09-11-2002, 03:49 PM
Hello all<br>
<br>
Below is the first in what I hope will be a long line of offline interviews that we will be holding here at the Roman Army Talk forum.<br>
<br>
This first interview is with Caroline Lawrence.<br>
<br>
Graham: Caroline, firstly please accept our thanks for taking part in this our first offline interview on the Roman Army Talk Forum.<br>
<br>
Caroline: My pleasure!<br>
<br>
Graham: To date you have written five books in the Roman Mysteries series, you have said that you would like to write between 12-20 for the series in total. Can you tell us any of the places that you intend to take us to throughout these books?<br>
<br>
Caroline: If I tell you the titles that will give you a good idea. Here are the provisional titles of the next twelve books in the series. I may add one or two, but 'The Man from Pomegranate Street' will almost certainly be the last.<br>
<br>
Book 7: 'The Apothecary from Athens' AD 80. Plague and fire in Rome.<br>
<br>
Book 8: 'The Gladiator from Capua' Spring AD 80. Opening of the Colosseum in Rome.<br>
<br>
Book 9: 'The Colossus of Rhodes' May of AD 80. Rhodes and Symi.<br>
<br>
Book 10: 'The Stranger from Sparta' June/July AD 80. Corinth, Athens and the Peloponnese.<br>
<br>
Book 11: 'The Siren from Surrentum' August AD 80. Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri.<br>
<br>
Book 12: 'The Charioteer of Delphi' September AD 80. Rome.<br>
<br>
Book 13: 'The Girl from Jerusalem' October AD 80. Ostia.<br>
<br>
Book 14: 'The Prophet from Ephesus' December AD 80. Ostia and Rome.<br>
<br>
Book 15: 'The Scribe of Alexandria' April AD 81. Alexandria and North Africa.<br>
<br>
Book 16: 'The Beggar of Volubilis' May AD 81. Morocco.<br>
<br>
Book 17: 'The Legionary from Londinium' July AD 81. Britannia.<br>
<br>
Book 18: 'The Man from Pomegranate Street' September AD 81. Rome and Ostia. Last in the series.<br>
<br>
Graham: What made you choose the time for the setting of your books and why Roman culture within this timeframe?<br>
<br>
Caroline: I have been passionate about classical languages and history since I was nineteen. Ancient Greece was my first love (thanks to Mary Renault) but women were so oppressed that there is no way I could have a spunky girl heroine in ancient Greece.<br>
<br>
I think first century Rome is a fascinating time and period. It's a culture very similar to our own: decadent, violent, materialistic but at the same time very self-aware. However, the determining factor in choosing the late first century was that I wanted my characters to witness the eruption of<br>
Vesuvius in AD 79.<br>
<br>
Graham: Currently you have four main children characters in the book, Flavia, Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus. Would you describe your characters as an ancient four people version of the Famous Five?<br>
<br>
Caroline: Absolutely. I often call the series 'Famous Five Meets Gladiator'. But in another way, my four friends are more like the characters on Buffy, because they all have tragedies in their lives and personality flaws as a result. Also, like characters on Buffy, they change and develop. Kids today<br>
watch so many films and TV programmes; I think they are a lot more sophisticated than in the days of Enid Blyton. All my characters have a definite 'arc' so it's best to read the Roman Mysteries in order. With the Famous Five it doesn't matter because the characters never really change.<br>
<br>
Graham: You obviously enjoy the Ancient World as you have studied Classical Art and Archaeology and know Latin, however you have said that one of your favourite adult authors is Philip K. Dick, do you plan on writing any<br>
Science Fiction in the future or are you planning upon staying in the Ancient World.<br>
<br>
Caroline: The next six years of my life are pretty much 'pencilled in' for the Roman Mysteries. After that, if I am fed up with the ancient world, then Science Fiction is definitely a genre I would consider working in. It was my<br>
first love, even before Classics. 'Star Wars' is still my all-time favourite film.<br>
<br>
Graham: You have covered subjects such as slavery, which may have otherwise not been touched in childrens' books. Do you have plans to cover some of the other disturbing points of Roman life, such as death in the arena and if so,<br>
how do you go about planning such topics for a childrens' book?<br>
<br>
Caroline: Rowan Williams, the new archbishop of Canterbury, recently praised childrens' books by Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl as valuable in children's development. These are books in which children move in their own hermetically sealed world. "Fantasy is given free rein, in a world in which<br>
'ordinary' adult agents are largely absent," he said. He went on to strongly criticise children's films and books which show kids as adults. He is especially concerned (and rightly) about the premature sexualization of children.<br>
<br>
However, kids today are fascinated by the adult world and my characters are very definitely are NOT protected from that world. They watch the world of adults and interact in that world. Because these are crime novels, I think that's almost inevitable.<br>
<br>
