Interviewed by Thomas A. Timmes
Today, we are extremely fortunate to present an interview with all seven distinguished authors of A Year of Ravens. Each of the authors answers the same seven questions, and, in the process, reveals their personality, wit, and knowledge. I think you will enjoy this!
UNRV: Boudica and her Iceni tribesmen lost the moral high ground when they devastated the three Roman colonies of Camulodonum, Londinium, and Verulamium. Nonetheless, the reader is compelled to side with Boudica over the Romans. Was the story intentionally written to garner support for the Iceni and their Queen?
Ruth Downie: I still have mixed feelings about Boudica, and so did my narrator, despite being Iceni herself. I don’t think Boudica would have been a comfortable person to spend time with, and we haven’t glossed over the violence she and her people perpetrated. But I think the appeal of her story is that they were forced to face a question we’re still struggling with today: what do you do in the face of tyranny?
Stephanie Dray: Who doesn’t cheer for the underdog? But we wanted to give a well-rounded picture so we didn’t shy away from the shortcomings of the Iceni and their queen. My own story takes on the task of humanizing two arch-villains of Ancient Briton and its struggle with Rome. I really came to love my own version of the wise Roman-allied Queen Cartimandua and the in-over-his-head procurator who touched off the rebellion by having Boudica flogged. I loved them so much that at one point I even started to worry that we’d gone too far the other direction and that everyone would think the Iceni should’ve sat down, shut up, and admitted their inferiority to Rome. But the way the novel unfolds, story after story, humanizes everybody. And E. Knight’s final story is too heartbreaking for a reader not to sympathize with people who had been wronged.
Eliza Knight: Of course, I’m a Boudica supporter, and who doesn’t feel sympathy for a woman who in the face of her husband’s death is beaten and her daughters raped? But that being said, I think we really tried to focus on our book not be a “death to Romans!” story. We really wanted to have ALL sides of the story, which I think the reader will find. And in truth, I think both sides of this tragic part of history made mistakes.
Kate Quinn: Not really - we had a warts-and-all approach to the Iceni rebellion, wanting to show the good and the bad done by both sides. Boudica comes down through popular legend as a purely heroic freedom fighter, but there’s no denying she wreaked terrible violence against innocent civilians during her war on Rome. We knew that would be an unpalatable truth to witness about such a popular historical heroine, but we felt white-washing the facts would do history a disservice. I think any reader will still root for Boudica (if they aren’t weeping after reading Eliza’s portrayal of her, they have a heart of stone!) but they’ll see the darker side to her rebellion too. And they’ll see that not all the Romans were such baddies, either.
Vicky Alvear Shecter: It’s an issue of perspective. You can’t help but empathize with someone on the losing side if you’re telling the story from their point of view because you can emotionally see and feel what was at stake for them. For the Iceni and the Celts, it was everything--land, freedom, a way of life, religion, autonomy, etc. All we know about Boudica and the Iceni, of course, come from the Romans who had a vested interest in making their defeated enemy look savage, dangerous, and scarily “other.” By inhabiting the stories of those who lost, we give voice to their humanity, something that is often lost when only the victor speaks.
Simon Turney: Is the reader compelled to side with Boudica? I suppose it is in the nature of humanity to side with the underdog in these things. I personally see so many both positive and negative facets of both sides that I view it as an unfortunate and sadly unavoidable clash of powerful personalities leading their distinct cultures. The Iceni in the tale are far from heroic and infallible, while the Romans are a long way from the evil despots of the ‘sword and sandal’ movies. I shall be interested to see the general view of the book from readers and see how the sympathies fall. So to answer that: no, the reader is encouraged to find his or her own side (or of course, to side with neither...)
Russ Whitfield: Yes and no, I reckon. Seven different stories have seven different points of view, so some will be more pro-Boudica than others. In Si’s story, I recall some pretty graphic descriptions of what the Britons did to civilians in Londinium - and it doesn’t paint a particularly sympathetic picture of the tribes.
I think that people who know a bit about the period (as the vast majority of Roman Historical Fiction readers do) go into these stories knowing who they want to root for. But also, we tried to show the motivations of the protagonists - these are going to colour their view of the conflict of course.
We were also pretty clear about not white-washing things… atrocities were committed by both sides. The Romans were raping and pillaging as were the Britons. There’s also the issue of human sacrifice. I have it that the Romans are appalled by this, that the Britons do it “to shit the life out of you.” Whereas to the Druids, it’s a sacred thing. Who’s right? Well, if you’re a willing victim, going to your Gods, high on magic mushrooms, then its religious and acceptable. If you’re a Roman soldier have his chest carved open... not so much.
