The Immortal World of Rome ~ Once a Roman, always a Roman.
I landed in beautiful Washington State some
fourteen summers ago and I love my new home. So much so that I can’t think of
Redmond as my new home anymore, but
just as the place where my heart is. At the same time, I am proud of my
ancestry and I have always been fascinated by the city of Rome, where I had the
good fortune to be born and live for several years. So, it won’t come as a
surprise that the first two books I wrote,
Gaia and Elios, were set both in Rome and
Seattle, and some distant planets.
In a more subtle way, Rome and the Roman
culture permeate my Ginecean Chronicles as well. The language spoken by the
enslaved men is Latin, and Ginecea itself is none other than a dystopian copy
of the Eternal City itself.
One year ago, after publishing the last
title in The Ginecean Chronicles, I started thinking about the next series. The
idea of writing a paranormal and urban fantasy saga with Rome in the background
had been percolating in my mind for quite some time, and without further ado I
embarked in a journey of rediscovery of my Roman origins. I raided my local
library and came back home with all I could find on Rome and the Romans. From
cooking to voting, I wanted to know everything I could about those people. I
spent hours taking notes. After a while, I become so absorbed in the task that I
started daydreaming about walking through familiar places from my youth and being
transported back to the Imperial times.
I even tried a few Roman recipes, and among
them the Roman Libum.
One afternoon, fully inspired by my latest read, I baked the ricotta cake
soaked in honey because I had to have a taste of what Romans ate. The libum I
prepared resembled a similar modern preparation in both consistency, flavor,
and also baked-goods’ smell. Not surprisingly, since the Italian cuisine has
maintained that simplicity of tastes and ingredients over the millennia.
A small part of all those notes I compiled
over several weeks found its way into The Lost Centurion, the first title
in The Immortals, that paranormal and
urban fantasy series set in modern-day Rome I’d been thinking to write for so
long.
The
Lost Centurion’s hero, Marcus Sulpicius Aurelianus,
is an immortal Roman whose life is spent seeking revenge for the murder of his
wife. Although the main story is set in the year two thousand and fourteen,
Marcus has a hard time living in present-day Italy, and his mind often wanders
to his past, to his wife, and to the days spent in the field with his army.
In addition to refresh my history lessons,
I studied the geography of Rome to make sure I had all my locations straight. Despite
having lived there for more than a decade, I used to walk or take public
transportation to move around and never drove, which somehow has altered my
memories in terms of distances. Several times, I consulted my family and
friends still living in Rome to calculate alternative routes in the event of
bad weather or heavy traffic.
The modern city, above ground and below
ground, is as much a character as the heroes and heroines populating The
Immortals series. Its colorful atmosphere, its ancient ruins, its chaos, its
constant traffic are an important part of all the stories published so far.
Even though in The Immortal Greek and The Broken Angel, the second and
third book in the series, there aren’t many flashbacks to the Roman past, both
Alexander and Samuel must deal with Rome and its physical presence every step
of the way to conquer their enemies and find love. The Eternal City is a multifaceted
character that oftentimes is an ally, but sometimes likes to play villain.
The more titles I write in this series, the
more I fall in love with my beloved Rome all over again. Maybe, when I’m done
with The Immortals, I’ll take some time off to start yet another story. One
that is completely set in Roman times and keeps coming back to me, demanding to
be written. Maybe soon…
Monica La Porta
# # #
About the Author
Monica La Porta is an Italian who landed in Seattle several years
ago. Despite popular feelings about the Northwest weather, she finds the mist
and the rain the perfect conditions to write. Being a strong advocate of
universal acceptance and against violence in any form and shape, she is also
glad to have landed precisely in Washington State. She is the author of The
Ginecean Chronicles, a dystopian/science fiction series set on the planet
Ginecea where women rule over a race of enslaved men and heterosexual love is
considered a sin. She also published two other series: the futuristic love
story across the universe, Elios & Gaia, narrated in two books; and the
paranormal romance/urban fantasy series The Immortals set in Rome. Stop by her
blog to read about her miniatures, sculptures, paintings, and her beloved
beagle, Nero. Sometimes, she also posts about her writing. Find our more at Monica's blog: www.monicalaporta.com find her on Facebook and Twitter @momilp.
Monica, Your research on all things Roman sounds fascinating--so much so that perhaps I ought to delve in somewhere. Your stories sound terrific, and I look forward to enjoying them.
ReplyDelete