Writing the Past has Moved!

Dear Readers, 

The Writing the Past blog has moved to a new website!

Click the link below to be redirected:

http://eaglesanddragonspublishing.com/blog-writing-the-past-2/

Be sure to subscribe for e-mail updates to get all the latest blog posts on ancient and medieval history and historical fiction!

Thank you, 

Adam Alexander Haviaras

Writing the Past is Moving Camps!

Hello everyone! I hope your summer is going well and that you are all getting the chance to travel to some amazing places and read some amazing books.

A lot has been happening on my end of things, lots of writing, new ideas, and some summer travelling.

The biggest thing I wanted to share with all of you today is that the Writing the Past blog will be moving to a new, more permanent outpost.

These past weeks I’ve been building the Eagles and Dragons Publishing website and now, it’s finally complete. The ditches are dug and now surround the solid stone walls and buildings where the legion will muster. The new link is:

http://eaglesanddragonspublishing.com/

I’ve enjoyed my Blogger site. I’ve actually been on it for over 5 years.

But you can only do so much with Blogger, and I wanted to create something that looks a little less cluttered. I also wanted my own domain. Google owns Blogger, and in the terms that are set out, they own all of your content too. If Google ever wanted to pull the plug on Writing the Past, there wouldn’t be anything I could do about it.

Mainly, I want the flexibility a proper website with different pages has to offer. I wanted a better experience for you, as readers and visitors, and for me as the owner and administrator.

The good news is that the Writing the Past blog will remain the same. I’ll stick to the same schedule for posts.

Comments should be easier too on the new site, so please do comment when you feel the urge. I do love our interactions!

For those of you who are subscribed to the mailing list, you won’t need to do anything. If all goes well, the RSS feed to your inboxes should transfer seamlessly from the old site to the new.

If you do stop receiving blog posts to your inbox, please let me know ASAP and we’ll remedy the situation.

On the new website there is a Contact Form where you can fill in the details to e-mail me about anything any time.

I would like to hear from all of you about what sort of content you would like to see on the blog. Tell me what historical topics you would like to know more about, and whether you would like to hear more about my research and writing processes, or more frequent updates on works in progress.

The new website has a special excerpts page where large excerpts of my books can be read. In future, I’ll also post some sneak peeks of works that have not yet been released.

It’s all very exciting, but the move from this site is, I suppose, bitter sweet. After five years here, there is a lot of content that will be hanging about. I will repost some of it on the new site, such as the World of Children of Apollo, which many of you more recent subscribers may not have read.

Writing the Past is going to live on at Eagles and Dragons Publishing.

So, for now, thank you for sticking with me for so long on Blogger. I’m very much looking forward to welcoming you, and interacting with you, at the new Eagles and Dragons website!

Cheers, and thank you for reading.

See you on the other side!

Cover Reveal! Killing the Hydra - Eagles and Dragons Book II

Let the cornu and draconarius sound!

I'm happy to say that Killing the Hydra, Eagles and Dragons Book II, is going to be released in the next few weeks.

It's been a long haul and I'm grateful to those who have hung in there with me. I know many of you who enjoyed Children of Apollo have been more than patient. Thank you for that.

For those of you who have not read Children of Apollo, but are interested, there is going to be a special offer on that around the launch of Killing the Hydra. So stay tuned.

This week I received the final cover designs from artist Derek Murphy at Creativindie. There is a lot going on in this book, so finding the right images to convey the story proved challenging.

I love the process of cover design, and it's always a treat to get that final version in your inbox.

Today, I wanted to share the cover images with you (e-book and paperback). First, here is the story outline:

Killing the Hydra – Eagles and Dragons Book II

In Killing the Hydra, Lucius Metellus Anguis returns to North Africa, determined to investigate the death of his centurion and root out the treason that has infiltrated the ranks of his cohort. With his wife, Adara, safe in Athens, Lucius finds himself alone on a dangerous road back to the legionary base at Lambaesis. Praetorian spies and other unknown enemies are hunting him, and it is only with help from the Empress, a Punic prostitute, and an ancient group of warriors that Lucius is able to survive.

But the Sibyl’s prophecy haunts Lucius’s dreams, and he clings desperately to the hope that he is making the right decisions for his men, for himself, and for his family.

As his world is ravaged by pain on all fronts, Lucius Metellus Anguis must decide whether or not to make his move against the enemies that have plagued his family for far too long, including the most powerful man in the Roman Empire.

How far will the Dragon go to protect his family and avenge the spirits of the dead?

Only the Gods know…

There you have it! For me, as an author, sharing this for the first time is very exciting. It is also nerve-wracking because, in a sense, the die is cast. I'm crossing my Rubicon. 

In the description you'll notice that a lot is happening to Lucius. The Empire is in turmoil and two of the main political forces are the people whose faces you see in the clouds on the book cover - the Empress, Julia Domna, and the Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Gaius Fulvius Plautianus. Once again, Lucius is back in Africa to investigate the death of one of his centurions, while his heart is on the other side of the  Middle Sea. 

I won't say anything else because I don't want to spoil things for those of you who have not read Book I. Suffice it to say, that Killing the Hydra will throw you headlong into the passion and pain of the Roman world. 

Prior to launch day, I'll post some short excerpts from the book. In the meantime, if you would like to read an excerpt of Book I, you can do so HERE.

As ever, thank you for reading. Do spread the word about the series, and keep watching this space. There is a lot more coming in 2014!

Ave!

Contest Results!

Greetings readers!

The Writing the Past / Eagles and Dragons contest deadline has come and gone and the rudus (kindly donated by Reliks.com) and three paperback copies of Children of Apollo have been awarded.

A lot of you signed-up for e-mail updates from Writing the Past, but the laurel crown can only go to three people.

I almost shied away from the video again but thought better of it since capturing the draw on video shows that all is fairly done. Watch it HERE.

And now for the Victors!

3^rd Prize – Preston Ray

2^nd Prize – Marie Parsons

and… sound the cornu… shake the sistrum…

1^st Prize goes to – Lura Wilcox

Congratulations to all the winners and a very big thank you to everyone who signed-up.

I’m grateful to all of you for the time you take to read, comment on and share my posts at Writing the Past, on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

There will, of course, be more contests so do keep your ears open and your eyes on the screen.

And remember, if there are any topics you are interested in hearing about on Writing the Past, do send me an e-mail to let me know.

Lastly, I’d like to give a big Salve! out to the folks at Reliks.com in London, Ontario for donating the rudus for the competition. If, like me, you love to get your hands on historical replicas of swords, armour and the like, you MUST check out their website at www.reliks.com. It’s a candy story for the historically-minded!

Cheers everyone and see you next time!

Winners, I’ll be in touch…