Ultimately, it's for the readers to draw their own conclusions, but as I say above - my feeling is that readers will go in being supportive of one side or the other.
UNRV: Three of the seven authors of A Year of Ravens have collaborated previously with multiple authors, so, for them, the concept of sharing the writing is not that unusual. Enlisting seven authors for a book, however, is unusual, and, in this instant, is highly successful. Why seven and how were they selected?
Ruth Downie: I wasn’t involved in the original selection process but I suspect the others were expecting me to be a mystery writer. I hope readers won’t be waiting for the murder to happen, because for once I’ve written something with no mystery, no clues and no detective. It was a nice change!
Stephanie Dray: Oh, thank you! I had the honor to be a part of A DAY OF FIRE: A Novel of Pompeii, and we had six authors that time. It worked really well, and when E. Knight decided to invite us to write about Boudica, we thought opening one more slot wouldn’t hurt. It certainly made the book longer, but I think that’s good for the reader! Now, Kate, Eliza and I all write historical women’s fiction, so we really wanted to round that out with other styles and perspectives. So we especially wanted Vicky (who writes Young Adult), Ruth (who writes Mystery), and Simon & Russ who both write more battle-centric books.
Eliza Knight: Hello, H-Team! I really love these writers! We really felt there were seven sides to this story that were compelling and needed to be told in order to get an idea of the whole picture of the Boudica Rebellion. Four of us on the Boudica team worked together for our Pompeii book, A Day of Fire. And in fact, a fifth member, Ben Kane wrote our introduction for this book, too. Sadly, our sixth member, Sophie Perinot was unable to join us because of other deadlines, but that opened up the door to inviting in new and very talented authors--and that is how we ended up working with Ruth Downie, Russell Whitfield and SJA Turney! I really enjoyed that experience of telling one story from multiple viewpoints, and having it flow from one to the next, rather than backtracking. I think it gives a richer story to the reader to see it from so many sides.
Kate Quinn: We wanted to get the original team from A Day of Fire back together, which meant another novel-in-six-parts--but Ben Kane and Sophie Perinot had conflicting deadlines for other books, and couldn’t join this time around. That meant inviting new players. And as for why a novel-in-six became a novel-in-seven, Boudica’s rebellion proved to be a much bigger tale than the Vesuvius eruption which only took place over 18 hours! As we were looking at the history and sectioning off the rebellion’s timeline into mini-arcs that would give each story its own climax, it became clear that there was easily room for a seventh tale. I’m glad there was, because Si and Russ and Ruth were all such gems to work with, I’d have hated to miss out on having any of them along for the ride!
Vicky Alvear Shecter: As others have commented, we initially tried to get to the same group of writers that worked on A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii, but two were unavailable and we knew the story was simply too big to try and tackle it without adding new talent. It made sense to ask those writers who had already written about the ancient Romans and/or this time period, which is what we did. For me personally, it was VERY exciting to have Ruth Downie, Russell Whitfield, and SJA Turney join the group because I love their work. I’d be lying if I didn’t also add that I was terrified and intimidated. I didn’t want to let anyone down!
Simon Turney: I have been working in concert with another author on a joint project for some time, though that is just two of us and we were already well acquainted. I had never considered something on this scale. I remember reading ‘A Day of Fire’ when it was released last year and boggling at the amount of effort and skill that had to go into the mixing of six authors’ work. And now seven? I am still unsure how it worked so well, to be honest, and have to tip my hat to those of the team who had done this previously and who saw us ‘newbies’ through the whole project. Why I was asked to be a part of it baffles - but thrills and humbles - me.
Russ Whitfield: Thanks so much for your kind words! I was hugely honoured to be invited to take part. Originally, it was the original team from “A Day of Fire,” but there were scheduling conflicts and Ben Kane (bless him) asked me if I would be interested in taking part - which I jumped at. Editor-in-Chief Kate Quinn sussed out that a seven-act structure would work better in this instance because the first H-Team book took place in one location with a pretty short time-span… “A Year of Ravens” takes place over one year (natch!) and on a broader canvass.
