The winner, my review of THE IONIA SANCTION, and a spooooooky interview with author Gary Corby!

I am going to try my best to do this without spoilers.

Okay. So. Some of you may have heard recently that I managed to get my eager little paws on a copy of Gary Corby's upcoming second mystery, THE IONIA SANCTION. Which I then proceeded to read in three nights (fast for me, lately), staying up until 1:30 AM the last night trying not to wake up my husband so I could finish it.

Because, you guys, I LOVED IT. Gary has such an easy way of writing history. I'm sure it's not easy for him, but he makes it look easy. I love how his books fit neatly into these little spaces between real events (more on that later!)

One of the things that I really like about Gary's books is that he doesn't shy away from being historically accurate to soothe modern sensibilities. The main character, Nico, acts exactly as a young Hellene male should: like he's in charge. There's one part in the story where Nico buys a young girl as a slave, and despite the fact that he does this to save her from a much worse fate, he still expects her to treat him with the respect due a master. This dynamic is both comical within the setting of the story and appreciable from a historical point of view. Nico only acts as he would be expected to. In Ancient times, slaves were property, animals were tools, and men couldn't marry without their father's permission.

The mystery in this story is well-crafted, with an appropriate body count and an even-more appropriate exposure to the brutality of the ancient world. I think Gary does an excellent job of brushing up to the bad/gory parts but not focusing on them to the point that the book gets gruesome and loses focus. The plot is clear and easy to follow, and the twists are well-spaced. The pacing is compelling (obviously, since I couldn't put it down), and I love the historical lessons woven throughout the narrative without feeling forced.

My favorite part? Well, as a horse person, I loved the part where Nico tries to impress a lady and ride a horse. Actually, I just loved that horse. And Gary's inclusion of said horse in the cast of characters at the beginning of the book.

I also really liked the relationship between Diotima and Nico, which only gets better in this book.

So while I could probably go on and on and on about THE IONIA SANCTION, I think I will stop there and let Gary speak for himself a little bit.

Me: What's your favorite death in the book?

Gary: A father never has favorites among his children! I guess that's a weird way to talk about killing people, but welcome to the demented world of mystery authors.

I don't know that it's a favorite, but the very first murder in the first book seems to have become the stuff of legend (A dead man fell from the sky, etc.). There's a death in the second book, The Ionia Sanction, that I had lots of fun writing. That killing appears about halfway through, but in early drafts, it was the first in the book. I was told in no uncertain terms that scene had to be moved back! It seems I did a good job of evoking reader reaction.

The importance of a death in a mystery isn't the ick factor, it's what it means to the reader. I once disemboweled three women, and no one batted an eyelid. But then I wrote a scene in which a woman was merely punched unconscious, and I couldn't get it past the editor. Context is everything.

Me: Did the Greeks have a holiday like or similar to Halloween?

Gary: Anthesteria!

The Greeks had a zillion more festival days than us. That's because their calendar didn't have weeks, so there were no weekends. The only way to get time off work was to hold festivals in honor of the gods.

Four of them were in honor of Dionysos, the god of wine and fun parties, and of these the oldest festival -- so old it was considered ancient even in classical times -- was Anthesteria. It went over three days.

The first day was the Day of the Jars. The previous year's wine was opened and everyone had a taste. Children were adorned in flowers.

The second day was the Day of the Libations. Everyone partied. People dressed up in costumes.

Weirdly, both days were considered hugely unholy. During this time, the psyches of the dead rose from Hades to walk the earth.

The third day was the Day of Pots. It was a festival of the dead, designed to drive the psyches back to Hades. People offered food sacrifices to the dead, and to Hermes Chthonios. You probably won't have much trouble working out where Lovecraft's Cthulhu comes from.

Me: One of my very favorite parts of your books is how you find little pockets of intrigue in real history to tuck your stories into. Has it been hard finding those pockets and putting Nico in them? Of THE PERICLES COMMISSION and THE IONIA SANCTION, what is your favorite coincidence that worked out this way?

Gary: Searching for intrigue in ancient Athens is like looking for toys in a playroom. You only have to take one step inside to get Lego embedded in your foot.

Inserting Nico into ancient conspiracies is more of a challenge, because I don't want to break history. So I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to do it. In the case of The Pericles Commission, because the assassination of Ephialtes was so little documented, I had room to move. (I certainly didn't think so at the time, but I do now!). The Ionia Sanction was much more of a challenge because one of the central characters, a fellow named Themistocles, was extremely famous and thoroughly well documented. I must have spent a month doing nothing but think about how to thread my plot into known history. This sort of puzzle is one of the most fun parts of the writing.