The concept of a 'golden childhood of innocence' is in my opinion a Victorian one. Children in Roman times were viewed as 'mini adults'. Whether we like it or not, that is a much closer situation to our own time. Having said that, as a parent and teacher I totally support children having a protected and carefree childhood.<br>
<br>
An intelligent Dutch interviewer recently asked me if, as an author of children's books I believe I should 'prepare' children for real life or 'protect' them from real life. My answer to her was that 'to prepare them is to protect them'. One of my main aims in my books is to give children a strategy for living. After all, that's one of the main things books do: they tell us how to live in this world.<br>
<br>
There are a lot of aspects of ancient Rome I can't possibly address in this series. For example, it was perfectly acceptable in first century Rome for a respectable man to have a taste for pre-pubescent boys. I will steer Jonathan and Lupus clear of that one!<br>
<br>
But there are other issues I can address. For example, 'Who can you trust?' In 'The Pirates of Pompeii' Flavia and her friends discover that an apparently good and safe adult may be very dangerous. This is a lesson which can't be emphasized too much.<br>
<br>
You mention 'death in the arena'... In my eighth book I take the four friends to the Colosseum for its inaugural opening. I will have to address the cruelty and slaughter but I will try to do it in a thoughtful and not too graphic way. Also, I intend to kill off some of major characters - though not any of the main four - because death was a part of Roman life.<br>
Some kids were terribly upset when Pliny the Elder died at the end of book two!<br>
<br>
Graham: For any author research can make or break a book. A good many people have commented on how well researched your novels are. Could you say a few words on how you plan your research and set about actually doing it?<br>
<br>
Caroline: Because I've been a Latin teacher for fifteen years, I'm constantly involved with the material and ideas are constantly being sparked by passages I read with my students.<br>
<br>
Each of my books has at least one specifically Roman topic. For example, 'The Secrets of Vesuvius' looks at the eruption of Vesuvius and the Roman view of parentage, 'The Pirates of Pompeii' addresses the client/patron system and slavery, 'The Assassins of Rome' deals with Nero's Golden House, the destruction of Jerusalem, and Titus's relationship with Berenice.<br>
<br>
Once I know my topics, I just read as much as I can around them. I especially read the primary sources. I read the Loeb editions so I can constantly check the Latin or Greek. This gives me a feel for how first century Romans thought. That's what initially attracted me to study Latin and Greek: to try to get into the heads of people who lived 2000 years ago.<br>
<br>
The book I'm working on now deals with Roman medicine so my primary sources are Celsus, Josephus, Martial, etc. My main secondary source is 'Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire' by Ralph Jackson. London's a great place to live. Ralph Jackson works at the British Museum and he's agreed to meet with me to discuss plague and doctors in late first century Rome!<br>
<br>
I also travel as much as I can; I have visited Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and Ostia several times... it's a real chore, but someone's got to do it!<br>
<br>
Graham: I have met you at a couple of Roman reenactment events, do you find reenactment helps with your writing?<br>
<br>
Caroline: Absolutely. I think more than anyone alive, reenactors know what it would have been like to live in Roman times. They wear Roman clothing, use Roman artefacts, eat Roman food. I have found it enormously helpful to chat with reenactors about their particular areas of expertise. Also, I<br>
value the replica artefacts they've given me. It is in handling - no, PLAYING WITH - artefacts that I have had some of my best ideas. I am fascinated with the idea of what ancient Rome would have felt like, smelled like, sounded like, tasted like...<br>
<br>
Graham: Can you tell us a little about your sixth book, what we can expect, where it will be based and any other details you want to give that won't give too much away?<br>
<br>
Caroline: I've just finished the first draft of my sixth book, 'The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina'. It is set in Ostia, during the Saturnalia in the winter of AD 79. I think it's my favourite so far. That's because it's the most romantic. The theme is 'Love and Marriage', so almost everybody in the<br>
book falls in love. Here is the provisional first line, just to give you a taste:<br>
<br>
"The day Flavia Gemina learned she was to be married began like any other winter day in the Roman port of Ostia."<br>
<br>
How's that for a narrative 'hook'?<br>
<br>
Graham: Our thanks for taking part in this interview from the Roman Army Talk Forum.<br>
<br>
Caroline: Again, it was a pleasure!<br>
<br>
End of interview<br>
<br>
I have stuck the interview at the top of the forum for itsfirst few weeks as I don't anticipate a lot of followup posts on this and would like to give the authors their fair share of being at the top of the forum as a mark of gratitude for having done it. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/ugashford.showPublicProfile?language=EN>gashford</A> at: 9/11/02 11:10:05 pm<br></i>
