Adrian Magson gave an entertaining talk to an appreciative audience at Towcester Library last night. He’s known to readers through his Gavin and Palmer crime series, and to many writers through his ‘Beginners’ column in Writing Magazine. So at last, here’s one of those ‘Look Mum, here’s me with famous author!’ moments…
Meanwhile, back at Downie Towers, the deadline for Book Three approaches. From now until mid-August the diary has little in it except WRITE!!! in big red letters.
Ruth Downie 
Hi Ruth,
Glad to know that the writing is going like gangbusters. I’m really looking forward to reading it. I’ve been biding my time with Robert Harris’ “Imperium” and Robin Lane Fox’s ‘Pagans and Christians’ that you had recommended earlier.
Is there going to be a simultaneous UK/US release of Book 3, or is there going to be a delay before we get to see it over here?
Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Hopefully UK and US editions will come out together, but I guess that depends on what else each of the publishers has planned – they’re completely independent of each other.
I’m nearing the end of ‘Pagans and Christians’ – the chapter on ‘Bishops and Authority’ is especially enlightening in the light of current debates in the Anglican church. (‘…their origins can only be guessed, but it is not unjust to suspect that bishops were born from conflict.’ )
Lucky you, reading ‘Imperium’. I still haven’t, tho’ I loved ‘Pompeii’. Another one for the ‘after the deadline’ list!
I read Pompeii as well. The BBC had adapted it for radio a while back, and I managed to hear a few episodes of it. It got me interested in reading the book. ‘Imperium’ got me interested in Cicero, which led to my listening to the audio version of Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” courtesy of LibriVox.
Like another one of your readers, I’m a fan of ‘Rome’. It’s interesting seeing history and fiction come together to paint some very compelling pictures of life at the beginning of the First Millennium.
There’s a show here in the US called “The Naked Archaeologist” that featured a couple of episodes on Rome. The host explained that the Coliseum was financed with the gold from the Second Temple that the Romans destroyed in 70 AD. Apparently part of the wealth was on display in a “museum” in Rome shortly after the sacking of the temple. We tend to look at Rome as a very pagan city, but apparently at the time there was a very sizable Jewish community.
Anyway, all of this is rather fueling my curiosity about your new book. Can’t wait to read it!
Mark
The Coliseum was financed with gold from the Temple? Good grief! It’s hard to imagine a bigger insult to the local Jewish population.
As for book 3 – personally I can’t wait to finish it!