The best coincidence is a toughie, because it's surprising how often coincidence comes to my aid. Here's an example: that death I mentioned before, in the middle of Ionia Sanction...I put that in because the plot required it, but then I discovered while doing research that a real historical person had died exactly the same way, in exactly the same place, almost exactly 60 years before the events of my story. Needless to say I wrote that into the plot!

Me: If Nico could dress up as anything or anyone he wanted for a day, what/ who do you think he would pick?

Gary: Diotima's the one who's into wearing disguises. She'll dress as a man to get into places she's not supposed to go.

Somehow I can see Nico dressed as James Bond. In fact they'd make a terrific partnership. Nico would almost certainly do something that got Bond killed.


Thanks so much, Gary, for taking the time to answer these questions (and write such a fun book)!

And congratulations to Amalia T., who won the IONIA SANCTION ARC prize pack! Thanks to everyone who entered!

THE IONIA SANCTION comes out on November 8th. Pre-order at Amazon.com or B&N.com.

Happy Anthesteria, everyone!

WIN an ARC of Gary Corby's second book, THE IONIA SANCTION!!!

Okay, so--

Guys, I don't mean to brag, but I know some people.

I know some people (like Gary Corby) who were awesome enough to think of me when it came time to send out ARCs of their (his) second book in their (his) awesome historical mystery series. And that's how I happen to have a copy of this book, a few weeks before its release date.

I'm betting there are some historical mystery fans out there who would also like to have a copy of this book, a week or two before its release date, amiright?

Amazon.com gives this description of THE IONIA SANCTION:

"Athens, 460 B.C. Life's tough for Nicolaos, the only investigating agent in ancient Athens. His girlfriend's left him and his boss wants to fire him. But when an Athenian official is murdered, the brilliant statesman Pericles has no choice but to put Nico on the job.

The case takes Nico, in the company of a beautiful slave girl, to the land of Ionia within the Persian Empire. The Persians will execute him on the spot if they think he's a spy. Beyond that, there are only a few minor problems:

He's being chased by brigands who are only waiting for the right price before they kill him.

Somehow he has to placate his girlfriend, who is very angry about that slave girl.

He must meet Themistocles, the military genius who saved Greece during the Persian Wars, and then defected to the hated enemy.

And to solve the crime, Nico must uncover a secret that could not only destroy Athens, but will force him to choose between love, and ambition, and his own life."

Now, you guys may have noticed that I am a huge fan of Gary's work, considering that I put his first book up for grabs every time we have a contest here at the Archives. Frankly, I love how Gary makes the ancient world come to life in his books. The plots are twisted, and classic mystery in and of themselves, but they come with a helping of a history lesson that, for a history buff like me, is extremely interesting.

And I think you'll love his work too.

So! On to business. I have an ARC of the next book in the series, THE IONIA SANCTION, due out November 8th, 2011, to give away to one VERY lucky Archives reader.

But! I'm not JUST giving away an ARC of THE IONIA SANCTION. No sirree. I'm ALSO giving away a copy of the first book in the series, THE PERICLES COMMISSION, just in case you've never heard about a mystery series set in ancient Greece and need to catch up. (If you already have THE PERICLES COMMISSION in your possession, we'll talk. I've got some other books I can send along, as well). I am also giving away two THE PERICLES COMMISSION bookmarks that Gary gave me on his tour stop in San Diego last year, along with three mini replica Greek-style statues to adorn your desk in the highest Hellenistic style. Or maybe Roman. Let's be honest. I really have no clue what they're supposed to be.

(They didn't come labeled, okay?)

So! Here's a picture of what you could win:



The statues are two busts, and one Angsty Leaning Guy. (Perhaps if Gary stops by the comment section, he might be able to shed some light on these).

Now on to the contest itself:

All you have to do to enter to win is leave a comment on this post, telling me what I should do with the leftover Vegemite I also have from Gary's visit last year. (Preferably besides eating it). Or not. Just commenting will be fine. But it would entertain me to hear your answers. I'd also really like it if you followed this blog, so I'll give you one more entry for that. And if you tweet or blog about it, I'll give you one more entry for that.

So, in an easier to read format:

+1 for commenting telling me what to do with leftover Vegemite (besides eating it)
+1 for following the Archives
+1 for tweeting/ blogging about the contest

But you need to hurry up and do this because I am going to draw a winner on THURSDAY, October 27th, 2011. I will accept entries until noon Pacific on that day.

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART:

I'd REALLY like you to get this ARC before the book actually comes out. So, if you enter, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come back and check the comments section of THIS POST on Thursday afternoon to see if you're the winner, and email me your address so I can send it out ASAP. If I don't hear from you, I'm going to assume you don't care about getting it before the book comes out, which is also fine, but yeah. There you have it.