<br>
Below is the first in what I hope will be a long line of offline interviews that we will be holding here at the Roman Army Talk forum.<br>
<br>
This first interview is with Caroline Lawrence.<br>
<br>
Graham: Caroline, firstly please accept our thanks for taking part in this our first offline interview on the Roman Army Talk Forum.<br>
<br>
Caroline: My pleasure!<br>
<br>
Graham: To date you have written five books in the Roman Mysteries series, you have said that you would like to write between 12-20 for the series in total. Can you tell us any of the places that you intend to take us to throughout these books?<br>
<br>
Caroline: If I tell you the titles that will give you a good idea. Here are the provisional titles of the next twelve books in the series. I may add one or two, but 'The Man from Pomegranate Street' will almost certainly be the last.<br>
<br>
Book 7: 'The Apothecary from Athens' AD 80. Plague and fire in Rome.<br>
<br>
Book 8: 'The Gladiator from Capua' Spring AD 80. Opening of the Colosseum in Rome.<br>
<br>
Book 9: 'The Colossus of Rhodes' May of AD 80. Rhodes and Symi.<br>
<br>
Book 10: 'The Stranger from Sparta' June/July AD 80. Corinth, Athens and the Peloponnese.<br>
<br>
Book 11: 'The Siren from Surrentum' August AD 80. Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri.<br>
<br>
Book 12: 'The Charioteer of Delphi' September AD 80. Rome.<br>
<br>
Book 13: 'The Girl from Jerusalem' October AD 80. Ostia.<br>
<br>
Book 14: 'The Prophet from Ephesus' December AD 80. Ostia and Rome.<br>
<br>
Book 15: 'The Scribe of Alexandria' April AD 81. Alexandria and North Africa.<br>
<br>
Book 16: 'The Beggar of Volubilis' May AD 81. Morocco.<br>
<br>
Book 17: 'The Legionary from Londinium' July AD 81. Britannia.<br>
<br>
Book 18: 'The Man from Pomegranate Street' September AD 81. Rome and Ostia. Last in the series.<br>
<br>
Graham: What made you choose the time for the setting of your books and why Roman culture within this timeframe?<br>
<br>
Caroline: I have been passionate about classical languages and history since I was nineteen. Ancient Greece was my first love (thanks to Mary Renault) but women were so oppressed that there is no way I could have a spunky girl heroine in ancient Greece.<br>
<br>
I think first century Rome is a fascinating time and period. It's a culture very similar to our own: decadent, violent, materialistic but at the same time very self-aware. However, the determining factor in choosing the late first century was that I wanted my characters to witness the eruption of<br>
Vesuvius in AD 79.<br>
<br>
Graham: Currently you have four main children characters in the book, Flavia, Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus. Would you describe your characters as an ancient four people version of the Famous Five?<br>
<br>
Caroline: Absolutely. I often call the series 'Famous Five Meets Gladiator'. But in another way, my four friends are more like the characters on Buffy, because they all have tragedies in their lives and personality flaws as a result. Also, like characters on Buffy, they change and develop. Kids today<br>
watch so many films and TV programmes; I think they are a lot more sophisticated than in the days of Enid Blyton. All my characters have a definite 'arc' so it's best to read the Roman Mysteries in order. With the Famous Five it doesn't matter because the characters never really change.<br>
<br>
Graham: You obviously enjoy the Ancient World as you have studied Classical Art and Archaeology and know Latin, however you have said that one of your favourite adult authors is Philip K. Dick, do you plan on writing any<br>
Science Fiction in the future or are you planning upon staying in the Ancient World.<br>
<br>
Caroline: The next six years of my life are pretty much 'pencilled in' for the Roman Mysteries. After that, if I am fed up with the ancient world, then Science Fiction is definitely a genre I would consider working in. It was my<br>
first love, even before Classics. 'Star Wars' is still my all-time favourite film.<br>
<br>
Graham: You have covered subjects such as slavery, which may have otherwise not been touched in childrens' books. Do you have plans to cover some of the other disturbing points of Roman life, such as death in the arena and if so,<br>
how do you go about planning such topics for a childrens' book?<br>
<br>
Caroline: Rowan Williams, the new archbishop of Canterbury, recently praised childrens' books by Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl as valuable in children's development. These are books in which children move in their own hermetically sealed world. "Fantasy is given free rein, in a world in which<br>
'ordinary' adult agents are largely absent," he said. He went on to strongly criticise children's films and books which show kids as adults. He is especially concerned (and rightly) about the premature sexualization of children.<br>
<br>
However, kids today are fascinated by the adult world and my characters are very definitely are NOT protected from that world. They watch the world of adults and interact in that world. Because these are crime novels, I think that's almost inevitable.<br>
<br>
