Ruhi asked Jennifer A. Nielsen:

Hi! I have read every single one of your books and loved them so much! Specifically the Ascendance Trilogy! My question was related to the Mark of the Thief trilogy... Since this series was set in ancient Rome, did you have to conduct lots of research to write this? How did you bring a story with such an ancient setting to life like a realistic fiction novel? Thanks! Ruhi

Jennifer A. Nielsen Hi Ruhi!

Yes, the research for Mark of the Thief was daunting, especially because there are so many details about Ancient Rome, I often didn't even know what questions to ask, much less the answers.

Part of the research involved a trip to Rome (woot!) to get a better understanding of the scale of things and their relationship to each other. So I took a tour beneath the Colosseum to help me better understand what the Venatio would have been like there. Then I read as much as I could on Rome, not only on the larger world but everyday life details.

If the book felt realistic to you, then I consider that a great compliment. Thank you for being a reader!

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