John Stack

[John]

Hi, my name is John Stack.

I'm a writer and hail from Youghal although I moved to the heart of the people's republic when I went to college and got my green card when I married a Cork woman.

So far I have written a trilogy of Roman historical fiction novels entiled, 'Masters of the Sea'. The three books are 'Ship of Rome', 'Captain of Rome' and 'Master of Rome'. The series is set in the Roman Republic in the third century BC and charts the birth of the Roman navy during the First Punic War.

I love hunting down recommendations from others on what they're reading or what they consider to be the best book ever!

[John]

Not a bother Vicki, I hope all is well.

[s e n t i m e n t a l i t i e s]

Hiya John.

So what would you consider to be the best book ever!

Also, what got you writing Roman historical fiction ?

[Paul]

Hey John, welcome. I'm liking the sound of your books. I'm a bit of a historical fiction nut myself, ust see if I can track them down.

[Joanna]

Hi John, welcome! Was thinking about reading some historical fiction, and there you are with your books :) that's why I love Goodreads, apparently I don't even have to look for stuff anymore, it just comes to me :P

Don't mind me.

So what do you like reading? :) Favorite authors, books? Hey! You're not the only one who likes to get recommendations. I went and looked around your shelves but there ain't much there to give me an idea about your literary preferences :)

[John]

olittlebear wrote: "Hiya John.

So what would you consider to be the best book ever!

Also, what got you writing Roman historical fiction ?"

Like most people I find it impossible to pick just one book as my favourite, particularly 'cos I read books from lots of genres. For historical fiction though my favourite has got to be Shogun by James Clavell. I've read it tons of times and could probably act out certain scenes but its a brilliant book. As a writer in this genre it's an inspiration.

As to what got me writing historical fiction, I've always been a fan. I love studying history, especially military and political. What got me writing 'Master of the Sea' however was not that the era was Roman, I was fascinated by the story itself, how the Romans overcame the Carthaginians with a very simple but brilliant weapon. You'll have to read the books to find out more!!

[John]

Joanna wrote: "Hi John, welcome! Was thinking about reading some historical fiction, and there you are with your books :) that's why I love Goodreads, apparently I don't even have to look for stuff anymore, it ju..."

Hey Joanna, I'm new to Goodreads so my shelves are a little sparse. I have to through the piles of books in my house and post reviews for the best. I'm kinda all over the place with reading at the mo, most of it is historical fiction (right now I'm reading Robert Low's latest, The Lion Wakes). I have to read a lot of historical factual books for research, particularly ancient texts, not sure if anyone wants to read my 'review' of Polybius ;)

[Keith]

Hey John,

It's really interesting to have a published Author in our group, especially a historical fiction author. I think we have a fair few historical fiction fans in the group.

I've just finished the Conn Iggulden, series on Rome. Loved the first two books, but found the pacing of the last two a little slow. Vicki has been telling me about your books, I've heard good things about them. Look forward to reading them.

So apart from Roman History, what other histories are you interested in? Would you like to write about another period some day?

[John]

Keith wrote: "Hey John,

It's really interesting to have a published Author in our group, especially a historical fiction author. I think we have a fair few historical fiction fans in the group.

I've just finis..."

Hi Keith, I have a new book coming out in January next year entitled, 'Armada' and is a stand alone historical fiction novel about The Spanish Armada. The action starts in Cadiz in 1587, when Drake, 'singed the beard of the King of Spain' and leads right up and through the Armada campaign to the Battle of Gravelines. The main characters are fictional (I like writing about the men in the trenches!) with the real histical figures in background. It's a great book (I'm bound to say that obviously but it's turned out way different than I had first envisaged). The book's in copy edit now, its final stage and I should have a first draft of the jacket soon which I will post on my author page. As I ramp up to publication date I will post more about the novel.

As for other periods, I have some ideas for a new trilogy although for the moment the whole thing is under wraps ;)

[Joanna]

Oooh, yes me too! I HAVE to reread it actually, I've read (more like inhaled it! ;) ) it as a teenager and absolutely loved it but haven't read it since. Plus for some reason my family ritually watched the tv series together. Every couple of years someone would take out first the video tapes then DVDs and start watching the first episode, and before we knew it, we were all sitting and watching through it all. Don't really know why, everyone of us individually preferred different shows, but it became a bit of a tradition :)

In historical fiction my absolute favorites would have to be: Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset and then Henryk Sienkiewicz's trilogy:
With Fire and Sword, The Deluge and Fire in the Steppe