Vicky Alvear Shecter's Blog, page 4
September 5, 2017
Odysseus Like You’ve Never Seen Him…Announcing a New Release
Coming October 17, 2017
I am so excited to announce our latest H-Team collaboration: A SEA OF SORROW: A NOVEL OF ODYSSEUS.
Six authors who love writing about the ancient world banded together once again to explore the hidden personalities and dynamics behind Homer’s endlessly fascinating second epic.
I’ve been blown away by the creativity of my fellow authors–David Blixt, Amalia Carosella, Libbie Hawker, Scott Oden, and Russell Whitfield–and their reimagining of the witches, sirens and monsters the iconic trickster encountered. You really must see their stories for yourself!
Pre-order the book now:
The story:
Odysseus, infamous trickster of Troy, vaunted hero of the Greeks, left behind a wake of chaos and despair during his decade long journey home to Ithaca. Lovers and enemies, witches and monsters–no one who tangled with Odysseus emerged unscathed. Some prayed for his return, others, for his destruction. These are their stories…
A beleaguered queen’s gambit for maintaining power unravels as a son plots vengeance.
A tormented siren battles a goddess’s curse and the forces of nature to survive.
An exiled sorceress defies a lustful captain and his greedy crew.
A blinded shepherd swears revenge on the pirate-king who mutilated him.
A beautiful empress binds a shipwrecked sailor to servitude, only to wonder who is serving whom.
A young suitor dreams of love while a returned king conceives a savage retribution.
Six authors bring to life the epic tale of The Odyssey seen through the eyes of its shattered victims—the monsters, witches, lovers, and warriors whose lives were upended by the antics of the “man of many faces.” You may never look upon this timeless epic—and its iconic ancient hero—in quite the same way again. In the tradition of Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles, and with the spirit of Lindsey Davis’ The Third Nero and Kate Quinn’s Mistress of Rome, A Sea of Sorrow transports you to the endlessly fascinating world of Homeric Greece.
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February 21, 2017
An Epic Deal on Our Retelling of Fantastic Epics
If you’ve ever wondered what accomplished authors could create when they allowed themselves to PLAY without limits with the stories that always fascinated them, here’s your chance. It’s been such an honor to be a part of this team and I’m really proud of these collaborative novels. And now they are available together for an epically low price for a short time.
Get the bundle today: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2kXKsfA Kobo: https://goo.gl/30o2AQ B&N: https://goo.gl/3zoATa
The bundle includes these three novels:
Twelve bestselling historical authors bring to life to the glory of the ancient world in three novels spanning golden Greece to blood-soaked Rome in one epic package:
A DAY OF FIRE
(Authored by: Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter)
Pompeii: a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of Rome’s glory. When Vesuvius erupts in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town struggles to flee the mountain’s wrath: soldiers and politicians, villains and heroes, young and old. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?
A YEAR OF RAVENS
(Authored by: Ruth Downie, Stephanie Dray, E. Knight, Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter, SJA Turney, Russell Whitfield)
Britannia: land of mist and magic clinging to the western edge of the Roman Empire. A red-haired queen named Boudica leads her people in a desperate rebellion against the might of Rome, an epic struggle destined to consume warriors and peacemakers, slaves and queens, Roman and Celt. But who will survive to see the dawn of a new Britannia, and who will fall to feed the ravens?
A SONG OF WAR
(Authored by: Christian Cameron, Libbie Hawker, Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter, Stephanie Thornton, SJA Turney, Russell Whitfield)
Troy: city of gold, gatekeeper of the east, a haven destined to last a thousand years. But the Fates have other planes–the Fates, and a woman named Helen. In the shadow of Troy’s gates, all must be reborn in the greatest war of the ancient world: heroes and cowards, seers and kings, innocent and guilty. But who will lie forgotten in the embers, and who will rise to shape the dawn of a new age?
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January 27, 2017
Cheating Customers is an Ancient Tradition
When it comes to animal mummies, the prettier the outside wrapping, the more likely the contents inside were faked. Jackal mummy from the Manchester Museum.Animal mummification was big business in ancient Egypt. Often temples bred animals for the purposes of later killing and mummifying them. They sold these mummies as religious relics worshippers could purchase and offer to their patron god or goddess for protection.
It turns out, however, that mummy sellers often cheated their customers. Out of 800 animal mummies scanned in one museum, a full one-third had nothing but mud inside. Another third had bits and pieces of bone but nothing at all like the whole animal buyers thought they were purchasing.
Look at that sweet kitty face!Apparently, there was no Better Business Bureau of the ancient world!