UNRV: The rear area of any battlefield is a crowded place, and I suspect the Roman rear during the final battle with the Iceni was no different. It was probably heavily populated with Roman artillery and their crews, wounded Legionaries, wagons, drivers and draught animals, clerks, craftsmen, engineers, slaves, etc. In the story, Boudica, her two daughters, and Duro, Boudica’s right-hand man, escape through a gap in the rear of the original Roman position. Seems unlikely, but, perhaps, in the chaos of the moment it could have been possible. Any comment?
Ruth Downie: I’ll leave that to the people who know about battles!
Stephanie Dray: I have zero expertise in battles, which is why I didn’t volunteer to write any in this book. The historical Boudica escaped somehow, so I’m happy to accept Kate Quinn’s version!
Eliza Knight: I’ll admit to not being a battle expert (which is why we left it to Kate!), but, that being said, I think it is entirely possible. Duro and his son fight off the Romans that are there, allowing just a brief moment in time for Boudica and her daughters to escape. So, it wasn’t entirely vacant of Romans.
Kate Quinn: Fog of war? Blind chance? Who knows? Boudica and her daughters got off the battlefield somehow--history just doesn’t say where. I stage-managed things a bit so the requisite people could escape while the rest got appropriately heroic deaths. Seemed the least I could do for them.
Vicky Alvear Shecter: With historical fiction, we are obligated to work with the facts--and the facts are that Boudica’s body was never recovered. Nor did anyone find the bodies of her daughters. In the chaos and mass destruction it is possible they all died on that muddy field, but it is just as possible that they somehow made it out. That’s where the fiction comes in. We explore what was “possible.” Similarly, the Roman sources tell us all the Druids were killed on Mona. But it certainly was possible that one (or more) survived. So for my story, once I created that possibility, it was a matter of “inhabiting” the mind of a survivor of a mass killing, and exploring all the ways living through a trauma like that might affect one’s religious mind. For Boudica and her daughters, from a storytelling point of view, it was important to complete their arcs and let the reader know “what happened” in a way that real history couldn’t.
Simon Turney: One thing that I find in common with all accounts of conflict, from the birth of the bow to the advent of computerised warfare, is chaos. Commanders invariably sit on a hill watching the activity and saying ‘have unit A move to peak B’ and suchlike rather than indulging in the action but even then some commanders’ writings reek of panic and chaos. Caesar’s account of the Battle of the Sabis is a prime example. Half a hundred of the enemy could have gone anywhere they liked on that battlefield. From the point of view of the frontline soldier all is a sort of organised chaos. They know what is happening with their own unit and their direct seniors and perhaps have a handle on what adjacent units are doing. But few have a good idea of the whole situation. Add to that the fact that in the situation about which we wrote, the Iceni might well be hard to spot, and anything might happen. The Iceni might well be wearing mail shirts almost indistinguishable from those of the Roman auxiliary cavalry. Indeed, there were Gallic auxiliary units serving under Paulinus who were less than a century from being those same resistant Celts who had defied Caesar. It must have been chaos and the idea that four figures might slip through the rear lines is far from unthinkable.
Russ Whitfield: That’s not an easy question to answer, but I think that our modern perspective of these things is a little skewed. I’ve spoken to Phil Matyszak and Chris Cameron (these guys know their ancient battles!) at length on this and really, an ancient battlefield was more like a riot than a chess match. It was very possible to win on the left and lose on the right for instance - it would, as you say, have been utterly chaotic.
I don’t know if you’ve read Doug Jackson’s “Claudius?” There’s a great post-battle scene in it where the adversaries are just wandering around the battlefield - sporadic fights breaking out, people looting, people ignoring each other… when I was reading it, it felt “right” to me. He utterly nails it - and if you’ve not read it, please do. It’s epic.
To answer the question - In this instance, would the Romans have even been noticed the fugitives? Would a legionary even bother with two local women clearly fleeing for their lives? The instinct is to day “they’d have been pounced upon and abused” - but I don’t buy it that every single soldier was made that way… I was talking to Chris Cameron about a scene I was going to write in my current project where, having won a battle, the protagonist goes postal on the survivors. This happened in reality but the truth was that more often, people had had a bellyfull of killing and violence and were more likely to be magnanimous to the vanquished.
But, you just never know... so.. In this instance, I think that it’s perfectly feasible.
UNRV: Editing the work of seven authors to ensure that the chapters flow together seamlessly as they do in A Year of Ravens must have been an enormously challenging task. How did you do it?
Ruth Downie: No, it was really easy. We locked Kate into a dungeon with all the individual stories and refused to let her out until she’d made them all fit together.