Minor note: Due to FTC blah blah blah, I should probably tell you Gary's publisher did send me this ARC, along with one to review. It does not change this blog post, nor will it affect the review I will do of THE IONIA SANCTION next week.

Happy contesting!

WOO HOO! The Week of Awesomeness is here!

You guys! I'm so excited!

This week is the Week of Awesomeness here at the Archives, and I'm kicking it off today with a giveaway.

Here's the deal:

Today, Wednesday, and Thursday, each of us here at the Archives are taking turns hosting a contest. Each contest may be different and have different prizes-- so check back for each day's specifics!

For my giveaway today, I have some of my favorite reads of 2010:


Well, okay, so some of them didn't come out in 2010. But I read them this year, so that's what counts!

Just in case you can't see the picture clearly enough, they include:

-SOULLESS by Gail Carriger
-HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick
-THE PERICLES COMMISSION by Gary Corby
-THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger
-SILVER PHOENIX by Cindy Pon

I am also giving away a PERICLES COMMISSION bookmark and this adorable set of magnetic kitten book page clips:



So here's how this works: to enter to win the prize pack, please leave a comment here on this post. It's that simple!

However, since this is a contest to celebrate getting 100 followers and we are currently at 99, you can also earn extra points by doing the following:

-Tweet the contest on Twitter and include me (@LTHost).
-Blog about the contest and leave a link in your comment.

Each of these things will earn you another entry when I use a random number generator to pick the winner!

So how long do you have to do this? That's a great question, thank you for asking it as you read along!

Contest will close on Sunday, December 19, 2010, at midnight Pacific Time (3 A.M. Eastern).

And next Monday, I'll have an interview with Gary Corby, the author of the Pericles Commission, along with the results of the contest!

Note: While it breaks my heart because I know we have some very good friends overseas, due to the shipping weight of this prize pack and my current state of unemployment, I cannot accept international entries on this one. Sorry guys!

HELLO PARTY PEOPLE!!!

(Cross-posted from Quest: Published. I know, I know, I'm such a cheater).

So, while I was gone, several things occurred. One of them was rather large and amazing, one of them was rather large and sucky, the rest ranged from spectacular to average, but all in all, I'd have to say that it was a pretty good 2-3 months. Rather than trying to remember all these events, I've decided instead to answer some lingering questions you're all sure to have:

Q: Did you get married?

A: Why, yes I did! Here we are, looking hot and loving and adorable and all that:

(Photo by the amazing Kate Williams of Chasing Daylight Photography)

My wedding was a dream come true. I couldn't be happier with my new husband, and boy is it nice to have time for other things! (Like blogging, and writing, and breathing. Always nice, that).

Speaking of having more free time:

Q: Are you still working?

A: Um . . . no, actually. Yeah. That's the pretty major thing that's happened that sucks. It's fairly recent, and through no fault of my own, and hopefully we'll be okay. But still. Suckage.

Still, I am optimistic. And trying not to view this "Oh hey! I'll finally have real writing time!" Because making money so we can eat, and our furry babies can eat, is more important than all-the-time-I-could-ever-want-to-write. Right?

Moving on.

Q: Did you find an agent?

A: No, no I did not. For a very simple reason: you have to query agents in order to risk that they might sign you, and I haven't been querying. Rest assured, despite my assertions above, SOME of my new-found free time will be spent querying. Just not, you know, most of it.

Q: Did you get to meet any fabulous authors?

A: I did! While I didn't get any pictures, I did meet Kiersten White and Cindy Pon (both at Kiersten's signing, interestingly enough). Then, last week, I got to play native guide to Gary Corby, who is just as cool and full of fascinating historical info in person as he is online. WH and I had a fabulous time at his signing, where we also met P.L. Gaus, who writes Amish murder mysteries. We then spent Saturday showing Gary around our famous San Diego zoo (during which Gary, Scott and I had a long discussion about the possibility of owning a wallaby, and the ways someone could die by various animals) and topped off the evening by getting the only food I can think of that screams "San Diego"-- fish tacos, from a bar on the beach, by the pier. I hope Gary had as much fun with us as we did with him. Here we are at his signing:



We all look much happier in the picture on his blog. We were having a good time, I swear.

And while I neglected to take any pictures of Gary at the zoo (especially near the World's Largest Rodent [a capybara]), I did take a picture of the souvenir Gary brought me from Australia:



Thanks, Gary. I'm still working up the nerve to try it.

Aaaaaand I got to buy and then therefore read his book! Here I am, reading it:


Look for an author interview with Gary here at the Archives soon!

Q: Did you get any writing done?

A: Well, yes, actually. Not nearly as much as I'd have liked, but I did. I have a 43K "first draft" of my mystery done and, thanks to Gary, am moving ahead full force to start really querying my second novel, V. And this time I mean it. Sorry, where did that come from?

