Introducing the villains!

Good Morning! 

It's Friday again and the new month of April begins. My blog is now a dark theme because it was time to refresh it. I'm giving the dark background a trial to see if it's easier on the eye for reading across all devices, or not. 

During some of my past blogging years, I've blogged every single day during the month of April- sometimes officially alongside other bloggers doing the same, and other years just doing my own thing.  I intend to do something every day of this April of  2022. It will be something to do with my writing, either regarding my just published novel Before Beltane, or to do with research for my current writing which will be during the era of mid-Victorian Scotland. 

Today's theme is about Making Timelines Mesh Properly.

Writing Before Beltane was quite a challenge since I was taking two characters who were the mainstay of Book 1 of my Celtic Fervour Series and giving them a bit of 'back' history. I've never attempted to write a Prequel before, so it was interesting to ensure that whatever I wrote about Lorcan and Nara matched up with events in Book 1, The Beltane Choice. 

In Book 1, Lorcan of Garrigill meets Nara of Tarras a few weeks before the Festival of Beltane, May 1st. However, they are a very eventful few weeks and are crucial to what (is thought by historians) was going on in Brigantia at that time.

When I came to write Before Beltane I needed to make sure that the timelines of the events during the months earlier in that year of AD 71 were slotting in perfectly. 

What do historians actually know about AD 71 in Brigantia, northern Britannia. The answer is not really very much. It's not really known exactly when the new Governor of Britannia, General Cerialis, took up his post. Since dating in the Ancient Roman calendar of the late 1st Century centered around the issue of who held which consulships, there seems, to me, to be is a degree of flexibility in interpretation. Some years had a number of consulships awarded for the same consul post, which makes it even more difficult to determine exactly in which months, and in which year, a consulship was undertaken by a particular person. AD 71 is the acknowledged date for uptake of the Governorship of Britannia by General Cerialis. This was the reason I chose my starting point for the Celtic Fervour Series to be the year of 71.  

I've included an excerpt here from Before Beltane where Lorcan and King Venutius of the Brigantes are information sharing. Venutius mentions the arrival of the newest Governor, Quintus Petillius C.R. Cerialis. And even more importantly for relevance to the whole of the Celtic Fervour Series, the reader encounters the name Commander Agricola who has taken up a senior post in the Twentieth Legion.

In between the many questions King Venutius fired his way, as they strode along the perimeter of the settlement, Lorcan shared his information.

“Agricola?” Venutius stroked the grizzled grey hair that sloped from upper lip to beneath his wrinkled chin a few times with a thumb and a forefinger before the king came to an unexpected halt.

Lorcan felt the king’s full gaze turn towards him before the king spoke again. “I do not recall that name, yet you say he was a tribune of a Britannic legion some time ago?”

Before Lorcan could reply, he watched Venutius’ upper body swivel. The king stared behind at the elders who walked in his wake, his expression inquiring. When no response came from any of his advisers, Venutius carried on walking.

“I had thought that we may only need to pay great heed to this newest Governor of Britannia, a soldier they name Cerialis, but perhaps there are many more senior Romans we must also monitor,” Venutius said.

Lorcan dared to ask, “Cerialis? That name is new to me.”

The king snorted. “Emperor Vespasian’s doing. He has recently installed a new governor for Britannia, one who will do his bidding without question.”

One of the king’s retinue, clearly a battle-survivor from the scars that adorned him, grunted behind Lorcan.

“My hillfort lies on our Brigante border with the Cornovii tribe. I have infiltrators rooting out orders that come from Emperor Vespasian. Though, finding out commands in the names of Cerialis – and this Agricola – will need to have equal importance, now.” 

Buy Before Beltane HERE in Kindle or paperback. 

Slàinte!