Brook Allen
How do you know when an author is really dedicated to their work? When they spend fifteen, yes fifteen years researching their subject to make sure they have got it right.
I interviewed a very pleasant and well-informed author this week, Brook Allen, who spent fifteen years researching for her trilogy, the Antonius Trilogy. Most authors, myself included, can’t perceive the dedication and love involved to spend fifteen years researching every single fact.
It was with high admiration I began the interview with Brook and she left me astounded. This wonderful author is someone I shall forever admire and look up to.
Here is a taster of her interview,
Tell me a little about yourself, see we’re all nosey here!
First off, thanks so much for having me, Elizabeth. I’m a professional musician in my day-job and with rehearsals and performances, it takes up a lot of my time. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, there haven’t been many concerts or music lessons lately. Hopefully, things will be back to normal soon. My husband and I live with our two black Labradors in a rural community in Virginia’s beautiful, Blue Ridge Mountains.
I had to look those up Brook, they are really beautiful. What got you into writing?
I’ve been writing off and on since high school. However, after I focused on Roman Studies while going to grad school, I started the Antonius Trilogy. It’s been a labour of love now for over fifteen years and it’s hard to believe I’ll be done by the end of October. That means new projects, though. I’m looking forward to that!
A long time but when you love something, it flies by. What’s the main thing you love and hate about writing?
For me, writing — real writing — is growth. With every draft, edit, and review, I am able to see what I need to strive toward and focus on. Life should be like that, right? Probably the thing I hate the most is the way some retailers/review sites don’t require an actual “review”, but allow people to give random “ratings”. Random ratings don’t help grow as a writer. I want to know what people liked or WHY they didn’t like something.
That’s true Brook, who is the worst villain you’ve ever written, and why?
Octavian’s not really a “villain”. I mean, the guy was a brilliant politician and became Rome’s first and possibly most illustrious Emperor. That being said, he was also ruthless, hypocritical, cruel-spirited, and all about propaganda. Not necessarily what I’d want on my job evaluation! Ha! What he did to Marc Antony, after the fact — damnatio memoriae — was the damning of his name. He outlawed any other man from being named “Marcus Antonius”, he declared Antony’s birthday an official state-day of bad luck, he destroyed his statuary, struck through any of his inscriptions, and pretty much-made life difficult for those of us trying to LEARN about Antony’s history.
To read the full interview and find out more about the trilogy and how Brook dedicated herself to it, please click on :-