The concept of a 'golden childhood of innocence' is in my opinion a Victorian one. Children in Roman times were viewed as 'mini adults'. Whether we like it or not, that is a much closer situation to our own time. Having said that, as a parent and teacher I totally support children having a protected and carefree childhood.<br>
<br>
An intelligent Dutch interviewer recently asked me if, as an author of children's books I believe I should 'prepare' children for real life or 'protect' them from real life. My answer to her was that 'to prepare them is to protect them'. One of my main aims in my books is to give children a strategy for living. After all, that's one of the main things books do: they tell us how to live in this world.<br>
<br>
There are a lot of aspects of ancient Rome I can't possibly address in this series. For example, it was perfectly acceptable in first century Rome for a respectable man to have a taste for pre-pubescent boys. I will steer Jonathan and Lupus clear of that one!<br>
<br>
But there are other issues I can address. For example, 'Who can you trust?' In 'The Pirates of Pompeii' Flavia and her friends discover that an apparently good and safe adult may be very dangerous. This is a lesson which can't be emphasized too much.<br>
<br>
You mention 'death in the arena'... In my eighth book I take the four friends to the Colosseum for its inaugural opening. I will have to address the cruelty and slaughter but I will try to do it in a thoughtful and not too graphic way. Also, I intend to kill off some of major characters - though not any of the main four - because death was a part of Roman life.<br>
Some kids were terribly upset when Pliny the Elder died at the end of book two!<br>
<br>
Graham: For any author research can make or break a book. A good many people have commented on how well researched your novels are. Could you say a few words on how you plan your research and set about actually doing it?<br>
<br>
Caroline: Because I've been a Latin teacher for fifteen years, I'm constantly involved with the material and ideas are constantly being sparked by passages I read with my students.<br>
<br>
Each of my books has at least one specifically Roman topic. For example, 'The Secrets of Vesuvius' looks at the eruption of Vesuvius and the Roman view of parentage, 'The Pirates of Pompeii' addresses the client/patron system and slavery, 'The Assassins of Rome' deals with Nero's Golden House, the destruction of Jerusalem, and Titus's relationship with Berenice.<br>
<br>
Once I know my topics, I just read as much as I can around them. I especially read the primary sources. I read the Loeb editions so I can constantly check the Latin or Greek. This gives me a feel for how first century Romans thought. That's what initially attracted me to study Latin and Greek: to try to get into the heads of people who lived 2000 years ago.<br>
<br>
The book I'm working on now deals with Roman medicine so my primary sources are Celsus, Josephus, Martial, etc. My main secondary source is 'Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire' by Ralph Jackson. London's a great place to live. Ralph Jackson works at the British Museum and he's agreed to meet with me to discuss plague and doctors in late first century Rome!<br>
<br>
I also travel as much as I can; I have visited Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and Ostia several times... it's a real chore, but someone's got to do it!<br>
<br>
Graham: I have met you at a couple of Roman reenactment events, do you find reenactment helps with your writing?<br>
<br>
Caroline: Absolutely. I think more than anyone alive, reenactors know what it would have been like to live in Roman times. They wear Roman clothing, use Roman artefacts, eat Roman food. I have found it enormously helpful to chat with reenactors about their particular areas of expertise. Also, I<br>
value the replica artefacts they've given me. It is in handling - no, PLAYING WITH - artefacts that I have had some of my best ideas. I am fascinated with the idea of what ancient Rome would have felt like, smelled like, sounded like, tasted like...<br>
<br>
Graham: Can you tell us a little about your sixth book, what we can expect, where it will be based and any other details you want to give that won't give too much away?<br>
<br>
Caroline: I've just finished the first draft of my sixth book, 'The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina'. It is set in Ostia, during the Saturnalia in the winter of AD 79. I think it's my favourite so far. That's because it's the most romantic. The theme is 'Love and Marriage', so almost everybody in the<br>
book falls in love. Here is the provisional first line, just to give you a taste:<br>
<br>
"The day Flavia Gemina learned she was to be married began like any other winter day in the Roman port of Ostia."<br>
<br>
How's that for a narrative 'hook'?<br>
<br>
Graham: Our thanks for taking part in this interview from the Roman Army Talk Forum.<br>
<br>
Caroline: Again, it was a pleasure!<br>
<br>
End of interview<br>
<br>
I have stuck the interview at the top of the forum for itsfirst few weeks as I don't anticipate a lot of followup posts on this and would like to give the authors their fair share of being at the top of the forum as a mark of gratitude for having done it. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/ugashford.showPublicProfile?language=EN>gashford</A> at: 9/11/02 11:10:05 pm<br></i>