Q: So, uh, did anything else happen while you were gone?

A: Aside from all that I mentioned above, not really. All in all, I'm glad I decided to take the break because I honestly would have been too busy and too stressed out to be a good blogger. But on the same hand, I am SO glad to be back amongst my writer friends and catch up on everyone's lives.

So now here's a question for you:

How have you been?

GUEST POST: Why Write Historical Fiction?

Gary Corby is an Australian mystery author whose debut novel, The Pericles Commission, comes out on October 12, 2010. He's also a regular in the blogosphere, and runs the always entertaining and informative A dead man fell from the sky.

An editor asked the other day what caused a techie like me to become an author.  I had to write one of those About the Author notes, you see, and she thought the answer would be interesting.  But I've written, off and on, since I was a teenager, and I can't for the life of me remember why I started, except perhaps that I've read non-stop all my life, and I figured I may as well add to the book collection.

A more interesting question is why did I choose to write historical mysteries, and why in Ancient Greece?  There are a lot of writers wandering about the internet, and the motive, whenever you ask them why they write the stories they do, is almost invariably that this is the story they have to write.

When it comes to choice of genre and sub-genre I totally understand.  All the genres are equally great and it's really a matter of taste.  

I write historical mysteries because historicals contain almost all the other genres within them, and I love puzzle stories.

You can find historical mysteries that contain romance (lots of those), or military adventure (Simon Scarrow), or are political thrillers (Steven Saylor & John Maddox Roberts), are CSI (Ariana Franklin) or YA (Caroline Lawrence).  If mainstream lit is your thing then you should be reading  Mary Renault and Patrick O'Brian (not mysteries, but definitely historicals).  If you enjoy epic fantasy then there are times and places in our history so odd that they might as well be on another planet.  You might even find magic realism: an historical can't have working magic, but there have been plenty of people who believed in magic and practiced it as if it worked.  Historicals can be serious, like Margaret Doody and CJ Sansom, or funny, like...er...mine, I hope.

Historical mysteries cluster.  They cluster about the times that matter not only to the characters in it, but to us today; times which fascinate us, or about which we already know a lot.  Mediaeval Europe and Ancient Rome are popular.  So is Victorian England.  It would be possible to set an historical mystery in, say, prehistoric Vanuatu, but much as I enjoy visiting those lovely islands, it would be a hard sell to publish a series set there.  You might have more luck with Easter Island because it comes complete with its own enduring mystery.  There have been some excellent historical mysteries set in out of the way places, but not so many because it becomes harder for the reader to identify.  Reader buy-in matters a very great deal.

I choose to write historical mysteries in Classical Greece, and Athens in particular, for a simple reason: that period of history matters a great deal to us.  There was a 50 year period, called the Golden Age, when Athens founded western civilization.  With malice aforethought I placed my hero and heroine so that their career begins right at the start of the Golden Age.  If they survive, they will live to see the power of the first democracy, the beginning of modern drama — the first stage plays! — the beginning of science, the explosion of philosophy, the birth — literally — of modern medicine.  Hippocrates was born in the same year as my first book is set, which just happens to be the same year that Athens invented full democracy, which just happens to be the same year Pericles rose to power.  This was one of those rare moments that changed the world forever.

It seems to me there are a few times and places which meet the criteria for a good setting but which have seen little action from authors.  Classical Greece is one — that's why I'm there! — but let me list a few wild thoughts:

It'd be great to read an early homo sapiens mystery (while avoiding any cave bear clans etc), or a Neanderthal mystery, or even a homo erectus mystery.  I'm not brave enough to try, but I'd love to see some other poor fool risk it.  Imagine a very early settlement somewhere during the birth of farming and agriculture.

I do think Easter Island would be a good try.  You'd set it right at the moment their civilization collapsed.

There was a sophisticated very early culture in Europe which erected piles of standing stones.  There are zillions of them around Carnac in Brittany.  Who were these people?  Why did they erect hundreds and hundreds of these stones?  There has to be a story or two in there somewhere.

Mesopotamia.  Of course.

The Sultanate at the time of Haroun al-Rashid.

Europe under Charlemagne.

The transition period of the late Roman Empire when official Christian dogma was going through its very argumentative formation.  Plenty of motive for murder there!  It may be my ignorance, but I'm not aware of any writers who've spent time in that period.

Not nearly enough Renaissance mysteries involving the great masters of art.  Plenty of motive for murder there too.  I can well imagine a plot in which Michaelangelo and da Vinci go for each other's throats.  (And they did, at one point, meet for an artistic showdown...paintbrushes at 20 paces.)

OK, that's my list.  Feel free to start writing.