I am ambivalent about author’s notes. Sometimes I read them, often not. I wanted to write this one, though, because I am working with a new publisher and deeply appreciate the opportunity Perseverance Press has given me to continue this series.
As any author discovers when writing a series, there are positives and negatives. I like Pliny and Tacitus and would hate to miss the chance to continue telling their stories. I welcome the opportunity to develop some of the characters, even minor ones, who have appeared in earlier books.
But how do I use characters from earlier books without giving away their plots? One mystery author whom I will not name gives away so much of the plots of her earlier books that I find I can start reading at any point in her series and not have to read the previous books. So, how do I make this story stand alone while, at the same time, making it feel connected to the other books—previous and yet to come—in the series? I hope I’ve succeeded.
For the first time I’m including a list of characters. I hope it will help readers keep the characters clear but will not give away any “spoilers.” Please see the end of the book for the Cast of Characters, both real and fictional, and a Glossary of Roman Terms.
As I always do, I need to express profound thanks to my writers’ group, the West Michigan Writers’ Workshop, for their penetrating critiques each week. In no particular order, just visualizing them around the table: Steve, Dan, Roger, Vic, Norma, Jane, Dawn, Carol, Lisa (both of them), Sheila, John, Sarah, Paul, Bill, Karen, Nathan, Christine, Alyssa, and Joyce. The regulars and not-so-regulars have all had a hand in making me a better writer than I was twelve years ago, when I joined the group.
I also owe a long-standing debt of gratitude to my wife, Bettye Jo, for her patience and support. Someone once said, “A writer’s hardest job is to convince his wife that he’s working when he’s sitting back with his feet propped up.” My wife, I’m glad to say, understands how much my writing means to me.