To the ancient Egyptians, animals represented the mystery and power of the gods. A mummified animal was also a reminder that in their afterworld, animals roamed freely as well, including your own beloved pets if you remembered to have them mummified.
The afterworld was a beautiful place of abundance where the deserving could live forever in their resurrected bodies, which was why preserving the body was so important. Of course, you needed to pass the “Weighing of the Heart” test first in the duat, but that’s another story.
Animal mummy sellers sometimes set up booths in marketplaces for convenience. Just imagine–you could pick up some fresh Nile perch for dinner and a sweet falcon mummy to honor Horus all in one stop! Kind of like the ancient version of Wal-Mart–except without all the bad fashion.
Why did mummy sellers cheat their customers? Most likely because they couldn’t keep up with the demand. But mostly, I imagine, the driving force was plain old human nature–greed, the impulse to take shortcuts and, sometimes, cheat. Anyone who has purchased something online and been disappointed knows that our essential cheating natures haven’t changed much over the millennia.
Nanni’s outrage over being cheated is REAL. I utterly love those moments where we see our humanity–with all its silliness and propensity for wrongdoing–shining up at us through time.
In the same way, I love learning about early “customer service complaints” like this one from Babylonia. Poor Nanni is royally pissed that he got a shipment of bad copper. He lets his supplier know in this long cuneiform complaint that fairly bristles with outrage.
He wants his money back, now! Also, he is taking his business elsewhere in the future. My favorite part is when he asks, “What do you take me for?”
The outrage is real.
Some thing never change!
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October 18, 2016
A SONG OF WAR is Out Now!
I am so proud to announce that A SONG OF WAR: A NOVEL OF TROY is out today. This is the third collaborative novel I’ve participated in and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it.
What is a collaborative novel? I like to describe it as a creative exercise where professional authors join together to intertwine multiple stories around a single subject. Think of Penelope at her loom, only imagine seven weavers working on one piece of fabric. Authors who share a passion write individual stories that are interconnected at every level to create a weave of extraordinary complexity and depth.
Before any of us start writing, we plan our “weave” so that no threads get tangled or mindlessly repeated. That’s why the novel begins in Sparta, before Helen launches a thousand ships, and ends with Aeneas leaving his burning golden city behind with a heavy heart. Along the way, we live among Cassandra and her brother Helenus, Agamemnon, Briseis, the Amazon Penthesilea, Achilles, Philoctetes and many other iconic figures.
My individual thread is Odysseus’ story before he comes up with his solution to getting the Greek army into Troy. Odysseus wasn’t my first choice to write but as the group discussed how to break down the characters and the timing, I somehow ended up with the trickster.
Trying to give a fresh perspective to such a familiar and beloved character was a challenge but I was inspired by the talent of the other authors on this team who blew me away with their creative characterizations of heroes we only “thought” we knew. I couldn’t be prouder to be on the same team with Kate Quinn, Stephanie Thornton, Russell Whitfield, Christian Cameron, Libbie Hawker and SJA Turney.
Order A SONG OF WAR today on Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or iTunes. Thanks for the support, friends!
Also check out the H-Team‘s other collaborative novels about Pompeii and the British warrior queen, Boudica.
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September 16, 2016
The Gorgeous Award from the Georgia Center for the Book…Plus Friday Funnies!
I missed the ceremony last month for the announcement of the 2016 “Books All Young Georgians Should Read,” sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book, but I finally picked up the award yesterday. Isn’t it beautiful?
THOR SPEAKS! made the list and I couldn’t be prouder. The wonderful thing about this award (aside from the obvious), is that it brings attention to books that might otherwise get lost in the deluge of good books being published every year. I love that Georgia librarians will be able to say to a kid who loves mythology, “Okay, so you’ve read all of Rick Riodan’s books–why don’t you try this one?” I love that teachers may be introduced to a book that they can use in the classroom as an example of creative nonfiction.
Thank you, Georgia Center for the Book, especially Joe Davich and Zach Steele, for supporting Georgia authors!
And because today is Friday, here are a couple of Viking jokes to make you smile:
A famous Viking explorer returned home from a voyage and found
his name missing from the town register.
His wife insisted on complaining to the local civic official who
apologized profusely saying, “I must have taken Leif off my census.”
Q. Where did the teacher send the Viking when he got sick in class?
A. To the school Norse!
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August 16, 2016
New Book Cover for A SONG OF WAR!
The story that initially captured our imaginations about the ancient world gets a reboot in this collaboration novel, releasing October 18th. Helen, Paris, Achilles, Cassandra, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Aeneas and other famous names spring to life in fresh new ways.