Stephanie Dray: We did this in steps. First, we were each assigned two other stories to edit. Officially. Most of us did more than that. This gave us the ability to fine-tune each other’s work so that the characters were consistent. And nobody let ego get in the way here. After that round, Ruth Downie fact-checked the manuscript and Kate Quinn took on the Herculean task of editing the novel from start to finish to make sure the timeline was consistent, the characters were consistent, and that the choices made in one story didn’t undercut another. Then our copy editor caught a few more things. In short, we all pitched in and did our parts, but the credit goes to Kate!
Eliza Knight: It is!!! But I think we have a very good system. We all worked together in the beginning with outlines that we shared/tweaked here and there. During the writing process, any cross-over scenes are worked out together. We have one Editor-in-Chief, Kate, who when drafts are complete, divies out critiques, and we each read and edit at least two-three different stories. Kate, also reads the entire thing. After that, we go through revisions, and once more, Kate read the entire, as did many of us, before sending it off to our copy-editor.
Kate Quinn: Lots of wine, and about two solid weeks of eye-crossing nit-picking reading to make sure the brunette slave girl in Story #2 wasn’t suddenly a blonde in Story #4, that the funeral rites in Story #1 aligned with the burial flashback in Story #7, and that character descriptions and dialogue remained consistent throughout. I had the Editor-In-Chief job, which I gladly took on rather than have to wrestle with formatting or marketing, but I’d have gone round the bend if not for Ruth, who was our Fact-Checker-In-Chief and went down the research rabbit-hole obsessively looking up such things as whether or not ravens were extant in East Anglia. And the whole team was just wonderfully accommodating--whenever I turned up with a desperate manic gleam in my eye pleading “Can we please please rearrange the Druid rites in your story, or the next story’s beginning is COMPLETELY SCREWED!” they didn’t throw stones at me or suggest padded restraints--they uncomplainingly worked to smooth out the problem. Nobody dug their heels in or threw fits about their artistic vision being changed; everyone worked together to make sure the stories flowed. Bless them. (And the wine. The wine helped.)
Vicky Alvear Shecter: All the kudos needs to go to the brilliant Kate Quinn, who kept us all in line. On two different occasions she asked me to adjust my opening so that it flowed better with the stories before and after my own. I was happy to do it because it was clear she was right (damn her!) and we were all devoted to making the book as a whole work. Ruth Downie was also brilliant with the fact checking. Together they made a mighty team!
Simon Turney: There have been so many levels of editing applied to polish this work. It began with editing our own work. Then we swapped stories and edited one another in a ‘peer network’ fashion. Then Kate and Ruth, who took on the roles of editorial manager and fact-checker, ran their talented gazes over it, suggesting what needed to be changed to bring everything in line. Then there were various opportunities for the whole team to edit each others’ work. Finally it went to a very, very good copy editor who finished the job perfectly.
Russ Whitfield: I didn’t. Kate Quinn was Editor-in-Chief and has done an amazing job. I can’t tell you how hard it must have been weaving all this stuff together. The big things and the small things… especially the small things, in fact - hair colour, whose sister was whose... the little details... It was a huge task and she should be given a medal. Also, there was Ruth Downie who did all the fact checking and saved me from an epic fail where my happy crew of Romans would have in fact ended up in the Irish Sea if they’d followed the route I’d set out. #stupidModernGoogleMap. OK... #stupidRuss.
It WAS challenging, I know that - but Kate Quinn is a legend and was more than up to it. I am a Quinn Fanboy - unashamedly.
UNRV: The story, writing, and characters were all simply amazing! How do you get seven authors to agree on a consistent storyline, and characters that manage to maintain their individuality from beginning to end?
Ruth Downie: Lots of emails and the miracle of Skype! What I enjoyed about this was the way one person’s ideas sparked off another’s, and everyone was willing to be flexible. Poor Simon had to be excessively flexible because lots of us liked his character so much that we put him into our own stories, leaving Simon to work around lots of backstory he wasn’t expecting.
Stephanie Dray: Thank you! It took about a billion emails and two video conferences to get it right, but it was so much fun. We had some early missteps--Vicky was going to write about Cartimandua and I was going to write about Valeria, the wife of the procurator. But we quickly realized that Vicky wanted to write about a Druid and I had no idea what to do with Valeria. Meanwhile, Cartimandua was speaking to me and Kate had the better idea for Valeria anyway. I remember a bunch of us sitting down together at the Historical Novel Society’s conference and building on one another’s ideas.
