Steven Saylor is currently celebrating 20 years since the first book in his Roma Sub Rosa series was published and in order to share this triumph with his fans, he has extended his web pages to incorporate some special additions.
A variety of front covers
Roman Blood has been published in an abundance of countries and has been translated into many languages. As a result, many editions of the book have been issued, each with different covers. Saylor has chosen to present them here and it is interesting to see the variety from country to country, research obviously having been done into what would be more appealing to the readers on the cover that would tempt them to buy it.
The first draft of Roman Blood - a very different narrator
Saylor's first draft of Roman Blood shows that he was approaching his first historical murder mystery from a completely different angle. Whilst still using Cicero's Murder Trials as his inspiration, he had not, at this initial writing stage, decided on Gordianus, the Finder, as a narrator. Instead, he had chosen Tiro, Cicero's secretary to be the voice of the books, a considered choice as Tiro was present at all his trials and provided transcripts of conversations and meetings that Cicero wanted to record, Tiro doing this through his own unique shorthand. With Tiro as narrator, it would truly have been a first-hand account. Saylor, however, decided that he wanted more distance from Cicero and so Gordianus the Finder was created.
This is the most interesting addition to these pages, showing as it does the writing process: Saylor having the seed of an idea and starting his writing project only to review it and realise that whilst it works as a narrative, it gave him limited scope with the stories he wanted to relate. For any budding writers, seeing this initial abandoned draft may give them the confidence to trust their writer's instinct and adapt their style if they feel the need.
First review of Roman Blood
Saylor has also provided the link to the first review of Roman Blood for those interested in how it was first received, although the longevity of the series to date is testament to its quality. With Saylor working on a precursor to the Roma Sub Rosa series about Gordianus' trip to the Seven Ancient Wonders, hopefully the next update to the website will be the release of this new book.
Source
http://www.stevensaylor.com/RomanBlood20thAnniversary/index.html
Rachel Deeming - Rachel is a mother of two boys, one 18 months old and the other a busy boy of four. She used to work until recently as an English teacher ...
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