As always, I am so excited and honored to be a part of this collaboration novel with authors I deeply respect. Get a jump start and pre-order now!
Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
Amazon UK (Kindle only)
Troy: city of gold, gatekeeper of the east, haven of the god-born and the lucky, a city destined to last a thousand years. But the Fates have other plans—the Fates, and a woman named Helen. In the shadow of Troy’s gates, all must be reborn in the greatest war of the ancient world: slaves and queens, heroes and cowards, seers and kings . . . and these are their stories.
A young princess and an embittered prince join forces to prevent a fatal elopement.
A tormented seeress challenges the gods themselves to save her city from the impending disaster.
A tragedy-haunted king battles private demons and envious rivals as the siege grinds on.
A captured slave girl seizes the reins of her future as two mighty heroes meet in an epic duel.
A grizzled archer and a desperate Amazon risk their lives to avenge their dead.
A trickster conceives the greatest trick of all.
A goddess’ son battles to save the spirit of Troy even as the walls are breached in fire and blood.
Seven authors bring to life the epic tale of the Trojan War: its heroes, its villains, its survivors, its dead. Who will lie forgotten in the embers, and who will rise to shape the bloody dawn of a new age?
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August 12, 2016
Friday Funnies–Olympics Style
The REAL reason Michael Phelps Always Wins
Thetis dipping Achilles in the Styx to make him invulnerable.
Women’s Volleyball–The Early Years
Ancient Roman bikini girls mosaic (southern Italy).
Simone Biles in a Prior Life
Bull leaping fresco, Knossos, Crete, Late Minoan(“Seriously, after this, vaulting in a gym is a breeze…no bull.”)
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July 29, 2016
The Resurrection of FRIDAY FUNNIES!
In honor of the National JCL Convention in Indiana.
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July 22, 2016
Writing with Teens and A Slice of Heaven in Roanoke
Thanks to Angela Jordan and Michelle Hopf of Auburn University, I was invited to speak with teens participating in the university’s week-long writing camp. Each student received a copy of Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii. I met with them for “Dinner and Conversation with the Author” It. Was. Awesome.
The kids were all so bright, engaging, and motivated. Plus, they also got to chat with the fabulous Ash Parsons, author of Still Waters, who joined me in the fun. We both fielded lots of questions and–hopefully–inspired them to keep on writing.
As the night wound down, the students presented me with a beautiful scroll filled with their stories and poetry. Greatest. Gift. Evah.
Just the weekend before, I was in Roanke, Virginia, to visit my good bud, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, who upped and moved to Scotland to get her MFA at the University of Edinburgh. Thankfully, she teaches at Hollins University during the summer and I got my “e” fix.
Roanoke was hot but so, so beautiful. The views were gorgeous and the company was great. Elizabeth set up a meet and greet with writers, illustrators, and professors who wanted to talk writing and publishing. More fascinating conversation!
The highlight was dinner out in the country at the home of creative dynamo, Nancy Dahlstrom, former head of the art department at Hollins. Artist prof. Ashley Wolff joined us (below, R; Nancy on left).
We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset and took a ride on Nancy’s all-terrain vehicle, wherein we saw deer and took such a sharp turn at the sight of a rampaging skunk, we almost rounded a corner on two wheels. We tried catching lightning bugs but they were maddeningly elusive which puzzled me because I can catch them easily at home in Atlanta. What are they trying to tell us–that country bugs are smarter than city bugs? If I’d been able to catch one, I would’ve asked.
Aliya, Ashley and Elizabeth in the “Gator” car. Bottom: Elizabeth, Aliya and moi.
Good friends and lots of conversations about writing and books. Plus, lots of time with my girl before she goes to college in the fall equal a wonderful summer!
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July 18, 2016
Win Historical Fiction Books and More!
I’ve always said that reading historical fiction is like having your very own personal time machine. It’s the greatest of escapes.
And summer is the best time to lose yourself in another world and time. A bunch of authors decided to make it easier for you to crank that time machine. You could win books and prizes from eighteen top authors of historical fiction today. Plus, you could win a $100 gift card to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iTunes–your choice.
I’m honored to be part of this group which includes some of my all-time favorite authors: Stephanie Dray, Kate Quinn, Ruth Downie, Stephanie Thornton, Sophie Perinot, Eliza Knight, Donna Russo Morin, and others. The height of summer is the perfect time to kick back, put your feet up, and enjoy the warm weather with a great book. Or two. Or three.
Enter here. What are ya waiting for?
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