AD 71 Northern Roman Britain
Ravaged at the Battle of Whorl, Brennus of Garrigill is irrevocably changed. He embraces a new identity as Bran, vowing to avert Roman domination of Brigantia. Though how, when he and Ineda – his healer’s granddaughter – are forced to labour for the Roman IX Legion? Trading with the usurpers provides opportunities for gathering information, but after they are attacked by a Roman patrol, Ineda cannot be found.
Distraught with her loss, can Bran find a new occupation?
The adventures of the Garrigill Clan continue…
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Author Bio – Nancy Jardine writes historical fiction; time-travel historical adventure; contemporary mystery thrillers; and romantic comedy. She lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where life is never quiet or boring since she regularly child minds her young grandchildren who happen to be her next-door neighbours. Her garden is often creatively managed by them, though she does all the work! Her husband is a fantastic purveyor of coffee and tea…excellent food and wine! (Restorative, of course)
A member of the Historical Novel Society; Scottish Association of Writers; Federation of Writers Scotland; Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Independent Alliance of Authors, her work has achieved finalist status in UK competitions.
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Today I welcome Nancy with an interview!
Writing style priorities
A reviewer of Book 1 of my Celtic Fervour Series, The Beltane Choice, asked when the sequel would be published. Before then, writing a second book hadn’t crossed my mind but always rising to a challenge, I set to thinking about Book 2. The most obvious choice for a main character was the lovely Brennus, younger brother of Lorcan of the Brigantes. Brennus plays a strong secondary role in Book 1 but he was ‘lost’ at the Battle of Whorl, presumed dead because he was not among the survivors who returned to the Hillfort of Garrigill.
Before beginning to write Book 2, reasons for Brennus’ non-return seemed limited. I’d portrayed a very strongly attached family unit at the Hillfort of Garrigill. Therefore, Brennus just choosing to wander off to make his fortune elsewhere and not sending word back to Garrigill wasn’t credible, especially not during the devastating occupation of most of his tribal lands by Ancient Roman Legions. Of the ideas I debated, Brennus being injured to the point of being unable to send word back to his clan appealed most to me, but that also gave me pause for thought.
The general tone of Book 1 is that of a historical novel with strong romantic elements from beginning to end, albeit the romance goes through some dangerous and twisted hoops to reach an HEA ending. In a sense that means there’s optimism throughout, and it’s all about the circumstances that will bring Lorcan and Nara together.
I decided that Book 2 needed a different more sober style and tone of writing because poor Brennus has many hurdles to get over before any kind of happy ending will fall his way. (Book 3)
Can you imagine a survivor of pitched battle some 2000 years ago who ends up with horrendous life-altering injuries? Tending the sick was very different back then, the healer having to rely mainly on their knowledge of herbs. Stitching a wound was probably rudimentary depending on the skill of the healer; the ‘thread’ used and even the size of the needle contributing to how the flesh healed. The healer must have had to make many (sometimes educated) guesses and trusted much to the gods andgoddesses for a beneficial outcome.
What must it have been like to be a tribal warrior champion who receives life-changing injuries during battle? Being scarred was probably a regular occurrence during Late Iron Age skirmishes with other tribes. Having an accident during battle training, or as a by-product of normal farming life, was probably relatively normal and treated as a matter of course. The present-day perception of perfect bodies probably didn’t exist, and I don’t think that vanity would have played quite the same role as today. However, I believe even the strongest of men would go through an emotional and mental breakdown to some degree during the healing process – though his situation would not necessarily have had a ‘name’ as in PTSD or Mental Health issues of today. From the outset of Book 2, I had to almost wipe the slate clean of the cheery Brennus of Book 1. The post-battle Brennus is a different character so my writing style changed to accommodate the new warrior he was becoming. As in medical recovery today, it can take many months for an original personality to resurface, and sometimes that original character is so deeply embedded in the new persona it might take far longer. With Brennus it took quite a while!
I felt my writing style changing with ease (and in many ways maturing) as I launched into After Whorl: Bran Reborn.
Temporary bitter Bran was re-born out of the lovely cheery Brennus. However, I’m glad to say that I love and think highly of what Brennus as Bran achieves over the course of Book 2 (and more so in Book3). He may be altered but from adversity comes a different sort of admirable strength, and his intrinsic goodness is still there.
Thank you for inviting me to your blog today!
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Thank you, Kathleen, for inviting me to write a guest post for your blog today. It was a pleasure!
ReplyDeleteYou are more than welcome! Good luck with the book!
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