None of it would’ve worked without cooperation and a determination to keep our characters as tightly entwined as possible. There were lots of conversations that went like this, “Hey, so if your character was fostered in a Roman household, can it be my Romans who fostered him?” And we even took some votes on who could live or die. Let’s just say we’re a bloodthirsty lot!
Eliza Knight: Believe it or not, this is actually not as complicated as it sounds! (Or maybe that was the mason jar of wine I had while going through final edits? LOL) We all worked very well together, and from the very beginning, we shared our outlines, cross-over characters, etc… so that by the time the writing started, we had a good idea of where everyone was. And then again, when we had those cross-over scenes, we wrote them together, so as not to make any mistakes. For example, I had in The Daughters, SJA’s character, Andecarus, and I made him a little more moon-eyed than he was, which was an easy fix!
Kate Quinn: From the beginning, each author chose a section of the rebellion in which to concentrate their story--before any plotting was done, I knew my story had to start after the sack of Verulamium and peak in the final battle, and everyone else had similarly firm historical starting-and-stopping-points to act as a framework. Everyone chose their own story and protagonists, however--the only guideline was that we wanted a mix of narrators to show Roman and Briton, old and young, male and female, etc. Once we each had an idea who our protagonists were, we met up in a Skype session and gabbed excitedly about how to interweave them. “Can my hero be your hero’s son?” “Can your heroine be my hero’s love interest?” “Can your hero carry the crucial message that has to arrive in my story?”
Vicky Alvear Shecter: To give you an idea of how this came together, think flexibility. Originally, I was slated to write a different character but on one of our many group discussions, someone mentioned we had no Druids in the story. My heart leapt with excitement--and I leapt to volunteer. Because really, how can you have a story about ancient Britannia and not have a Druid? So I think we all chose characters that “spoke” to us in some way.
For characters who interwove in others stories, it was a matter of making sure their “voice” was consistent and recognizable. Also, it was a matter of respect--if a character in your story has appeared before, then it was up to you to carry through what the author began in terms of characteristics and voice. If the character was young and naive in their story, they shouldn’t suddenly be mature and eloquent in yours. We’re all professionals and were careful to respect the integrity of characters that we had not originated.
Simon Turney: Er…. if you get an answer to that from the others, please let me know. In that respect I can only speak for Andecarus, who seems to have become something of a common thread, linking stories in his own right. It was a matter, I think, of constant consultation and peer suggestion.
Russ Whitfield: I’m absolutely thrilled you enjoyed it, that’s wicked! Thanks so much!
OK, so, when I came on board, the H-Team had already mapped out the events that they wanted to highlight on the story (the ones that you HAVE to have in a Boudica tale) it was more a question of execution. I suspect that you’re going to get this answer from everyone that starts like this: “Well, I can’t speak for the others...” So...
Well, I can’t speak for the others, but when I asked for and was given “The Tribune” I was made up because I know a little bit about the period and the Roman military at the time, so I thought that story carried the lowest risk of an Epic Russ Fail (though, the book’s not available to the public yet, so the jury’s out on whether I managed not to fail!).
I knew that my guy - Agricola - was young at the time. The first thing that sprang into my head was Act II, Scene 4 of Shakespeare’s Henry V (Full Disclosure: I had to Google the Act and Scene there - I’m not showing off!).
And, be assured, you'll find a difference, As we his subjects have in wonder found, Between the promise of his greener days And these he masters now
So that informed my thinking (I still don’t know why I thought of that line when this project came up, but there we are). I wanted Agricola not to be a great man - or even at the beginning show any signs of having the potential to be great.
He’s just a young bloke with a cool uniform, a cushy job and a good set of abs. Of course, he grows up during the process of the story and changes (the good old character arc) and my feeling was that these experiences set him on the path of his life to follow. But we don’t leave him as “Legendary Commander” or anything like that. He’s a survivor of a terrible war - and carries the scars.
As for consistency - we helped each other. It was that simple - Kate did a wicked job of Agricola in her bit, asked me for a line or two of dialogue which I was happy to do in my best “Agricola” voice. As Editor-in-Chief, she asked if she could add this or that to my story… and I was made up, because the bits she added are the best written bits in the story. Clearly, I’m not going to say what bits those are cos then everyone will know and I won’t be able to brag on about it “all being my own work” to my Mrs.
UNRV: When I completed the Epilogue, I was left wanting to know more about the future of several of the characters such as Keena, Ria, Cartimandua, Valeria, and the Iceni tribe. Can readers expect to learn their fate in future books?
