds really great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteMiriam, What did you most enjoy about writing this novel?
ReplyDeleteBeing able to tell a story that portrayed something profound rising from the ashes of defeat was very special.
DeleteThanks for sharing the excerpt!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance To win.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting read with a cover I love.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the review.
sounds like a fun one
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting read. I like the cover.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an intriguing book.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone, for visiting today and for your comments and questions. If you purchase this book, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. More historical and other romance will follow, including my series The Chronicles of Alcinia, just released as a series page at Amazon today. You can see that one at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J3N18NN? It's a multiple prize winner now in its third printing, so be aware if you purchased one of the volumes previously. Otherwise, I can guarantee you a stellar fantasy historical series.
ReplyDeleteI like the book topic.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt, thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteLooks great.
ReplyDeletethanks this sounds great
ReplyDeleteWhat inspired you to write this book ?
ReplyDeleteAs usual--I had a dream. And the further I explored it, the more interested I got in it. The characters started speaking to me. I also saw a message from my own family and cultural experiences, that I thought I could convey along with a fascinating story. After that, there was no stopping it.
DeleteThis sounds like a great read!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds exciting! The excerpt is great.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteLove the title on this book and great looking cover.
ReplyDelete@tisonlyme143
The cover art is excellent.
ReplyDeleteHello! Thanks so much for sharing your book with us. Always fun reading about another book to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your excerpt and answers to everyone's questions Thank you
ReplyDeleteThe cover looks very interestint.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post- love finding new (to me) authors
ReplyDeletethis looks like a great read
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
ReplyDeleteThis books sounds like both my husband and I would like it
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the excerpt. It sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteNeat cover, sounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteThat face on the cover looks formidable. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a really interesting book!
ReplyDeleteNice cover. It sounds like an interesting book. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat or who inspired you to become an author ?
ReplyDeleteLooks like an interesting book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.
I have read The Eagle's Woman, Deirdre and Dark Child: An Ancient Tale of Ireland.
ReplyDeleteWhat author do you most admire?
ReplyDeleteFrom the description and excerpt tt sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
ReplyDeleteHow old were you when you first became an Author ?
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting, I like the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI love historical dramas. Sounds like a good one.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI think the book sounds great and I would love to read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the opportunity to win! The cover has awesome graphics. I always enjoy discovering another good book
ReplyDeleteThe guy on the cover is very interesting
ReplyDeleteHave you ever read Dracula. It still terrifies me.
ReplyDeleteI like the cover, it looks very gladiator
ReplyDeleteHow long did it take to write this book?
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks everybody. I am just circling back after cataract surgery to answer anyone who responded, and did you ever! I appreciate it. I'm pretty sure my mother first reading me "The Skeleton in Armor" when I was about four had something to do with my becoming an author. Not as scary as Dracula, but not every child's bedtime story, for sure! My first book was published when I was 56. Seriously. So if you have a writing dream, never give up. There have been multiple books since and this one took about three months. Some take longer, while others seem to almost write themselves.
ReplyDelete