Ruth Downie: I love the idea that they go on to have their own lives beyond the book, but I’m happy to leave it to readers’ imaginations. At least, I thought I was until I began pondering this question...
Stephanie Dray: Hah! Well, all I can say is that Cartimandua’s story would certainly make a compelling novel. If readers want to keep up with what’s next, they should sign up for an alert at www.stephaniedray.com/newsletter!
Eliza Knight: I would absolutely love to write more about Keena’s story. I loved her so very much! And I too, would like to see what happens next!
Kate Quinn: I don’t plan to write more continuing my characters, but I do know what happened to them. [Spoiler!] Valeria will make her way to Gaul and her bookish husband, who will take her back without divorce. They will mend relations and live out a rather quiet happy life, much enlivened by a huge hell-raising son. Like his father, he will be a warrior. Unlike his father, he will fight for Rome. [End spoiler.]
Vicky Alvear Shecter: Not from me! But some may have other plans. You never know. However, I am working on a children’s book about ancient warrior queens and Boudica will certainly be a part of it, though it will be more of a biographical retelling. Here in America, few children (and adults!) know about Boudica so it will a treat to introduce her to young audiences.
Simon Turney: From this group, I would say not. Their story is told. It may be that one of the authors here wishes to go on and write further works based on their character. I would not be averse to such an idea, though it would not be feasible for me to do so. But I think this is a complete and finished tale, really, with no need to expand. If Highlander II taught us anything, it is that some stories are meant to stand alone.
Russ Whitfield: I don’t know - they’re all great characters, aren’t they? That’d be up to the writers of those stories, I guess. I have no plans to do anything about Agricola at the moment.
UNRV: Do you have plans for additional books employing multiple authors?
Ruth Downie: I think everyone’s keen to do more but I’m hopeless at forward planning so I’ll wait to find out!
Stephanie Dray: We hope the H-Team will make it a yearly project to put out a novel like A YEAR OF RAVENS because it’s not only fun, but it really sharpens the skills. I learn so much from my fellow authors and I get to experiment with techniques I’ve never used before. But enough about me. The best part is that readers get a chance to sample authors they may not have heard of before!
Eliza Knight: Yes! Yes! Yes! The H-Team was created because we are hoping to put our yearly epic tales given from multiple viewpoints. A Day of Fire was very successful, and I believe, A Year of Ravens will be, too. I can’t WAIT to see what 2016 brings.
Kate Quinn: Goodness, I hope so. It’s about the most fun you can have and still call it work. We probably exchanged thousands of goofy emails during the writing of A Year of Ravens. Ruth said it best when she described the entire process as a writing seminar crossed with group therapy, only funnier.
Vicky Alvear Shecter: Nothing yet, but I will be the first to raise my hand if the opportunity arises. It really is fun and fulfilling!
Simon Turney: I can almost guarantee that The H Team will produce another compilation next year, based on a new historical event or character. Again, there will probably be a slightly different lineup. Looking at what we achieved here, though, I rather hope I will be one of them...
Russ Whitfield: With this lot? No chance, they’re all mad. And shouty (very shouty). All of the time.
No, seriously - this was an amazing experience, one that I was honoured to be included in this roster. I’ve said before, I feel like the bloke watching the football match and gets waved onto the pitch by the manager and ends up playing with his heroes (heroes who saved me from scoring an own goal - thank you Ruth Downie).
I don’t know if there are other stories planned - if there are and I was invited to participate, I would be in like a shot. I can’t express how much fun it was - I find writing quite hard (and some find my writing hard to read… but let’s not go there) but this experience was such a laugh - and the fastest 25000 words I’ve ever written. I don’t know why, I think it was the buzz of working with such exceptional talents lit a fire under my arse and I sat hunched at the keyboard with the mantra “don’t be rubbish, don’t be rubbish” going over and over in my head.
So - 100%, I would love to do this all again if the opportunity arose.
Thomas A. Timmes, a 28 year active duty veteran of the U.S. Army, holds the Bronze Star for Valor and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry for combat in Vietnam. Tom also served on the Department of the Army Staff and the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. He worked in the Department of Defense for 42 years including 24 years in the Pentagon.
Tom earned military and civilian awards including the Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Combat Infantryman's Badge, holds a Master's Degree in History, and is a member of the National History Honor Society. In 2013, he was designated a Distinguished Member of the Psychological Operations Regiment. Thomas A. Timmes has published several novels in the series Legio XVII
